Posted on 12/08/2013 3:35:09 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Explanation: If you could stand on Mars -- what might you see? Scroll right to find out. The robotic Spirit rover that rolled around Mars from 2004 to 2009 Mars climbed to the top of a hill in 2005 and took a series of images over three days that were then digitally combined into a 360 degree panorama. Spirit was instructed to take images having the same resolution as a human with 20-20 eyesight. The full panoramic result can be found by clicking on the above image and has a level of detail unparalleled in the history of Martian surface photography. The panorama was taken from the pinnacle of Husband Hill and has been dubbed the Everest panorama, in honor of the view from the tallest mountain on Earth. Visible in Gusev Crater are rocks, rusting sand, a Martian sundial, vast plains, nearby peaks, faraway peaks, and sand drifts. In the distance, fast moving dust devils can be seen as slight apparitions of red, green, or blue, the colors of filters used to build up this natural color vista.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Cornell, JPL, NASA]
The advanced technology that has allowed us to go to Mars is astounding!
These Pictures show that there is NOTHING American Know-How, Ingenuity, Technical prowess, determination, Cooperation, and Scientific Advancement can’t accomplish!
So why is it that the ordering box at the drive-thru at Wendy’s sounds like a 1920’s Crystal Set?
:-)
This being Christmas season, I was reminded of my childhood in Boston, in the toy dept. of Jordan's (or was it Filene's?) and those battery operated vehicles in an enclosed, circular arena, bumping, stopping, reversing and going again.
The image is so eerily terrestrial.
Go to almost any northeastern shore, and the only thing missing is the whip grass.
And yet, it took Sibelius’ minions over three and a half years and hundreds of million dollars to create a website memorial to a total incompetent.
Indeed! You said it!
Are we also getting video back from these rovers? The still imagery is amazing but it would be cool to see those dust devils blowing around.
They saw “a Martian sundial”? Then how did they have the technology to build those big tank-thingies that Tom Cruise had to fight? Sundials. Big whoop. When the Martians build a good ten dollar watch, then I’ll get excited.
Some of the larger, more or less flat-topped rocks, especially the big one at the far right of the scan appear to have striations on the surface. On earth we see these as evidence of glaciation... What could cause that on Mars?
There clearly are distant mountains on the horizon. What is the distance?
I wish Ihad the individual frames. I think they could be adjusted to flow seamlessly.
Nice place to visit.
That is a cool sequence of still photos but I’d like to see some actual video (picky, picky, I know). We’re so used to seeing still images of other planets which make them seem slightly unreal. It would be neat to see five or ten minutes of video of the surface of Mars, maybe on a breezy day where there’s some dust moving around, just to get a feel for the place.
I’m not sure the ground probes can do video, one of the ones that crashed a few years back had a microphone on it to listen in on the surface.
Thanks. Video would be neat, but A) there’s probably nothing moving, since there’s no animal life (apart from some kind of microbial life in the soil) and B) the available bandwidth for transmissions back to Earth remains pretty small, although it’s vastly larger than the Viking probes of 30+ years ago.
Might be erosion from dust, but I’d guess this resulted from impact. The entire surface of the planet appears to have been primarily brought to its current state by millions of impacts.
The horizon on Mars is less distant than it is on Earth, for example, the ideal horizon distance on Earth would be observed from the ocean surface. Not sure what the figure is, the diameter of Mars is about 1/4 that of Earth’s.
You’re being a little hard on 20s crystal sets, doncha think? ;’)
LOL!
I’m not quite sure what your question is, SC. Short answer to the question of finding distance to the sea level horizon (ignoring refraction, which should be small in Mars’ atmosphere) is to apply the Pythagorean Theorem, using Excel notation:
R^2 + d^2 = (R+h)^2
solving for d:
d = sqrt(2*R*h+h^2)
Surface distance is then given by:
S = R*atan(d/R);
where:
R = planetary radius
h = observer (or target) height about sea level
d = slant distance between observer and sea level horizon
S = surface distance between observer and sea level horizon
atan() in radians, of course.
R, h in the same units, e.g., feet or meters.
Sea level = notional spherical equipotential surface.
Simplifying approximations are available:
when h << R, d ~ s and d ~ sqrt(2*R*h) ~ k*sqrt(h), where k is planetary constant and can be adjusted to account for refraction and differing units (feet for height, miles for distance, e.g.) on earth, k ~ 1.28 when R is in miles and h is in feet. See “The Practical American Navigator” for more details.
Note also that to determine the distance at which an observer above sea level can see a target above sea level, calculate d_observer and d_target separately and add. (Note also S_observer_target = S_observer+S_target, iow, don’t add slant ranges (d) and apply the atan formula.
Good luck.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.