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#151 2004-08-10 18:53:21

Shaun Barrett
Member
From: Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Registered: 2001-12-28
Posts: 2,843

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

Magnificent!
    And see!!! The sky is blueish when the air is clear!

[And don't give me a lot of technical hooey about colour enhancement and saturation etc.   "Sufferin' Succotash" ... trying to spoil a kid's fun ... !
                                          :bars2:   ]


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

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#152 2004-08-10 20:50:05

Palomar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2002-05-30
Posts: 9,734

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

Could this be the best photo of the Martian landscape ever taken..?

http://mer.rlproject.com/index.php?show … ...try1536

Wow... bet that's your new wallpaper Cindy...  big_smile

*My god.  This pic is the greatest shot in the arm I've had in quite a while.  No, scratch that:  Probably -the- greatest shot in the arm as Mars goes (and that's some tough competition).

Shaun:  Magnificent!
   And see!!! The sky is blueish when the air is clear!

*I don't believe it.  ::shakes head::  Figure of speech.

For the first time ever, for me, the word "home" seems to fit much more easily with "Mars." 

"How Rusty Was My Valley"  :laugh:

Stu, kudos to you for finding this pic!

--Cindy

::EDIT::  We had a "preview" of this (of sorts) months ago, with that bluish Marsian sunset.  Remember?  The 4th or 5th in this series of S & O threads.  It of course generated controversy about true color versus (borrowing from Shaun) "color enhancement and saturation," etc.  That sunset pic has held very strongly in my memory.  And this is a confirmation.  smile


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)

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#153 2004-08-10 22:05:04

hubricide
Member
Registered: 2004-07-26
Posts: 49

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

The rocks are bluish, too, in a way that looks unnatural to me..  I'm not sure the sky is really that blue, but it certainly doesn't look very red.  smile

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#154 2004-08-10 22:25:38

Stu
Member
From: Kendal, Cumbria, England
Registered: 2001-09-04
Posts: 318
Website

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

The rocks are bluish, too, in a way that looks unnatural to me..  I'm not sure the sky is really that blue, but it certainly doesn't look very red.  smile

I know, not at all sure about the accuracy of the sky or rock colours either, but personally I don't really care; I NEVER take the colours on ANY of these unofficial pics as "true", they're all "tweaked" to some degree... but does it matter? There won't be a genuine "true colour" pic of the martian surface until someone goes along with a painting set and actually paints what they see.

Until then, I'll just appreciate these pics aesthetically... and ache that I can't be there in person seeing what they show with my own eyes.  sad

But must admit, when I saw this pic I heard the epic theme from "The Big Country" in my mind...  smile


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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#155 2004-08-11 03:30:55

atomoid
Member
From: Santa Cruz, CA
Registered: 2004-02-13
Posts: 252

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

just look at it in 3D! cobra heads http://www.marsunearthed.com/Spirit/Spi … htm]yonder and http://www.marsunearthed.com/Spirit/Spi … htm]hither. too bad you cant rotate a stereo pair, were stuck on a grade here.

And some http://lyle.org/mars/bysol/1-194.html]clouds over Opportunity This is real-time ONE MINUTE cloud movement on Mars
cloudrift.gifhttp://www.freewebs.com/atomoid/cloudrift.gif]link to the Mars clouds gif animation


"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.

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#156 2004-08-11 06:12:42

REB
Banned
From: Houston, Texas
Registered: 2004-04-07
Posts: 555
Website

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ … .HTML]This Oppy picture with clouds is wonderful!


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

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#157 2004-08-11 11:21:05

Stu
Member
From: Kendal, Cumbria, England
Registered: 2001-09-04
Posts: 318
Website

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

Colour "purists" might prefer this version of the new panorama...

http://www.lyle.org/~markoff/collection … 0_L725.jpg


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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#158 2004-08-11 11:50:52

Palomar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2002-05-30
Posts: 9,734

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

Colour "purists" might prefer this version of the new panorama...

http://www.lyle.org/~markoff/collection … 0_L725.jpg

*It's still bluish  smile  Soft robin's egg blue.

--Cindy


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)

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#159 2004-08-16 01:52:50

Rxke
Member
From: Belgium
Registered: 2003-11-03
Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

Spirit's having a mighty hard time climbing that place... At one occasions 125% slippabe, which means it actually lost ground, trying to climb...

Three cheers for courage, I'd say! (And giving us that sublime picture)

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/ … 205]Spirit Update

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#160 2004-08-16 06:15:34

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 29,428

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

On another note of exploration Zoe the robot to look for life on Earth as practice for Mars once it arrives in one of the driest places on Earth, Chile's Atacama Desert. Large stretches of the Atacama, where fog is the major source of precipitation, appear devoid of life; if machines can find life in the Atacama, the thinking goes, they might have a chance of finding life on Mars, if it exists there.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04229/362419.stm

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#161 2004-08-16 22:32:51

Stu
Member
From: Kendal, Cumbria, England
Registered: 2001-09-04
Posts: 318
Website

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...


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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#162 2004-08-17 07:43:47

Palomar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2002-05-30
Posts: 9,734

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

*Hi Stu:  Nice.  Now we've got a salmon-pink color going on, huh?   :;):

What a shot.  Definitely gives one "the-next-hill-overitis."  Wish Spirit could just keep going.

The side of the hill on the right-hand side reminds me of low hills near to home; I could almost fancy the indistinguishable rocks on that Marsian hill look very similar to small mesquite bushes dotting a home hill from a distance.

--Cindy


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)

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#163 2004-08-17 09:24:17

dicktice
Member
From: Nova Scotia, Canada
Registered: 2002-11-01
Posts: 1,764

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

Steady, girl. . . . petrified mesquite bushes on Mars?!

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#164 2004-08-17 14:34:44

Rxke
Member
From: Belgium
Registered: 2003-11-03
Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

These are the pictures the public (taxpayers) needs... No more bland plains, but hills, canyons, mountains....

Go, Spirit, go!

Very good PR for NASA. And Mars, I'd say...

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#165 2004-08-18 00:37:29

atomoid
Member
From: Santa Cruz, CA
Registered: 2004-02-13
Posts: 252

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

Now thats the shot i've been waiting for:
http://mer.rlproject.com/index.php?act= … ...id=1569
look like theyre made from shots taken on http://www.lyle.org/mars/bysol/2-219.html]Spirit sol 219
Now, look just right of center on the horizon, is that Bonneville Crater poking up?
I've wondered just how far we've come but not been able to spot Bonneville in any pictures taken from the flats we crossed, now that weve gotten this perspective it looks so close! and pretty steep there inthe distnace too. its really great to finally get some higher perspective to give a more cognitive sense of the path travelled that just cant really be done justice by tracing lines on an orbital photo. now if i could only make out Spirit's tracks leading all the way to the crater...


"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.

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#166 2004-08-18 02:43:18

remcook
Banned
Registered: 2004-01-07
Posts: 78

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

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#167 2004-08-18 03:40:15

Rxke
Member
From: Belgium
Registered: 2003-11-03
Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

Fair enough. I was wondering about that, too... These files are big.

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#168 2004-08-18 21:49:58

Josh Cryer
Moderator
Registered: 2001-09-29
Posts: 3,830

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

Hmm, yeah, guess hot linking should've been frowned upon by us mods, but I think the pretty pics have us (at least me) mezmerized. smile

The shot Stu linked from there is absolutely breathtaking, and is truely the sort of imagry that I've always been waiting to see from Mars (I have to remember that the rock in front of the rover is actually kind of small!). Could've swore I posted my comments about it when Stu posted it, but I must've not.

mer.rlproject.com is great, and Rxke, the link regarding everything-science you made over there is also pretty neat, thanks for sharing it.


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]
--------
The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

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#169 2004-08-19 01:44:23

Rxke
Member
From: Belgium
Registered: 2003-11-03
Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

The good news is, his bandwith saldo is still well within margins... And the 'critique' was not really towards 'us' but towards certain users of that board itself, who seemed to use it as an upload-repository....

And we haven't been hotlinking that much either, but of course New Mars gets a fair bit of traffic, so he potentially *could* get hurt by this, saldo-wize.

And you have to agree: it's a great site, mer.rlproject.com]linking to it  can't hurt, but beware... You tend to lose hours of gazing there.

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#170 2004-08-19 02:01:17

Rxke
Member
From: Belgium
Registered: 2003-11-03
Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

On with the show.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/0 … ]Interview with our big friend Steve... With some truly bold remarks. It's a bit old (around July,) but still pretty impressive.

"We've answered the question, Was it habitable? Yes, it was. But was it inhabitated? Different question. To answer that you've got to bring the rocks back. But we know where to go now."

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#171 2004-08-19 02:04:57

Rxke
Member
From: Belgium
Registered: 2003-11-03
Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

And....

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?r … 204]Spirit finds proof of lotsa water, Opportunity finds new flavor of 'berries!

Wowza, two great things. The bedrock in the hills shows signs of serious alteration in watery conditions, and Opp. found something really intriguing... Will the riddle be solved at last? Or is it getting even bigger??

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#172 2004-08-19 07:34:17

Palomar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2002-05-30
Posts: 9,734

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040817.html]Berries at Bylot

*Lol...sorry, but I can't help wondering sometimes if these things are fossilized turds. 

Wow, sure can tell it's MS convention time.  Message board is so  :sleep:  :sleep:  :sleep:  lately. 

--Cindy  :;):


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)

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#173 2004-08-19 07:46:16

Rxke
Member
From: Belgium
Registered: 2003-11-03
Posts: 3,669

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

That would take quite an army of Mars Wabbits to produce.... I mean: they're everywhere...

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#174 2004-08-21 09:33:12

Palomar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2002-05-30
Posts: 9,734

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mer … .html]Oppy gets a power boost

*Oppy's solar energy output rose above 610 watt-hours over the past couple of days; that's more than it's had since about Sol 100.  The additional power may be due to less hazy skies.

Also gives "rundown" of latest activities by Oppy.  A target called "Jiffypop" -- ??  :laugh:  That's too much! 

--Cindy


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)

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#175 2004-08-21 11:42:39

dicktice
Member
From: Nova Scotia, Canada
Registered: 2002-11-01
Posts: 1,764

Re: Spirit & Opportunity *7* - ...continuing...

How offhand you deal with the weather conditions on Mars, these days, Cindy. Broken clouds with a possibility of rain, tomorrow--I mean, tosolo?

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