22 Everyday Geoscience (Posters)

This session will focus on elevating the importance of geoscience through geoscience education (e.g., curricula development, leading fieldwork experiences, etc.) and/or convergence research (e.g., using community-focused research frameworks/methods, community-engaged research, etc.).

Tuesday, 19 May 2026
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Alvarado D/E

The Mars Exploration Rovers Portal to Observations, Resources, and Tools: Enabling Non-Mars Specialists to Study Mars with the Spirit and Opportunity Rovers

Paper number: 22-3
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 8:00 AM

Authors

Abstract

The Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs), Spirit and Opportunity, were designed to be robotic field geologists. They operated on Mars from 2004 to 2010 (Spirit) and 2018 (Opportunity), and accomplished the first long-term geological exploration of the Mars surface. Together, these robotic explorers accumulated a total of over 20 years of daily data from multiple instruments, acquiring compositional spectra and nearly 350,000 images of rocks, soil, and landscapes. This data set can be used in multiple ways by Mars researchers. It can also be used by non-Mars specialists and non-scientist students, teachers and Mars enthusiasts, allowing the general public to experience this geological planet and its similarities and differences to Earth.

However, the data are not easy to access. The MER collection is housed in the Geosciences, Imaging, Atmospheres, and Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) Nodes of NASA’s Planetary Data System (PDS) and accessible through the MER Analyst’s Notebook (MER AN), but both the PDS and the MER AN can be a barrier for those who are not familiar with these planetary data sites or with the image numbering and cataloging of the MER images.

The goals of the MER PORTAL project are to broaden access to MER data by developing the documentation, tools, and search infrastructure necessary to enable anyone to find and use MER data, and to develop lessons that would introduce Mars to students and the general public. New Mexico and Mars share many geological similarities, so we have worked with an introductory astronomy instructor at Albuquerque’s two community colleges, CNM (Central NM Community College) and SIPI (Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute - one of the 37 national Native American tribal community colleges), to develop classroom resources. In both community colleges, the students are undergraduates at the high school/college level.  A MER-focused lesson plan introduces these students to Mars. The lesson includes a lecture on the exploration of Mars and the MER mission, student research using websites/references, and 3 laboratory exercises. It has now been tested during the “Intro to Solar System Astronomy” lecture and lab class at CNM and “Intro to Astronomy” lecture and lab at SIPI for both Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 semesters. 

Exlore the MER PORTAL as we continue to develop it at https://mer-portal.spacescience.org/

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 4

doi: 10.1130/abs/2026RM-410617

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