New Mars Forums

Josh Cryer

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Registered: 2001-09-29

Posts: 3,830

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Uhh, forgive my ignorance, but what's that white thing in the upper right corner?

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Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
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The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

cassioli

Member

From: Italy

Registered: 2004-02-23

Posts: 218

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Uhh, forgive my ignorance, but what's that white thing in the upper right corner?

An alien spaceship... from the Martian point of view : infact, it is a piece of a spaceship coming from outside Mars.
Serioulsy, it is the Opportuniy's heatshield, detached from the lander before the lander started bouncing over Mars surface.

Luca

Stephen

Member

Registered: 2004-01-16

Posts: 68

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Uhh, forgive my ignorance, but what's that white thing in the upper right corner?

For a better look at the white thingy, check out http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … 1.JPG]this image. That could almost be a Martian tent! 

However, there is  http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … PG]another which is probably more revealing. This one makes the thing look more like a camera glitch. (The last time I saw something not unlike that was when the Galileo probe took a shot of an Io lava fountain that was too bright for the electronics of the probe's camera.)

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Stephen

No life on Mars

Banned

From: Newyork

Registered: 2004-02-25

Posts: 50

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Spirit is getting closer to columbia hills. There is clear visible horisontal outcrop on lower right side.http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/2/p/128/2P137742360EFF4900P2429L7M1.JPG]Columbia hills
As I understand until now there is no evidence of past lake in gusev crater. There is couple scientific paper about gusev lake and inflow channels and some people get theirs degree writing those papers. I hope that hills will  give answers on this.

cassioli

Member

From: Italy

Registered: 2004-02-23

Posts: 218

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Dedicated to "No_life_on_Mars" 
http://www.geocities.com/lucassioli/mar … t.htm]link

Luca

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Cassioli, I get a lot of 404's when trying to view most of the pics...

cassioli

Member

From: Italy

Registered: 2004-02-23

Posts: 218

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

What a boring hosting site... :rant:
I'll try to fix them.
I suppose they are these:

anim-river.gif
anim-river3.gif
anim-trench-73-maxi.gif
cycle1.gif
endurance2-part.gif
endurance-81-93-part.gif
fake-mars-by-NASA.gif
hills-anim-8-88.gif
hills-zoom-1.gif
hills-zoom-2.gif

The others SHOULD work fine, I don't see anything strange in their file-attributes.  :hm:

Thanks for the feedback.

Luca

cassioli

Member

From: Italy

Registered: 2004-02-23

Posts: 218

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Now it should work:
http://www.geocities.com/lucassioli/mar … ect.htm]Go to mars animations album

Luca

cassioli

Member

From: Italy

Registered: 2004-02-23

Posts: 218

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

There is something up there! 

http://jumpjack.altervista.org/animazio … .gif]Large

Luca

Yang Liwei Rocket

Member

Registered: 2004-03-03

Posts: 993

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

more images here

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opport … ...2M1.JPG

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'first steps are not for cheap, think about it...
did China build a great Wall in a day ?' ( Y L R newmars forum member )

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Look at this...
http://www.lyle.org/mars/imagery/1N1379 … .html]Cake.

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Look at this...
http://www.lyle.org/mars/imagery/1N1379 … .html]Cake.

*Interesting.

Does anyone know if either S or O have been run over by a dust devil?  Or snapped a pic or two of nearby dust devils?  Allegedly they (dust devils) are all over Mars...just wondering.

Great pics still coming in...but to be honest, I'm getting a bit bored with rocks, pebbles, and more tread marks.  :-\  A dust devil or two, "upclose and personal," would be cool.

--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)

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Getting a bit spoiled, aren't we?  :;):

Actually, i was thinking a bit about that when browsing the new pics... going "look at that layered rock... Two months ago, we'd be all jumpig up and down, now i click through..." Maybe mostly because i'm just not a specialist... I can *still* imagine the adrenalin-rush of true rock-hounds seeing the Endurance pics, even Spirits pics, i *still* think they're VERY interesting, each and every one of them (no, Stu, not the joysticks)

But i do not understand them enough... The black ones, the jagged ones, the layered ones... What are they? What do they tell us?

Pristine species, all of them.

I could quite easily imagine myself becoming a rock-hound, and really drool over these pics, i really can. Not practical.

Mars is a treasure trove of knowledge, waiting to be unlocked. We're peeping through the keyhole, with a dinky camera... And already it is a marvel...

Yes, Clark, I could live there, I'm sure. To see and learn. To discover and ponder. To go frustrated at another mystery. To be overjoyed to solve one.  It is enough to fill a life with joy.

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Hmm... Romans on Mars PartII 
http://www.lyle.org/mars/imagery/1N1380 … .html]Look at the horizon, too...

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

I'd bet Spirit can climb 'em... go diagonally to the right, follow the slope... http://www.lyle.org/mars/imagery/2P1380 … G.html]and then switchback...

(getting *real* close, now...)

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Getting a bit spoiled, aren't we?  :;):

*Yeah, I know.  And I feel a bit bad about my impatience, because soon enough there'll be no *new* tread marks.    :edit:  After reading that space.com article about "Robot Death," I can't help often wondering which one will "go" first.  :-\

Cool pics you posted, Rik.  Romans...teehee.  Interesting patterns, though. 

I'm more into meterological/atmospheric phenomena on Mars, however...

--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)

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

*Would anyone happen to know or have a rough estimate of a) how many pics on average, per Sol, S & O take between them and b) if their time is somewhat equally split between examining the surface of Mars (looking down and out) and looking skyward?  Rex's questions in the "Water on Mars" thread (Falling Snow...) prompted these questions.  I'm more interested in atmospherics/meterology, so naturally I'm wondering how much time might be spent with S & O "looking up."

I've not seen estimates myself, and Google isn't a help. 

A bit off-beat, I know, but thought I'd ask anyway.  Thanks.

--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)

rgcarnes

Banned

From: In the country near Rolla Miss

Registered: 2002-02-04

Posts: 111

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Cindy,

At the very bottom of this page at JPL:   http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/]JPL Rovers Home
there is a questions and comments entry.  It seems like a fair question to ask of them and see if they respond.

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Rex G. Carnes

If the Meek Inherit the Earth, Where Do All the Bold Go?

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

While you're at it, you could ask about how many combined measurements they do when a probe does an overpass, and if the numerous sun pics give them extra (atmospherical) information, besides orientation info...

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

*Thanks for the link info, Rex; I'll write them.  And I'll add (thanks) Rik's input as well.

--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)

cassioli

Member

From: Italy

Registered: 2004-02-23

Posts: 218

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Which is the estimated height of the Columbia hills? I wonder how big are those rocks (trees?  ) up there.

Luca

REB

Banned

From: Houston, Texas

Registered: 2004-04-07

Posts: 555

Website

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Is that a cross section of a "Blueberry" at the lower left portion of this picture- right below the crack?

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … ...M1.HTML

You can see a faint outline of a circle. If this is a blueberry, it is the first one I have seen that shares the same dark hue as its parent rock.

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"Run for it? Running's not a plan! Running's what you do, once a plan fails!"  -Earl Bassett

REB

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From: Houston, Texas

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Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

Here is a mosaic icluding the picture I linked in the above post;

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … ...0a.html

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"Run for it? Running's not a plan! Running's what you do, once a plan fails!"  -Earl Bassett

atomoid

Member

From: Santa Cruz, CA

Registered: 2004-02-13

Posts: 252

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

That certainly is a blueberry, but the color doesnt seem that much different. Remember the infamous "Crinoid" image http://www.lyle.org/mars/imagery/1M1312 … tml]before and then the http://www.lyle.org/mars/imagery/1M1312 … html]after RATing image shows the parent rock being similarly dark in areas that are abraided similarly, brings up the question:

Q: Does anybody know the hardness of the bedrock?
The RAT tool must return some sort of data on how hard it had to grind to get through the surface. im still wondering if the parent rock is hard as granite or if its like a loose siltstone that hasnt undergone much metamorphosis. i assume its pretty soft since evidence points to it being eroded fairly quickly in relation to the spherules.

The splotchy lighter areas vs the darker areas on the RATed surface of the rock suggest to me that either the dark surface has been "polished" smooth by the RAT or that the lighter areas are areas where the bedrock has flaked out by the RAT action, if this is true then it looks like the dark "polished" areas could flake out and reveal this lighter stuff below, suggesting the bedrock is pretty soft and non-cohesive, and would crumble somewhat easily, you might even be able to sink your fingernail into it and chip away flakes.

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"I think it would be a good idea". - [url=http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Mahatma_Gandhi/]Mahatma Gandhi[/url], when asked what he thought of Western civilization.

slinted

Member

From: San Francisco, CA

Registered: 2004-05-21

Posts: 8

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *6* - continue on from thread "5"

The RAT tool must return some sort of data on how hard it had to grind to get through the surface.

There are a couple pieces of data that the RAT returns that will be included in the PDS release of data.  From http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missio … ve.pdf]Mer PDS Archive Docs:
Rock Abrasion Tool Experiment Data Records: time-ordered actuator current measurements, temperatures, and encoder values

They don't list any derived data products there, only the 'raw' data, but with proper calibration... (from "The Rock Abrasion Tool, Mars Exploration Rover Mission" Gorevan et al, 2003)

"From the motor currents, torque can be directly calculated and torque can be empirically correlated to the density and hardness of the rock. Combining these parameters, along with a close-up view from the Microscopic Imager (MI) of the fresh surface, one should be able to properly assess the compositional and the depositional histories of the rock."