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The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission is focused on assessing the past or present habitability of Mars, through interrogation of environment and environmental records at the Curiosity rover field site in Gale crater. The MSL team has two methods available to collect, process and deliver samples to onboard analytical laboratories, the Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument (CheMin) and the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite. One approach obtains samples by drilling into a rock, the other uses a scoop to collect loose regolith fines.

The MArs Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) is a small, RGB-color camera designed to examine geologic material at 12.5-75 microns/pixel resolution at the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) landing site. MAHLI is a PI-led investigation competitively selected by NASA in December 2004 as part of the science payload for the MSL rover launching in 2009. The instrument is being fabricated by, and will be operated by, Malin Space Science Systems of San Diego, California.

Results are presented of a preliminary investigation of the fractal nature of the plan-view shapes of lava flows in Hawaii (based on field measurements and aerial photographs), as well as in Idaho and the Galapagos Islands (using aerial photographs only). The shapes of the lava flow margins are found to be fractals: lava flow shape is scale-invariant. This observation suggests that nonlinear forces are operating in them because nonlinear systems frequently produce fractals. A'a and pahoehoe flows can be distinguished by their fractal dimensions (D). The majority of the a'a flows measured have D between 1.05 and 1.09, whereas the pahoehoe flows generally have higher D (1.14-1.23). The analysis is extended to other planetary bodies by measuring flows from orbital images of Venus, Mars, and the moon. All are fractal and have D consistent with the range of terrestrial a'a and have D consistent with the range of terrestrial a'a and pahoehoe values.

Many important quantitative parameters have been developed that relate to the rheology and eruption and emplacement mechanics of lavas. This research centers on developing additional, unique parameters, namely the fractal properties of lava flows, to add to this matrix of properties. There are several methods of calculating the fractal dimension of a lava flow margin. We use the 'structured walk' or 'divider' method. In this method, we measure the length of a given lava flow margin by walking rods of different lengths along the margin. Since smaller rod lengths transverse more smaller-scaled features in the flow margin, the apparent length of the flow outline will increase as the length of the measuring rod decreases. By plotting the apparent length of the flow outline as a function of the length of the measuring rod on a log-log plot, fractal behavior can be determined. A linear trend on a log-log plot indicates that the data are fractal. The fractal dimension can then be calculated from the slope of the linear least squares fit line to the data. We use this 'structured walk' method to calculate the fractal dimension of many lava flows using a wide range of rod lengths, from 1/8 to 16 meters, in field studies of the Hawaiian islands. We also use this method to calculate fractal dimensions from aerial photographs of lava flows, using lengths ranging from 20 meters to over 2 kilometers. Finally, we applied this method to orbital images of extraterrestrial lava flows on Venus, Mars, and the Moon, using rod lengths up to 60 kilometers.

Spacecraft images revealed that extremely long lava flows (more than 200 km long) exist on the surface of Mars and Io. Compared to terrestial volcanic eruptions, the occurrence of these long flows is very unusual, and may hint at a different style of either magma production or eruption. Attempts to model the emplacement of the long flows on other planets, using a Bingham rheological model, were only partially successful. The objective is to conduct field measurements on long lava flows in Hawaii (where individual flows such as those of 1859 and 1881 exceed 40 km in length) in order to document and interpret their flow characteristics. In this way, a better understanding of the formation of long lava flows is sought as well as a determination of whether the Mauna Loa flows are terrestrial analogs to the long flows seen on Mars and Io.

Surface and internal lava structures can be valid indicators of lava viscosity and rheology, provided that care is taken to identify and eliminate structures which are strain-rate-dependent. Here, a spectrum of types among Hawaiian basaltic flows is found ranging from pahoehoe to a'a, that are interpreted as marking a progression in lava viscosity and a change in rheology. The most fluid type in this spectrum is normal pahoehoe that has a smooth but commonly wrinkled or folded (ropy) surface. The next type, distinctly more viscous and probably non-Newtonian in rheology, is spiny pahoehoe which is characterized by a spinose surface and an absence of ropy structures. Preliminary studies on the long lavas of Mauna Loa indicated, perhaps surprisingly, that there is no clear-cut correlation of lava length with type in this spectrum of lavas, indicating that viscosity/yield strength of the basaltic lavas per se are not the primary controls determining flow length. Flowage of the lava through lava tubes, while it may help to account for the long flow distance of some lavas, is not a generally applicable explanation for long flow length.