First colour image from Mars (Spirit) rover is up!

NASA Mars Rover web site ^ | 6 Jan 04 | NASA

[templar]

All landers so far have deliberately landed miles and miles from anywhere that wasn't almost perfectly flat, for that reason.

Yeah, I realize that. I was wondering how all those rocks got scattered all over the place in the plains. I would expect them around the lower plains of mountainous areas, but what carried them into the plains? Glaciers? I'm quite uninformed on geology.

[Revolting cat!]

[Doohickey]

I can't believe you just posted that 8MB image. You're gonna get flamed!

[Rebel_Ace]

"...A questin for exogeologists: Why all the rocks and stones everywhere and no mountains they came from? I was kinda expecting a lot of sand (and maybe a few old ruins or someting)..."

Well, although I'm no "exogeologist", here is my two cents worth:

A lot of the sharp, jagged rocks strewn EVERYWHERE are probably ejecta from impacts in the past. In other words, some big object slams into Mars creating a crator, and the rocks and debris rain down all over the joint, then just sit there for a million years, because the atmosphere is too thin to push much of anything bigger than a grain of sand or dust.

Now, of great interest would be smoothly rounded rocks, such as those found in riverbeds, or "banded" sedimentary rocks, showing the distinct signs of being formed from water driven processes.

[hattend]

Looks like Galena, Alaska without the snow.

[Howlin]

BIG PICTURE!

[Pan_Yans Wife]

ping

[m1-lightning]

Wow. I'm deeply impressed that we spent millions of dollars for pictures of dirt and rocks. I won't be surprised if this ends up on CAGW.

[VRWC_minion]

Does anyone see what looks like a zig zag of rockless sand that starts from the horizon and sweeps left to right as it approaches the camera location ? It looks like a shallow dry river bed that followed the contours back and forth.

It doesn't make sense that its from bouncing.

[DannyTN]

Isn't that shot from the New York Times interview with the average guy on Mars. Who said, "Mars is definitely leaning towards voting democratic. This Rover is just another occupation of Mars by the Bush administration. I hope the people on Earth figure out a way to keep Bush's agression in check. The search for life on Mars is just an excuse. You wait and see if they don't give Haliburton a contract for Mars oil."

[Bush Cheney]

[Thinkin' Gal]

[Muzzle_em]

"Where's the KABOOM? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering KABOOM!"

"Where's the American flag our astronauts put there a few years back?"
(Didn't Sheila Jackson Lee ask that question?)

[Muzzle_em]

CUTE!
LOL!!!

[John H K]

There's a very large channel that appears to be water carved, by a sudden flood(or more than one flood) leading from a high area down into Gusev crater.

Material could have been transported by water down that channel from elsewhere.

But, as mentioned, you can also get rocks from debris from large meteorite or asteroid hits, etc. There's more of that on the Moon, Mars, etc. than on Earth.

[Mamzelle]

wow! San Angelo, Texas! bump

[Mamzelle]

I don't suppose you could trade that red ATV for a nice six-wheeled John Deere Gator, could you?

[Doctor Stochastic]

The shape of the picture makes it look like New Mexico. So does the content.

[aBootes]

bump for science...

[chilepepper]

These pictures are clearly fakes!

we are really looking at the desert in northern chile... i can even make out some jeep trails in the foreground and an empty can of Paulaner beer and a discarded empanada off in one corner...