Astronomy Picture of the Day - Curiosity: Sol 3048

American Thinker ^ | 25 Mar, 2021 | Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech - Processing: Elisabetta Bonora & Marco Faccin / aliveuniverse.today

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: Before Perseverance there was Curiosity. In fact, the Curiosity rover accomplished the first sky crane maneuver touchdown on Mars on August 5, 2012. March 2, 2021 marked Curiosity's 3,048th martian day operating on the surface of the Red Planet. This 360 degree panorama from sol 3048 is a mosaic of 149 frames from Curiosity's Mastcam above the rover's deck. It includes 23 frames of icy, thin, high clouds drifting through the martian sky. The cloudy sky frames were recorded throughout that martian day and are digitally stitched together in the panoramic view. Near center is a layered and streaked Mont Mercou. The peak of central Mount Sharp, rising over 5 kilometers above the floor of Gale Crater, is in the distant background on the left.

[21twelve]

https://factcheck.afp.com/image-has-been-enhanced-photo-venus-taken-soviet-spacecraft-venera-13

Above is a link to a “factcheck” site that talks about the image. There is a bit of description of how the newer image was created.

If I understand it properly, the original image was from directly overhead and looking down? Or some oblique angle?? (It was confusing to me). And the recent image transformed it into a “photo” as taken from the lander??

What I thought was interesting how they call the image a “fake”. I guess the guy that did all of the recent manipulation on it left it as a black and white image, and others on twitter grabbed the image and colorized it. I’m not sure if because of the colorization it was a fake or because the guy manipulated it.

[MtnClimber]

That is the old rover. It is on Mars day number 3,048 of operation.

[minnesota_bound]

Where are the Martian women in bikinis?

[minnesota_bound]

#15 those photos are of Death Valley : )

[sit-rep]

bottom picture clear as day

[sit-rep]

my bad... but there is definitely a greenish color to that sand...

[sit-rep]

lol

[ETL]

“The surface of the planet Mars appears reddish from a distance because of rusty dust suspended in the atmosphere.[1] From close up, it looks more of a butterscotch,[1] and other common surface colors include golden, brown, tan, and greenish, depending on minerals.[1]”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_surface_color

[ETL]

“The presence of a common green mineral on Mars suggests that the red planet could have been cold and dry since the mineral has been exposed, which may be more than a billion years according to new research appearing in the Oct. 24 edition of Science.

Todd Hoefen, a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) geophysicist, led a team of researchers from USGS, Arizona State University and NASA, that found abundant quantities of olivine on Mars. They based their conclusions on data obtained from a Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) carried by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS).

Olivine, a transparent green-colored mineral found in many mafic rocks, is susceptible to chemical weathering and readily alters to other minerals such as iddingsite, goethite, serpentine, chlorite, smectite, maghemite and hematite in the presence of water. Except for trace amounts of hematite, which gives Mars its red color, none of these other weathering products have been found.

The team detected a 30,000 square kilometer area rich in olivine, in the Nili Fossae region of Mars. Nili Fossae has been interpreted as a complex of grabens and fractures related to the formation of the Isidis impact basin, where post-impact faulting exposed the abundant olivine. They have also found smaller deposits of olivine all over the planet, all indicating a surface dominated by volcanic processes.

The fact that so much olivine is exposed at the surface indicates that there has been little to no weathering due to water, thus no liquid water-mineral chemical reactions. The age of the surface is somewhat uncertain but is probably over 3 billion years old. ...”

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031024062917.htm

[Mr.FixIt]

Gotcha, thanks for the info.

[zeugma]

Where’s Marvin?

[21twelve]

Whew! Thanks for that clarification!! I thought this was the new rover as well. I was also looking at the plastic zip ties that they used to strap the cables in place thinking they might degrade quickly in the sun. Obviously not! They have lasted longer than the designed life of the old rover!

Thanks so much for these threads and amazing images.

[21twelve]

https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/highlights/why-have-the-rovers-lasted-so-long/

Above is a link about the older rovers, built with a 90-day life expectancy. Although I seem to recall engineers saying that was the minimum, and they hoped that it would last for longer. (But 3,000+ SOLS?)

[sit-rep]

Thanks for that!!

[ETL]

You’re welcome.

As a one-time geology major I found it very interesting, and actually not too surprising, as, here on earth, the green mineral Olivine is commonly associated with the type of rock that Mars bedrock is comprised of. Only thing is, here on earth, it is a highly unstable mineral at the surface and is so easily eroded away through weathering, it rarely appears on the surface. However, since Mars has a very different sort of climate and weathering processes it is able to remain on the surface there, in minor amounts.

[ETL]

I imagine that the reason it exists on the surface in Hawaii is because it is from relatively recent eruption(s).

______________________

Hawaii’s Amazing Green Beach Is Blanketed With Olivine Crystals Eroded From an Ancient Volcanic Formation

Mahana Beach on Hawaii’s Papakolea coast is one of only three green sand beaches in the world.

The beach sand on the Big Island’s undeveloped southern tip is rich in the mineral olivine (Gem-quality olivine is known as peridot, the August birthstone). Olivine is a common mineral component of Hawaiian lavas and one of the first crystals to form as magma cools.

Locals refer to peridot as the “Hawaiian Diamond,” and small peridot stones are sold as “Pele’s tears” in honor of Pele, the goddess of volcanoes. In ancient Hawaiian chants, Pele was described as “She-who-shapes-the-sacred-land,” and her temper was known to be both as abundant and dangerous as the lava.

Those daring enough to take the three-mile hike through lava fields to the remote beach at the crescent-shaped bay of Pu’u Mahana, will be treated to a display of one of nature’s crowning achievements — a green beach that appears surreal against the backdrop of steely grey cliffs, turquoise blue ocean and bright blue sky. The hike will take about an hour, but locals offer rides to the beach in the back of a pickup truck for $15 in each direction.

The abundance of olivine crystals filling the beach comes from the eroded cutaway interior of Pu’u Mahana, a volcanic cone produced more than 49,000 years ago by the explosive combination of lava and groundwater. Once you’ve enjoyed the wonders of Mahana Beach, you can complete the green-beach trifecta by visiting the world’s other two olivine-covered destinations — Talafofo Beach on Guam and The Green Beach on Floreana Island in The Galápagos.

The official birthstone for August, peridot is one of the few gemstones that occur in only one color: generally an olive green. The amount of iron in the crystal structures determines the intensity and tint of the green color. Specimens can range from yellow-green through olive green to brownish green. The dark-olive color is the most valuable.

https://www.dia-designs.com/hawaiis-amazing-green-beach-is-blanketed-with-olivine-crystals-eroded-from-an-ancient-volcanic-formation/

[ETL]

Vesicular Basalt with [green] Olivine Crystals - Volcano Iceland

[ETL]

Correction: make that recently EXPOSED olivine-bearing basalt. The mineral can apparently exist for much longer periods of time when it is still contained inside of basaltic bedrock. It is only when it is eroded out of the bedrock and is exposed to the environment that it begins to break down comparatively quickly. The eruptions from which it came could have taken place millions of years ago.

____________________

I imagine that the reason it exists on the surface in Hawaii is because it is from relatively recent eruption(s).

[jpsb]

Bronze is not an element

[Tea Party Terrorist]

Wow blast from my past, we went there on our honeymoon in 2008. The Green Sand Beach is the best!