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Member

From: Mt. Vernon, OH

Registered: 2004-02-02

Posts: 16

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

What the heck are all those little round pellets, has NASA commented on them? In the 3D pic, they are even stuck to the sides of the rocks.

[http://www.marsunearthed.com/Opportunit … y12_3D.htm]Stuck Pellets  - Thanks Stu

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marsnik

Banned

From: NSW Australia

Registered: 2004-01-15

Posts: 7

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Hi everyone,

This was sent to me on the spaceref newsletter today. For anyone who hasn't seen this very funny animation, it might help you waste 30 seconds or so, while waiting for the next press conference/photo releases or whatever.

Gad, this made me laugh...
[http://images.spaceref.com/news/2004/rover.armspin.mov]http://images.spaceref.com/news/2004/rover.armspin.mov

Bev 

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"You dream that you're Bugs Bunny, then you wake up and find out you're Daffy Duck..." Chuck Jones 1999

1smlstp

Member

From: 3rd planet

Registered: 2004-01-29

Posts: 32

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

What the heck are all those little round pellets, has NASA commented on them? In the 3D pic, they are even stuck to the sides of the rocks.

Yes, they are as intrigued as all of us. Here's a link to the press conference where they talked about them. You have to have real player installed for the link to work.

[rtsp://video.c-span.org/15days/e020404_nasa.rm]rtsp://video.c-span.org/15days/e020404_nasa.rm

These little spheroids are all over the place. Take a look.

You should take a look at the latest raw images at the Mars Rovers site because they have a bunch of new ones.

[http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/]http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

  That movie is great!

Thanks Marsnik!

Stu

Member

From: Kendal, Cumbria, England

Registered: 2001-09-04

Posts: 318

Website

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Thinking... those little spheres might be ejecta from volcanic eruptions... you know, lava explodes into the air as an almost-liquid, sets in the air as it falls, reaches the ground as round pellets... Could also be "mini tektites", Mars-rock splashed into the air by impacts which then fell back to the ground as mini-meteorites..? Or maybe just silicon beads like those seen in lunar soil by the Apollo astronauts... could be all kinds of things, I guess. Want more pics of them - well, of EVERYTHING really!

Tell you what, tho, I'm VERY impressed by the detail visible on the new raw Pancam images of the bedrock at Snout outcrop. Those layers are soooo thin, like layers of crisp chocolate in an ice cream gateau, you can almost reach out and run your fingers down them, snap-snapping them as you go...

Very intrigued by the way one of the larger rocks seems to have split open too.  Love those raw images each day.

---

Stuart Atkinson

Skywatching Blog: [url]http://journals.aol.com/stuartatk/Cumbrian-Sky[/url]

Astronomical poetry, including mars rover poems: [url]http://journals.aol.com/stuartatk/TheVerse[/url]

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Member

From: Mt. Vernon, OH

Registered: 2004-02-02

Posts: 16

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Probably old news for you veterans, but just in case

[http://www.marsunearthed.com]Good Mars Site for pics

A ton of 3D images.

Link

atajurk

InActive

From: ljubljana, slovenia

Registered: 2004-02-08

Posts: 15

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Hi everyone!

I've missed last press conferrence and I would like to know the schedule of nex one. Can someone help me?

Mad Grad Student

Member

From: Phoenix, Arizona, North Americ

Registered: 2003-11-09

Posts: 498

Website

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Right now it's just before sunrise at Gusev Crater. If I'm correct then right now (At least the time I posted this) Earth should be showing as a bright blue morning star. I interpreted that from this rendering of the solar system.

Imagine what that would be like! Right now Earth is a big blue ball sitting there high in the pre-dawn sky. The images of Earthrise are considered to be some of the most universally powerful pictures ever taken. If you looked at Earth from Gusev you'd see everything that's Earth and all it stands for in one shimmering dot in the sky. It's realizations like this that keep me hooked on space flight, I honstley don't understand why other people can simply say "Who cares?"

Note: Sorry, converting this to a usable form really crudded the colors up. At least you can still tell where everything is.

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A mind is like a parachute- it works best when open.

1smlstp

Member

From: 3rd planet

Registered: 2004-01-29

Posts: 32

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

I've missed last press conferrence and I would like to know the schedule of nex one. Can someone help me?

Hi atajurk,
The next news conference is at 5:00PM UTC (12 noon EST, 9:00AM PST). Here's a link if you want to watch the one you missed.
[rtsp://video.c-span.org/15days/e020604_nasa.rm]rtsp://video.c-span.org/15days/e020604_nasa.rm

The last couple of weeks of news conferences are archived at C-SPAN. See the "watch..." link below.

1smlstp

Member

From: 3rd planet

Registered: 2004-01-29

Posts: 32

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Thinking... those little spheres might be ejecta from volcanic eruptions... you know, lava explodes into the air as an almost-liquid, sets in the air as it falls, reaches the ground as round pellets... Could also be "mini tektites", Mars-rock splashed into the air by impacts which then fell back to the ground as mini-meteorites..? Or maybe just silicon beads like those seen in lunar soil by the Apollo astronauts... could be all kinds of things, I guess. Want more pics of them - well, of EVERYTHING really!

At least some of the spherical things seem to be imbedded in the outcrop and these things are falling out as the outcrop is eroded. That means these things were created as the outcrop was being formed. Here's a good picture.

You should check out the latest [http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … _m015.html]microscopic imager images.

Arccos

Member

From: Czechia

Registered: 2004-01-07

Posts: 46

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

1smlstp, another option is that the spherical object in the pic could have just fallen down the slope above the outcrop and left stuck in the crevice.

This is an interesting image:
[http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … 52R0M1.JPG]http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery....0M1.JPG
[http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … 52R0M1.JPG]http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery....0M1.JPG
It shows a landscape out of the crater which wasn't visible from the lander. Also on the horizon and in the leftmost part of the pic you can see two objects: dark and bright. They are believed to be the lander's heat shell and parachute.

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My knowledge of the English language is poor - but still I'm here .

Arccos

Member

From: Czechia

Registered: 2004-01-07

Posts: 46

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

In this picture:
[http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … 20R0M1.JPG]http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery....0M1.JPG
the so believed shield and parachute are also visible (to the right near the horizon).

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My knowledge of the English language is poor - but still I'm here .

1smlstp

Member

From: 3rd planet

Registered: 2004-01-29

Posts: 32

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

1smlstp, another option is that the spherical object in the pic could have just fallen down the slope above the outcrop and left stuck in the crevice.

Good point arccos. I shouldn't jump to conclusions. I was looking at this image and it looks to me like there are two spheres inside the outcrop material. The first being about 1/4 of the way down from the top and in the center. The second about in the center of the image. Also there appears to be a sphere hanging upside down, and a little out of focus, about a quater way up from the bottom of the image. It's just behind the sort-of-spherical item that is partially lit by the sun/

[http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … 33M2M1.JPG]It's easier to see in the larger image.

Arccos

Member

From: Czechia

Registered: 2004-01-07

Posts: 46

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Yes, this image is quite convincing! You are probably right.

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My knowledge of the English language is poor - but still I'm here .

1smlstp

Member

From: 3rd planet

Registered: 2004-01-29

Posts: 32

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Yes, this image is quite convincing! You are probably right.

Actually, I'm probably wrong. But it's interesting to think about what it means if they are in the outcrop. If the outcrop was formed by water and these things formed in the water, then that would be REALLY exciting. [http://onesmlstp.tripod.com/]Here's the same image with the objects circled.

Stu

Member

From: Kendal, Cumbria, England

Registered: 2001-09-04

Posts: 318

Website

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

At least some of the spherical things seem to be imbedded in the outcrop and these things are falling out as the outcrop is eroded. That means these things were created as the outcrop was being formed. Here's a good picture.

"Good"? Wow!! I hadn't seen that, thanks for sharing it with us. Yes, the fact that the spheres are embedded in the outcrop material throws a completely different light on things.

But maybe the core of my original idea still holds... if this part of Mars was once underwater, then nearby volcanic eruptions / meteor impacts might have showered it with material which then sank down to the crater floor, becoming embedded in the sediments as they formed.

Just an idea 

---

Stuart Atkinson

Skywatching Blog: [url]http://journals.aol.com/stuartatk/Cumbrian-Sky[/url]

Astronomical poetry, including mars rover poems: [url]http://journals.aol.com/stuartatk/TheVerse[/url]

Link

Member

From: Mt. Vernon, OH

Registered: 2004-02-02

Posts: 16

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Anyone notice the honeycomb looking structure at the bottom edge of the hanging bead in above picture submitted by 1smlstp. That bead looks to be split in half.

Link

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

*Cool. 

Of course, now I can't find the web page which approximates the dimensions of the spheroids; one of the earliest images (color) I've seen approximated one as 3 mm in diameter (but they vary in size of course).

--Cindy 

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

atajurk

InActive

From: ljubljana, slovenia

Registered: 2004-02-08

Posts: 15

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Thank you 1smlstp,

I did catch the last briefing, but now we'll have to wait till Thursday. Terrible!

Shaun Barrett

Member

From: Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Registered: 2001-12-28

Posts: 2,843

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Thanks, Link! Very nice pictures indeed.   

    That bead hanging out of the strata caught my attention too. The picture of it I saw wasn't as good as this one, though, so I couldn't be sure what it really was.
    It certainly does look like it might be a bead which has split in two, the other half presumably having dropped out onto the surface somewhere. I can see what you mean about the 'honeycomb looking structure' at the lower edge of the bead as well.

    I read somewhere that Steve Squyres was considering cutting one of these beads open to examine it for deposition rings (or words to that effect), in an effort to determine how they formed. Maybe this 'half-bead', ready-cut by mother nature, would save him some trouble(?).

    The outcrop has been found to contain a high concentration of sulphur, which nobody has yet made any comments about. I'm surprised they didn't get Opportunity to cut into the material as soon as they got close enough and analyse its mineral content more comprehensively. This geology-by-remote-control is a risky business and there's no telling how long the rovers might last. I would have thought it best to analyse the outcrop quickly, before moving on to the shoot-and-scoot phase of the operation. Wouldn't it be frustrating if we ended up with hundreds of high resolution photos of the outcrop but had to admit that, in the end, we never found out what it was made of?!!
                                                          

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The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping Up and Down.   - Rita Rudner

RobertDyck

Moderator

From: Winnipeg, Canada

Registered: 2002-08-20

Posts: 7,932

Website

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Let's see, we found round beads in an impact crater. It's already known the act of impact melts rock and throws drops out, which cool into beads when or before they land. I'm not surprised to find geological evidence of an impact crater, Mars is covered with them. However, I'm sure the geologists will argue the details. I also expect the microscopic imager will find fracture cones.

Link

Member

From: Mt. Vernon, OH

Registered: 2004-02-02

Posts: 16

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

RobertDyck,

  "the act of impact melts rock and throws drops out", never heard of that before  Come on, let us have a little fun!

Link

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Fun? Fun? ? Read the upper right corner: 'serious Mars discussions'!

No laughing allowed here!     

Dr. K

InActive

Registered: 2004-01-16

Posts: 6

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

Take a look at this [http://www.marsunearthed.com/Opportunit … y15_3D.htm]Spherule 3-D Anaglyph. Grab your red/blue glasses, and you will see a closeup of a spherule in 3-D, as seen by Opportunity's Microscopic Imager.
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For news, status, updates, scientific info, images, video, and more, check out:
[http://axonchisel.net/etc/space/mars-ex … ights.html](AXCH) 2004 Mars Exploration Rovers - News, Status, Technical Info, History.

dickbill

Member

Registered: 2002-09-28

Posts: 749

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *3* - ...continued from previous threads

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … 6R1_br.jpg

Here we are : the 'blueberry muffin' in the outcrop at meridiani.
Stones with 'concretions' 'spherules' and 'nodules' . Either it is molten spheric rocks from impact or volcanism, or hydric concretions (by the way, it reminds me of the fossils microbes in ALH840001, that some say they are in fact chemical concretions).
And what could be the cement ?
suspens suspens...