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Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Curiosity on Mars: Mt. Sharp in View
NASA ^ | August 27, 2012 | (see photo credit)

Posted on 08/27/2012 3:31:29 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

Explanation: What's that on the horizon? The light peak is Mt. Sharp -- an eventual destination of the Curiosity rover. The above image mosaic was taken from Bradbury Landing, the landing spot of Curiosity, and shows in the foreground the rover's extended robotic arm. Curiosity's is already on the move crossing the intermediate gravel field toward an interesting terrain feature named Glenelg. Curiosity has also already started analyzing its surroundings by zapping a nearby rock with its laser to analyze the chemical composition of the resulting gas plume. If life ever existed on Mars it might well have been here in Gale crater, with the Curiosity rover being humanity's current best chance to find what remains.

August 27, 2012

(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; curiosity; mars; science
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[Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech; Additional Mosaic Processing: Kenneth Kremer & Marco Di Lorenzo]

1 posted on 08/27/2012 3:31:40 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; married21; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; ...

2 posted on 08/27/2012 3:33:43 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

Looks a little bit like Kilamanjaro


3 posted on 08/27/2012 3:36:07 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)
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To: SunkenCiv

Fascinating picture. Thank you for the post.


4 posted on 08/27/2012 3:37:58 PM PDT by Parley Baer
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To: SunkenCiv

In a “desolate beauty” sort of way, it’s like “the moon but with mountains”.

The “life” of the “Red Planet” so far, seems limited to the macro-level “life of the whole planet” as in the dynamics of what changing wind, sunlight, and other cyclical conditions produce, moving and reshaping the seemingly barren soil, and not much else.


5 posted on 08/27/2012 3:45:52 PM PDT by Wuli
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To: SunkenCiv

Amazing. Add in some pine trees and some sagebrush and it would look amazingly like where I live.


6 posted on 08/27/2012 3:50:53 PM PDT by albionin (A gawn fit's aye gettin.)
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To: SunkenCiv

They’re blocking out the camera crew...I need to contact Alex Jones.


7 posted on 08/27/2012 4:09:18 PM PDT by Tex-Con-Man (T. Coddington Van Voorhees VII 2012 - "Together, I Shall Ride You To Victory")
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To: Tex-Con-Man

Waiting for Richard Hoagland to chime in.


8 posted on 08/27/2012 4:17:51 PM PDT by Noumenon (Obama 2012: Zimbabwe without the airfare)
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To: SunkenCiv

Those little electric motors on the robotic arm are a long way from a stocking distributor.


9 posted on 08/27/2012 4:19:27 PM PDT by Steely Tom (If the Constitution can be a living document, I guess a corporation can be a person.)
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To: BenLurkin; Parley Baer; Wuli; albionin; Tex-Con-Man; Noumenon; Steely Tom

Thanks all.


10 posted on 08/27/2012 4:28:56 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: BenLurkin; Parley Baer; Wuli; albionin; Tex-Con-Man; Noumenon; Steely Tom

Thanks all.


11 posted on 08/27/2012 4:29:21 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

This whole thing is just delightfully neato!

Thanks again, Mr. Civilizations.


12 posted on 08/27/2012 4:33:51 PM PDT by TheOldLady
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To: SunkenCiv

I want color pics and I want audio. I want to hear what the red planet sounds like. Is there audible wind on Mars? Even its silence would be interesting. I’d also like to hear the sounds Curiosity makes, the sound of its motors and the sand crunching under its tires. The audio component has been completely absent on all of the Mars missions, at least that I’m aware of. Anybody know if Curiosity is outfitted with mics?


13 posted on 08/27/2012 4:48:17 PM PDT by Yardstick
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To: Wuli
The “life” of the “Red Planet” so far, seems limited to the macro-level “life of the whole planet” as in the dynamics of what changing wind, sunlight, and other cyclical conditions produce, moving and reshaping the seemingly barren soil, and not much else.

Which is why I fully understand Val Kilmer giving the finger to Mars in "Red Planet" when he finally split.

14 posted on 08/27/2012 4:58:29 PM PDT by PJ-Comix (Beware the Rip in the Space/Time Continuum)
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To: SunkenCiv

As Carl Sagan once said: on this day Mars went from mystery to becoming just “a place”.

We’re lucky to be the generation this happens to.


15 posted on 08/27/2012 5:14:12 PM PDT by cicero2k
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To: SunkenCiv

Going off road.....zapping rocks with lasers.....hill climbing.....there’s a lot of kid left in those people at NASA.


16 posted on 08/27/2012 6:03:20 PM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: Yardstick

That’s interesting. I don’t know. The way to build and test such listening equipment would be via high altitude balloons; the atmospheric pressure on Mars at the surface is the same as 40 miles altitude on Earth. Probably pretty quiet, and you couldn’t use your naked ears to listen.


17 posted on 08/27/2012 6:42:46 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: TheOldLady

That’s an excellent summation, ToL!


18 posted on 08/27/2012 6:45:05 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: Wuli; PJ-Comix

The Lewin experiment on the Voyager lander back in the 1970s detected biological activity. There won’t be any “face-builder” civilization though. :’)


19 posted on 08/27/2012 6:45:57 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: blueunicorn6

Sounds like a great job to have. Of course, it’s all coming to a screeching whoa under the Kenyan.


20 posted on 08/27/2012 6:46:30 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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