Characterising the ExoMars 2020 Landing Site

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After several years of landing site selection workshops and ESA Landing Site Selection Working Group (LSSWG) meetings, three possible sites for the ExoMars Rover remain: Aram Dorsum (UK-led), Oxia Planum, and Mawrth Vallis. Down-selection to the 'final and backup' sites will take place in March 2017, and final selection in 2019. The goals of this project are to conduct geological analysis of these sites to develop testable scientific hypotheses, identify key scientific targets of interest in the landing ellipses, and to characterise major hazards to rover mobility. The student will thus play an important role in the ExoMars Rover 2020 landing site selection process. The student will carry out geological analyses of the final landing sites. Of particular importance is understanding how each site fits into the regional geology and stratigraphy. This project will use data from a wide range of different instruments, including new data collected from the CaSSIS instrument on board the ExoMars TGO mission, with two of the supervisors recently being appointed Guest Investigators. The student will also help characterise rover hazards due to both aeolian features and steep slopes, in order to assess landing hazards and surface traversability. Thus the student will play in important role in characterising the landing site for the ExoMars 2020 rover.