MARS rover - Daily Updates - posted Feb. 16, 12:30 pm PST

NASA - JPL ^ | Feb. 16, 12:30 pm PST | NASA/JPL

[ErnBatavia]

Rather humorous that the tire tracks make a nice "14," in keeping with the Valentine's Day time stamp on the picture....

Looks a little like what Ted Kennedy's Oldsmobile tracks might have done right before sliding into the drink...

[_Jim]

'Cept when we call it "caliche"...

You're stretching it for a Texan - "caliche" is three sylables!

[Professional Engineer]

Check out the "burnout"! Cool

[Hoboken]

My Ex is from the town of Panhandle, TX. I always thought she was saying "cleechy"

[Phil V.]

I think that the white is just the effect of soil compression and a different reflective surface . . . take a look . . .

[TXnMA]

I think that the white is just the effect of soil compression and a different reflective surface . . . take a look

Yep, it's striking how much simple compression -- especially with a smooth-surfaced compactor -- can change a soil's albedo. We see it all the time in photos of archaeological excavations (as in bootprints). And, yes, the illumination incidence/reflectance angle relative to the lens axis has an 'amplifying' impact on this effect, as well...

[TXnMA]

Speaking of compaction, look how strikingly smooth and vertical large portions of the far wall of the trench are. No doubt those top-notch soil scientists at JPL can tell a lot about the soil properties from features like that -- as well as from the way "nodules" of compacted soil cling to the trench wall.

Here on Earth, we would expect those walls to crumble and collapse somewhat as the exposed soil dries out. Wonder how those walls will change over time on Mars -- and what those changes (if any) will tell the soil guys...

Very interesting stuff!!

[Phil V.]

full pic from front haz cam . . .

[TXnMA]

Thanks! Your full-size photo answers one question I had: I wasn't sure if those were hills at the top of the horizon arc in the stereo images -- or if they were arc-segment (scan line) artifacts resulting from the 72 ppi screen resolution.

If I weren't way out in the TX boonies at the end of a 24K (max) limp string, I would be downloading the raw Mars rover data and massaging it with NIH Image and Deneba/ACD's "Canvas", which is my real graphics workhorse (on both the Mac & PC). I was interested (but not surprised) to learn that the folks at JPL rely on Canvas (with its powerful transparent layering capabilities) for some of their compositing, etc.

BTW, I have been following the "how to view stereo pairs" discussion closely. I usually can anti-cross merge stereo pairs with ease. Those of yours that give me difficulty are usually so because the image centers are significantly wider apart than my (6.3 cm?) interpupillary distance. Downloading and downscaling them a bit usually fixes the problem... Or, I can resort to cross-merging -- which is a bit uncomfortable.

Of course, if you examine the trench image pair, you will see that only a small area is common to both images -- hence, all I see in stereo is just the center section of the trench.

Thanks again!

[TXnMA]

Thanks! Your full-size photo answers one question I had: I wasn't sure if those were hills at the top of the horizon arc in the stereo images -- or if they were arc-segment (scan line) artifacts resulting from the 72 ppi screen resolution.

If I weren't way out in the TX boonies at the end of a 24K (max) limp string, I would be downloading the raw Mars rover data and massaging it with NIH Image and Deneba/ACD's "Canvas", which is my real graphics workhorse (on both the Mac & PC). I was interested (but not surprised) to learn that the folks at JPL rely on Canvas (with its powerful transparent layering capabilities) for some of their compositing, etc.

BTW, I have been following the "how to view stereo pairs" discussion closely. I usually can anti-cross merge stereo pairs with ease. Those of yours that give me difficulty are usually so because the image centers are significantly wider apart than my (6.3 cm?) interpupillary distance. Downloading and downscaling them a bit usually fixes the problem... Or, I can resort to cross-merging -- which is a bit uncomfortable.

Of course, if you examine the trench image pair, you will see that only a small area is common to both images -- hence, all I see in stereo is just the center section of the trench.

Thanks again!

[RadioAstronomer]

Thanks for the updates. :-)

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Ophiucus]

Rather humorous that the tire tracks make a nice "14," in keeping with the Valentine's Day time stamp on the picture....

They're crafty that way at mission control. :-)

[tet68]

Phil look at this pic from Sol 25 Opportunity. Must be an impression made by the arm.

[Phil V.]

Thanks. Yes, it's an after shot following one of their whiz-bang tests. I'd surely like to understand the cohiveness of the soil . . .