Mars Data Analysis (ROSES 2024)

The objective of the Mars Data Analysis Program (MDAP) is to enhance the scientific return from missions to Mars conducted by NASA and other space agencies. These include, but are not limited to, the following missions: Mars Pathfinder (MPF), Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), Mars Odyssey (MO), Mars Exploration Rovers (MER), Mars Express (MEX), Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), Phoenix (PHX), Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN), ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), InSight, Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), and Mars 2020 (the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter). Any proposal may incorporate the investigation of data from more than one mission. Additional information about these missions, as well as references containing preliminary science results, can be found on the Mars Exploration Program (MEP) homepage at: http://mars.nasa.gov.

MDAP broadens scientific participation in the analysis of mission data sets and funds high-priority areas of research that support planning for future Mars missions. Investigations that use data derived from other sources (e.g., ground-based radar, Hubble) will also be considered, but are lower priority. MDAP supports scientific investigations of Mars using publicly available (released) data.

Investigations submitted to this program must demonstrate how the research to be undertaken will directly improve our understanding of open science questions at Mars relevant to current hypotheses. Tasks responsive to this call include 1) data analysis tasks, 2) non-data-analysis tasks that are necessary to analyze or interpret the data, and 3) non-data-analysis tasks that significantly enhance the use or facilitate the interpretation of mission data. These tasks may incorporate theory, modeling, laboratory studies, correlative analyses, and/or other research, as long as the primary focus and majority of the work are data analysis. All proposals must include a complete science investigation. Proposals that include non-data-analysis tasks to enhance the use or facilitate the interpretation of mission data must incorporate the results of such tasks in the analysis or interpretation of mission data and such tasks must be a minor component to be responsive to this call. MDAP does not support field or analog studies, comparative planetology studies, or the acquisition of new astronomical observations or collection of new data from spacecraft at Mars.

Deadlines: