MER MARS MOESSBAUER: Relative Iron Abundance from Mars Exploration Rovers

Mars Exploration Rover data from the Moessbauer spectrometers on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. The dataset contains measurements of the relative abundance of iron-bearing phases at the Meridiani Planum and Gusev Crater landing sites. It was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling Martian surface oxidation states based on Fe2+ and Fe3+ relative abundances.
• Classifying mineral phases on Mars based on iron coordination states (e.g., octahedral).
• Quantifying the distribution of specific minerals like olivine from the percentage of total Fe associated with them.

Strengths

• Data originates from the authoritative NASA Mars Exploration Rover mission.
• Provides specific mineralogical measurements for two distinct Martian locations: Meridiani Planum and Gusev Crater.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from Moessbauer spectrometers on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:51:07.701808; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Mars (Meridiani Planum and Gusev Crater)