Opportunity Sees Tiny Spheres In Martian Soil

NASA - JPL ^ | 02-0402004 | Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters

[Fitzcarraldo]

maybe instead of crawing or walking it hops...

[Fitzcarraldo]

Look at those odd furrows or burrows - can wind do that? or is there something alive in the soil? something that 'creature' could feed on?

[djf]

Kinda looks like water action to me, I've seen similar stuff on the beach if it is very flat and the waves come and go real slow. Interesting that it seems to only go about halfway up the picture. I wonder if we can get some idea of the microtopography of the area. Sure could use a real pair of eyeballs there!

[Hunble]

1) I work heavily with stereo every day and the images you just posted are what I have been looking for.

2) What is the image source? Since they are not anaglyph's, I would like to reverse the images for crossed-eye viewing.

3) The large rocks in the panorama are only 18 inches tall, this mystery object must be approximately 1 cm in size, due to it's close proximity to the camera.

4) Where is NASA?

[Phil V.]

pan cam through left & right camera

[Unmarked Package]

According to Dr. Squyres, the field of view for the picture in the original posting is 3 cm square. By my ruler, that would make the largest spherical pebble at the lower left-hand corner about 3.5-4.0 mm in diameter. The majority are very tiny particles. They could easily have been blown in by winds off the plane surrounding the crater.

[Fitzcarraldo]

The nav cam took a pic of the same area on sol 5 - and the object is not there.

[Phil V.]

The raw pictures are HERE

look for the "L" and "R" in the file names . . .

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/002/1P128372948EFF0200P2211L2M1.JPG
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/002/1P128372948EFF0200P2211R2M1.JPG

[CJ Wolf]

When was the panoramic pic taken?

[Fitzcarraldo]

Left: Opportunity success pancam http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA05199.jpg Right: Opportunity Sol 5 Navcam image http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/n/005/1N128636065EFF0211P1528L0M1.JPG

[Amadeo]

Martian dinosaur fossils....everywhere....

[Hunble]

That is what I love about Freepers...

Ask any question and you will soon receive expert information.

Thanks!

[CJ Wolf]

Uh, is that moss or something growing on those rocks?

[Hunble]

In stereo, the object has a double shadow from it's "horns" and a dent towards the 10:00 position.

Very interesting!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[djf]

Ya know what's been bugging me, can't NASA afford a color camera? My El Cheapo $50 Vivitar digital takes prettier pics than these!

[non-anonymous]

A human would obviously bring along the same tools - and more - for doing analysis, and he could utilize them in more complex ways. Unlike the rover, he wouldn't have a 4-way, rotating robotic appendage permanently affixed to his wrist.

Then there's speed and versatility. One mission engineer speculated that a human could perform the entirety of the work in one of these rover missions in 1 DAY.

[Hunble]

How do you figure this?

Curious minds would like to know....

NASA did not send the equipment along with this robotic mission, so why would it be different with a human?

Facts please...

If given the exact same equipment, how would a human be better on the surface of Mars today?

[Prime Choice]

One mission engineer speculated that a human could perform the entirety of the work in one of these rover missions in 1 DAY.

What is your knowledge of the temperature extremes (in terms of both heat and cold) as well as radiation exposure on the surface of Mars? Judging from this statement, I would have to surmise that it is nil.

[flashbunny]

"What is your knowledge of the temperature extremes (in terms of both heat and cold) as well as radiation exposure on the surface of Mars? Judging from this statement, I would have to surmise that it is nil."

Or how you get them there, protect them from radiation, keep them fed and provide them with enough water, have enough supplies to fix things that break (houston, we have a problem - launch+ 5 months in space?). Plus how to deal with muscles that atrophy after prolonged weightlessness (a bowflex in outer space).

Oh, plus you have to figure out how to land. Then have enough fuel source to get them back to earth and repeat all the difficulties of getting them there in the first place. Not to mention the trip back will be even longer than the trip there (if they go with the same launch window schedule)