Landing Site
Targeting Diacria
Selection Process
Step-by-Step Results
Top Six Sites
Previous Landings
Site Terminology
Sources
Landing Site
Terrain Diversity Rating
After qualitatively eliminating 94 sites from the original Center for Mars Exploration list, we applied our diversity rubric to each remaining site. The results are summarized below. Clustered sites appear together.
Sites that received less than three diversity "checks" and that were not clustered with any other more diverse site were summarily rejected. These sites appear at the bottom of the table. No clusters were initially rejected.
Key:
=Site has this feature
=Site does not have this feature
| Cluster Name | Site Number | Site Name | Ice | Geothermal Structures | Fluvial Sediment | Valleys | Impact Crater Ejecta |
| Possible Landing Sites | |||||||
| 7 | Terra Cimmeria | |
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| 17 | Kasei Valles North | |
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| 77 | Ares | |
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| 143 | Ismenius Lacus Southwest | |
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| 146 | Phaethontis North-Central | |
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| 5 | Iapygia | |
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| 140 | Iapygia Northwest | |
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| Sinus | 9 | Sinus Sabaeus | |
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| 14 | Schiaparelli Crater | |
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| 147 | Sinus Sabaeus Northeast (White Rock) | |
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| Hellas | 10 | Terra Tyrrhena | |
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| 32 | Dao Vallis | |
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| 107 | Northwest Hellas | |
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| Mangala East | 27 | Upper Mangala Valles | |
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| 117 | Mangala Valles (PM) | |
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| 137 | Mangala Valles | |
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| Gusev | 79 | Aeolis Southeast | |
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| 112 | Gusev Crater | |
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| 138 | Aeolis Northeast (Gusev) | |
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| Alba Patera | 82 | Arcadia Planitia | |
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| 124 | West Alba Patera (P3) | |
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| 144 | Diacria Southeast | |
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| Parana | 2 | Parana Valles | |
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| 12 | Samara Valles | |
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| 89 | South Terra Meridiani | |
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| 100 | Margaritifer Sinus Southeast | |
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| Utopia | 65 | Utopia | |
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| 83 | Utopia Planitia | |
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| 99 | Utopia Planitia/Viking Lander 2 | |
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| 150 | Casius Southeast | |
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| Mangala West | 23 | Memnonia | |
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| 131 | Mangala Valles (PH) | |
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| 142 | Mangala Valles | |
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| 145 | Memnonia Northwest | |
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| Chryse Planitia | 21 | Maja Valles | |
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| 26 | Upper Maja | |
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| 58 | Chryse Planitia/Viking 1 | |
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| 103 | Chryse Planitia/Viking Lander 1 | |
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| 139 | Oxia Palus Northwest | |
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| Candor Chasma | 22 | Candor Mensa | |
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| 43 | Candor Chasma I | |
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| 54 | Candor | |
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| 72 | Candor Chasma II | |
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| 141 | Hebes Chasma | |
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| 152 | Candor Chasma | |
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| Rejected Landing Sites | |||||||
| 13 | Mawrth Vallis | |
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| 28 | Olympus Mons Southeast | |
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| 50 | Elysium | |
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| 64 | Isidis Planitia | |
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| 67 | Elysium South | |
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| 74 | Capri Chasma | |
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| 76 | Tempe | |
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| 78 | Tempe Fossae | |
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| 81 | Acidalia Planitia | |
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| 84 | Acidalia | |
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| 97 | Ladon Vallis | |
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| 148 | Oxia Palus Northeast | |
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| 149 | Ismenius Lacus South-Central | |
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