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  #121  
Old 09-08-2012, 01:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alistairsam View Post
anyone know what the indentations in the soil at the bottom left, around 7 o'clock could be in this image from the phoenix lander?? Not sure how that could form.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/sl...r-slide-show#5
My guess is that it's most likely a few stones were kicked up by Phoenix's landing - in particular one of a pair of stones just above the little indentations looks like it has rolled/bounced (showing a darker underside and not embedded in the finer regolith). The indentations would be where the stones skipped across and bounced in the fine soil?
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  #122  
Old 09-08-2012, 03:25 PM
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http://www.scientificamerican.com/sl...r-slide-show#5

Why is the flag blue instead of red striped?
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  #123  
Old 09-08-2012, 09:16 PM
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With all the excitement about Curiosity, is anybody sparing a thought for Spirit?

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  #124  
Old 10-08-2012, 06:07 AM
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Here's one from little brother, Opportunity - taken in May:

"Late Afternoon Shadows at Endeavour Crater on Mars
NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity catches its own late-afternoon shadow in this dramatically lit view eastward across Endeavour Crater on Mars."

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...20120522a.html
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  #125  
Old 10-08-2012, 08:32 AM
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Originally Posted by SkyViking View Post
There was some discussion on that over on UMSF forums immediately after the landing. It appears quite logical that it could be the dust cloud from the crashing skycrane, but what a lucky shot if it is It's definitely not dust on the lens cover because it appears in both the left and right views.
OMG! It's a Jawa Sand crawler. George Lucas was right!
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  #126  
Old 10-08-2012, 08:33 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tims View Post
Here's one from little brother, Opportunity - taken in May:

"Late Afternoon Shadows at Endeavour Crater on Mars
NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity catches its own late-afternoon shadow in this dramatically lit view eastward across Endeavour Crater on Mars."

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...20120522a.html
Just as well its source of power is not sunlight. Check the dust on this thing already. The horizon hills look really greenish. Is this false color or real light?
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  #127  
Old 10-08-2012, 08:46 AM
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Just as well its source of power is not sunlight. Check the dust on this thing already. The horizon hills look really greenish. Is this false color or real light?
PS: Oops! Haven't had my coffe yet. That's the one that's stuck alright...
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  #128  
Old 10-08-2012, 10:07 AM
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Interesting to see here in this image on right of frame the blast mark
one of the descent engines made. Also note little pebbles and grit scattered
on body of Curiosity which would have been blown and tossed up in the landing.

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/6...-full_full.jpg

JPL report health checks of system still taking place and all looks good.

This thumbnail image shows more blast marks -
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/6...-full_full.jpg

The thumbnail panorama -
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/6...-full_full.jpg
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  #129  
Old 10-08-2012, 12:28 PM
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Gary et al,

to me, those pics make Mars seem so much closer. Eerily 'close' in fact.

I remember when the first moon shots came out, being able to see individual small rocks and bits of gravel on the ground for the first time had me thinking the same thing then - just how 'close' the moon had become now that we could see this quality of detail.

And now here we are, able to see this incredibly fine detail on Mars. The landscape and atmosphere look spookily similar to parts of our own planet. And yet it's all that distance away. Just awesome to ponder on the scope of it ....
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  #130  
Old 10-08-2012, 12:42 PM
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Originally Posted by PCH View Post
to me, those pics make Mars seem so much closer. Eerily 'close' in fact.
..
yeah, I keep expecting to see Gilligan and the skipper pop out of nowhere covered in feathers.

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  #131  
Old 10-08-2012, 02:09 PM
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Originally Posted by PCH View Post
Gary et al,

to me, those pics make Mars seem so much closer. Eerily 'close' in fact.

I remember when the first moon shots came out, being able to see individual small rocks and bits of gravel on the ground for the first time had me thinking the same thing then - just how 'close' the moon had become now that we could see this quality of detail.

And now here we are, able to see this incredibly fine detail on Mars. The landscape and atmosphere look spookily similar to parts of our own planet. And yet it's all that distance away. Just awesome to ponder on the scope of it ....
Hi Paul,

I know exactly what you mean.

Firstly, I remember listening to the NASA commentary of the Viking 1 landing
in July 1976 being broadcast "live" on shortwave by the Voice of America.
Because of the 14 minute light-time delay from Mars, one didn't know whether
it had either crashed or successfully landed because the speed of light is as
fast as the information could be conveyed.

It struck me at the time as philosophically significant because it was the first time
in most of our lives that the fate of something we cared about which had already in fact occurred
can't be known instantaneously because of the finite speed of light. Of course, when
we wave to each other across a room, we experience a light-time delay of
around 3.3 nanoseconds per meter, but humanly we don't notice it and we
thus get the illusion that everything is happening in the same "real-time" time-frame.

Secondly, the university library had a subscription to NASA journals and many
a spare hour was spent reading them when I probably should have been
completing the next assignment.

One of the publications was SP-425 "The Martian Landcape". It included pictures
from Viking 1 and Viking 2. At the back there were some 3D stereo pairs.

Inside the back cover of the publication there was an envelope with a fold-out stereo
viewer (what a great book!). I remember the sense of awe and wonder when
I fused the images for the first time and there I was looking at this rocky landscape
on another world. With each passing second as I stared at it, more and more
"snapped" into place and I felt like I was "there".

As the authors of SP-425 wrote -
Quote:
Originally Posted by "The Viking Imaging Team
Some persons can appreciate the stereoscopic effect much more easily than others. There is, however, one fairly reliable guide to the viewer's success. If, as he peers through the stereoscope, you ask him if he sees the third dimension and he responds noncommittally "yes," then you know he has not. Wait a few minutes and you will hear an exclamation of surprise and wonder. Then you will know he has seen it. The effect is so unusual, literally drawing you into the scene, that very few people come upon it without excitement.
Yet here was a world that was also in some ways familiar. It struck me how
common rocks must be throughout the universe. You could pick them up,
throw them or bang them together just like here.

I remember leaving the library like I had undergone some epiphany. As I looked
around, everyone else was just going about their day-to-day lives, but I had
just visited another world.

"SP-425 The Martian Landscape" by the Viking Landing Imaging team is available
online here - http://history.nasa.gov/SP-425/contents.htm

Those stereo pairs appear in it here -
http://history.nasa.gov/SP-425/ch41.htm
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  #132  
Old 10-08-2012, 05:36 PM
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NASA explains it's choice of 2MP camera sensors on Curiosity rover.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/9/323...project-leader
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  #133  
Old 10-08-2012, 07:50 PM
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Originally Posted by DavidU View Post
NASA explains it's choice of 2MP camera sensors on Curiosity rover.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/9/323...project-leader
These cameras are lovingly designed and hand assembled by
Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) in San Diego.

A wonderful portfolio of space cameras appears on their web page here -
http://www.msss.com/space-cameras/
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  #134  
Old 11-08-2012, 05:58 PM
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http://www.msss.com/science/msl-mast...escription.php
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  #135  
Old 11-08-2012, 07:26 PM
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Where's the pricing?

H
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  #136  
Old 11-08-2012, 07:43 PM
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Apologies if this has been posted before, but thought some might be interested in the role that the CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope had in monitoring the arrival of the Mars probe, there's this link via John Sarkissian:

http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/peop...sl_tracks/edl/

Has some nice behind the scenes views and a Doppler plot of the spacecraft on the way in.

Phil
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  #137  
Old 12-08-2012, 10:44 AM
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Here is a new hi res Mars image.
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia1...aller-full.jpg
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  #138  
Old 12-08-2012, 12:14 PM
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This is an RGB image and was wondering if it's a true colour rendition as histogram seems all over the place

I had a go at a small section to balance the histogram somewhat and the colour is different
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  #139  
Old 12-08-2012, 01:43 PM
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Hi David,

Thanks for posting the link.

This has to be the most tantalizing image yet.

When you examine the image, the dark region towards the center looks very compelling.
Though I am no geologist, this looks like the remnant of a dried up creek bed and it
was one of the main reasons this landing site was chosen.

I would speculate that these darker areas correspond to the clay deposits that
geologists using orbiter imagery had originally spotted. And the geologists
have said where there is clay, there once must have been water flow.

If it were on Earth and you were Bear Grylls and had just parachuted into there,
surely you would make a beeline to the dark area at the foot of the mountains
as your best chance of digging to find water. The water may long be gone
but it will be intriguing to see the evidence up close of where it had been.

As a footnote, readers may like to be reminded that Gale Crater was named after
Sydney amateur astronomer Walter Gale, who passed away in 1945.
His biography appears here –
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gale...frederick-6269

Images copyright JPL/NASA.
First image shows dark area - are these the fluvial clay deposits?
Second image shows landing zone in rim of crater. Note the darker regions which are believed to be fluvial deposits.
Do these correspond to what we are seeing in the ground based image?
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  #140  
Old 12-08-2012, 09:09 PM
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These images that are beginning to come down now are really good.
I had a play with one of the full resolution views towards Mt. Sharp (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia1...color-full.jpg) and attached below is the result.
The landing area seems incredibly diverse, and look at all those layers on the mountain itself...!
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