Mars Rover Blog and Forum

Sol 0307 Front Hazcam after drive:

Sol 0307 close panorama after drive:

No "official" word yet - but it looks like the trek has begun.

The image of the Cumberland drill hole debris shows a 1/4 width ridge on the right -hand side and a much thinner x4 spread on the left-hand side.
Is this an artefact of the drilling, ejecting the dust or is this spread due to wind?
roj

why don't they have a rover on earth, doing all the same calibrations and moves as curiosity on mars? This number two curiosity could also drive on a "flexible floor", shaped the same as the surrounding environment as the one on mars, changing its terrain meter by meter based on the curiosty enviroment scans. Bad idea?

A couple of videos showing the work and results of Esa's Mars Express.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Ten_years_at_Mars_new_global_views_plot_the_Red_Planet_s_history

There are three high rez Hand Lens Images from Sol 277, each nearly identical. In each one there is a repeating pattern I have not seen before in MAHLI images of these bumpy rocks. I see at least 8 small circular areas where the orange surface grit has been rubbed away, and in the center of each is what looks like a rough hole. Oddly, almost all of the "holes" have a fleur-des-lis pattern. I can't get over the feeling it's as if something hatched out.

Sol 3308 ( May 15, 2013 ):

AAnndd it's gone.

Oppy moved from position BY08 to BYAE - about 25 meters towards the SSW.

The trek to Solander Point has begun.

Last week the HiRISE site presented a type of multiple cratering or pit string formation process which is seen in varied locations across Mars. These images are some of the best examples I have seen. The Chryse region and Acidalia Planitia host these landforms, and nearby are the 'water erosion' channels and the transition to the Dichotomy Zone from Valle's Marineris.
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_031268_2115
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http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_026521_2130
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Is there a volatiles or thermal transition explanation reasonable for this massive repeated exposure, and is this related to the South polar 'kidney' shapes', and the Meridiani region 'pit strings' and crater rim series smaller craters?
Permafrost or new material content?
Water ice or CO2 ice?

Take a look!!

http://www.marsisalive.it

Your comment is appreciated

with regard

Giampiero Bruzzone

gb.info@tiscali.it
giampiero.bruzzone@tiscali.it

When I learned that tura limeastone once covered all of the great pyramids and possibly others, I thought about it as it would look.. super polished, shiny, very reflective and bright. I was watching a 2 hour special called http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGucXXWm_RQ&list=HL1368379134 (Mars: Stealth Mission Curiosity)

After watching that and always being a believer of ancient advanced civilizations through my own research, I became convinced that a small fraction of the photos NASA releases to the public has to contain .. something.. other than rocks and dust.. so I went to the official website and looked through a few RAW images.. which they admitted were already doctored, saying a white balance filter was used for color.. but obviously they also blurred and washed the contrasts and edges..

Anyway, I noticed chunks of rocks that seemed to be very polished and shiny and without looking into it too much (as not all of their explanations of 'natural' phenomena can be trusted 100%) I began to think of the Tura Limestone and how the Ancients would have used common and plentiful planet-materials as we see in all ancient sites and even do in our own construction today with rock quarries and whatnot, it's just common sense. So with this technology permeating all they do and everything they build, I figured most if not all walls and statues were made of this polished like bluish stone they find up there on Mars, naturally. But when you look at it now its all covered in this powdery red.

Look at any of the MSL pictures with these stones and imagine there was no red dust covering them.. it would be miles of bluish shiny stone. but these oddly shiny and most time's, perfectly smooth stones, don't appear too often which led me to believe that they were used in some kind of construction a jillion years ago and the wind and dust wore at it making it bumpy and uneven.

Anyway blah blah blahjavascript:emoticon(' '), if you're visiting this forum chances are you know all this and or know way more about it.. so lets just get to the goods. In this serif photo plus project file, I took a MSL panorama and I looked around very carefully looking for odd and out of place rocks and objects (which the bluish stoned are always blasted and almost always resting above the surface and other rocks) with geometrical shapes and edges.

In order to view it you'd have to open it as a project file and click 'on/off' the: Areas Of Interest layer, to see the original vs the highlighted areas. some areas have been highlighted using different techniques to get a better look. I found not 1, but 2 heads of statues and possibly a 3rd and 4th. I also found a device which I've pointed an arrow to. it looks like a vial with one of those hinged caps b/c get this, you can see the cap hanging from the middle and the shadow of the cap (being attached to the center/tip of this vial and dangling a few centimeters off the ground)! Now I won't list them all.. the areas of interest are highlighted (zoom in to 200% for a better view) I didn't want to resize because I feared a crash and ppl claiming that its all artifact generation from resizing so I left the size untouched, if you have the skills and you think you see something too, I'd love someone to blow up some of these AOI for a closer look. Now I've already been typing for like an hour.. so i wont go on to point out too much or assume any more because people love holding me accountable for exactly everything I say.. so Maybe its good Im not a pro. lets leave all that stuff aside.. What do you see here in this panorama?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/04g7rf3xcjf7cgd/716934main_pia16563b_full%20Reveal%20Project%201.Spp feel free to go to their website for the originals.. now that they've been highlighted.. you'll see them clear as day on the originals.. no photoshop, no 'placed' objects. Unless Nasa shopped them in.. which is just a whole other kind of weird.. anyway, download it, use photoshop or photoplus to view it as its an dual image with multiple layers one original and a highlight layer on top..

Over recent months there has been a lot of talk about manned one way trips, flyby etc. to Mars in the main they quite far fetched ideas from private operators. Even the US President and NASA despite the recent cuts have proclaimed that a manned mission to Mars is still high on the agenda. Talk is cheap the challenges that face a manned mission to Mars are many and in the main some of the technology required has not even been invented yet let alone that fact that currently we can just about get to the ISS. We all know the main challenges that need to be overcome but has anyone considered how much of a problem Martian dust is check out this link:

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/9/toxic-mars-dust

So add to the list of new technology requirements a hoover!

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/05/01/america-is-forfeiting-the-space-race/

I noted you guys on my blog.
http://blog.alivinguniversity.com/

The truth is I love you guys. I am all spiritual now, but I could have never got there without my brothers

Thank you,
Darwin

Twenty Americans' deaths since 1967 are related to space missions. Will the continued science of Curiosity (not to mention what new things Opportunity might throw our way) preclude man from anything other than the Space Station and actual permanent colonies in outer space. The robots will improve. Will the powers that be in the U.S.A. conclude that any additional deaths over those twenty are just unnecessary given robotics? Volunteers who wish to colonize in outer space is a given eventually, but those are one way tickets.

Hi everyone,

Some of you might of seen that during the BBC's 'Stargazing Live' broadcast in January 2013, the new Zooniverse Citizen Science project www.planetfour.org went live to the world. As part of my research, I am realeasing a usability survey regarding the site to see what issues might exist and how they might be addressed.

So, if any of you have used the planetfour site to study the surface of Mars, I would greatly appreciate if you could have a go at the survey (link below) and let me know what you think.

The URL is: https://horizon.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3EnMW7gKgEXyeSF

It would be great to see what people think of the site, so that we can improve it for future projects to ensure both the users and the scientists get the best possible results!

Thanks and kind regards,

James

I have seen this type of shaped deposits on icy slopes in past images of Mars. I have never read this confirmed to be one of the many versions of CO 2 'dry ice', nor water ice, and the material always appears transparent or nearly completely water clear.
Is this a type of Mars ice?
The size scale viewed makes the rounded shapes many feet in diameter each, assembled as an oriented formation.

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_031078_1080