Imprint shows Mars craft landed in 'weird stuff'

USA Today ^ | 1/6/2004 11:11 PM | Robert Davis, USA TODAY

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

As Mars rover Spirit slid to a stop on the Red Planet, it mashed the soil, leaving a mess like nothing seen before.

Eyeing the most detailed pictures ever sent to Earth from the planet, the NASA team said Tuesday that the malleable substance could be a sign of water's work on Mars.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Good writeup regarding the strange Mud that can't be Mud.

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[Riley]

Imprint shows Mars craft landed in 'weird stuff'

I think it was just a tad off course.

Weirdstuff

[GeronL]

"The soil was stripped up and folded in an interesting way," said Jim Bell, who designed the panoramic camera that Spirit used to photograph the "mud-like" patch. "It has quite alien textures."

mud was my first reaction, check the LONG thread

[GeronL]

It ain't a rock, thats for sure..... they don't seem as interested in 'Sleepy Hollow' anymore.

They messed up, their studio in rural Nevada has just executed 2 guys in charge of faking this landing .../sarcasm

[GeronL]

Worth a ping??

mud that can't possibly be mud??

[woofie]

Where is the purple people eater?(one eyed,one horned, flying)

[rm3friskerFTN]

Martian "Weird Stuff" sounds like the Moab, Utah Arches National Park "Cyptobiotic Crust" ... living organisms in the soil

"Cryptobiotic soil crusts, consisting of soil cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses, play an important ecological roles in the arid Southwest. In the cold deserts of the Colorado Plateau region (parts of Utah, Arizona Colorado, and New Mexico), these crusts are extraordinarily well-developed, often representing over 70 percent of the living ground cover. Cryptobiotic crusts increase the stability of otherwise easily eroded soils, increase water infiltration in regions that receive little precipitation, and increase fertility in soils often limited in essential nutrients such as nitrogen and carbon"

[snip][snip][snip] more at the USGS website

[claudiustg]

Or maybe a giant cow pie?

[Waco]

Aha! That dry "lake bed" is actually a small to medium size martian "turd". Flattened some, source, (humaoid, or animalnoid"), unknown.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Sheb Wooley bump. (died in 2003)

[ballplayer]

Could it be the craft made the mess itself when landing or did the craft just appear on the surface

[Elsie]

"It has quite alien textures."

Whoda thunk!!!

[traumer]

Oh, SH..

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

ROFL!!