The Mars "Thread" Thread

MER raw images ^

[non-anonymous]

Here's a close-up I made. It seems to have some width, kinda like an anti-aliased line in computer graphics rendering.

[Fitzcarraldo]

that picture is out of focus and it's hard for me to tell.

[js1138]

I think it could go either way. At any rate it's interesting that the closer we looks at Mars the less we're sure of.

[Fitzcarraldo]

That's a very thin thread - how does it compare to material that could have came from the rover, airbags, etc.?

[LibWhacker]

Yep, it's crazy they aren't getting the focus right in so many of these pics. Check out this one. I think the "threads" stand out a little better, even though the picture is still out of focus. If I didn't know better (for now, I'm buying the thread theory), I'd say they're roots.

[Dan Evans]

So "threads" are showing up not only where Opportunity landed, but also 120+ meters from Spirit's landing site.

But that thing was bouncing all over the place.

[Mr. Jeeves]

It's John Carter's hair. He has to be gray by now. ;)

[LibWhacker]

That's true. But not close to the site where the threads were found, which is halfway to Bonneville Crater. Someone, I think it was Squyers (sp?), said in regard to the Opportunity threads, that if NASA keeps seeing them as Opportunity moves away from the landing site, they'll have to re-evaluate what they are. The question is, how far is far enough? Will they be saying the darn things are "probably" threads on the very last day? If so we need a better landing method that doesn't contaminate such a wide area!

[Dan Evans]

Will they be saying the darn things are "probably" threads on the very last day? If so we need a better landing method that doesn't contaminate such a wide area!

No kidding. This is a mess. They could have come off the parachute, or it could have been shedding those fibers as it was spinning and bouncing. The wind could have spread them for a mile.

[LibWhacker]

I hope to high heaven they had the foresight -- and the money -- to send along a meteorological package. That data will be invaluable in modelling the dispersal of contaminants.

[Phil V.]

If you'd like to be on or off this MARS ping list please FRail me

[js1138]

Earlier in the day I used MS photo editor to enlarge the image. Now I look at it in Photoshop and it still has the thread-like appearance when highly magnified.

I am wondering if there are different algorithms for rendering jpegs.

[TomServo]

Anyone care to speculate?

I think I just found one of my missing buttons.

[RightWingAtheist]

My guess: this famous Martian inhabitant has been shedding:

[Doc On The Bay]

99% of the "Mars Mysteries" could have been 'Solved' by a Rudimentally trained "Astronaut."

We SHOULD have sent Humans to Mars LONG AGO!!

Doc

[eddie willers]

[Professional Engineer]

I'm using Netscrape, and can see it.

[mikrofon]

Sky Lob

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Ophiucus]

I believe it is an artifact caused by the way Internet Explorer renders the image

And everybody at NASA, JPL, and on the web uses IE?

I'll take what's behind curtain number 2, Bob. :-)