First pictures of Mars Rover (Opportunity) "trenching" . . . comments/speculation encouraged

NASA - JPL ^ | 2-16-2004 | NASA/JPL

[Phil V.]

Comments/speculation?

stereo strip of trench . . .

[BenLurkin]

Interesting. So the suggestions that the white substance might be ice or perma-frost or that Mars may be at its core an ice planet similar to Europa . . . also unproven?

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[MissAmericanPie]

Could this top layer of sand be space dust? Accumulated over millions of years? I know it's said that the top layer of dust on the moon is space dust and is about the same depth as this is on Mars.

[Aracelis]

Umm...here you are getting into areas outside my expertise, although I will say that I doubt Mars would be in its particular orbit if it had an icy core - just not dense enough. I suspect that once we establish good seismic stations we will find that Mars has a small core, similar to the Earth's...with very little, if any, seismic activity.

As far as the white stuff being permafrost...you ever seen permafrost or tried to dig through it? Pretty tough stuff. I think we are looking at minerals.

[barker]

Please ad me to your ping list. Thanks.

[Aracelis]

About 40,000 tons of ~0.2 mm micrometeorites fall to Earth every year. I would imagine Mars is exposed to a similar amount, yet I doubt that the surface of Mars is dominated by this influx of material. Remember, Mars has an atmosphere that is dynamic. Most of what we are seeing is likely sediments blasted from existing rock during sandstorms.

[prisoner6]

It does look like a mineral deposit of some kind, but unless I'm seeing incorrectly it looks like traces of a similar white substance in the pics from Opportunity in post 156. That post features a great shot of those curious, round clumps everyone's been wondering about as well.

(Not to go "Close Encounters" about those clumps but they DO look SO familiar...remind me of...something...Something from long ago when I was a kid and dug in the dirt...something >kinda< important. LOL)

An experiment that would be visually interesting but probably not of much scientific value would be to have a camera attached to a small box. Dig up some Martian soil, put it in the box, gently bring it up to say 40-60 degrees F (initially - higher later) then watch what happens, as well as test for the release of gases.

Might also have been interesting to mix with some solvent, Earth water. Or just dig a trench, warm it, squirt some water into it and let it go back to ambient temp. That way we could see what water looks like on that far away world.

Of course none of the above are maritan - environmentally friendly.

prisoner6

[Aracelis]

It does look like a mineral deposit of some kind, but unless I'm seeing incorrectly it looks like traces of a similar white substance in the pics from Opportunity in post 156. That post features a great shot of those curious, round clumps everyone's been wondering about as well.

I was looking specifically for such spheres in these photos, but alas, not enough detail. FYI, calcite, magnetite, and hematite have been found in certain places on Earth as small spheres.

[Aracelis]

An experiment that would be visually interesting but probably not of much scientific value would be to have a camera attached to a small box. Dig up some Martian soil, put it in the box, gently bring it up to say 40-60 degrees F (initially - higher later) then watch what happens, as well as test for the release of gases.

I think we did that during an earlier mission, with inconclusive results - FR's Space Boyz would be able to quote chapter and verse.

[Sodbuster]

Looks like the nasty divot I made this morning on the golf course.

[MissAmericanPie]

Ok, but it is interesting to me that the layer on Mars, the Moon, and the top soil on Earth is about the same depth. Probably means nothing but it's an odd similarity.

[California74]

I dunno, but it looks like salt to me. The soil looks like it was wet at one time and then became dry, as if it had salt water. The white stuff is the salt.

here's a link to a page that shows what salt looks like at the dead sea.
Scroll down a bit on the page http://www.aboh44.ukgateway.net/gallery/jordan4.html

[R. Scott]

The dirt appears to have some cohesiveness, almost like it’s damp. That can’t be the case, so what would account for it?
Now I wish I had taken a few geology courses.

[hershey]

Hmm, just heard a Martian outcropping? named Mt. Wachusett! Now look for Kerry to attach this to his stump speech! Egad!

[knarf]

"Look at the tracks. Every few feet there is a hashmark. What are those?"

Well, the rover stops on Houston's command and takes a look and a sample ... then they look ahead and see something that really intrigues them .. a rock maybe ??

And just like little boys at the beach ... they're off and runnin'.

The hash marks are skid marks from poppin' the clutch.

[knarf]

"My guess is that we are looking at the Martian equivalent of a pegmatite and the lighter rock could be weathered orthoclase."
But .. is that logical, Spock?

[Aracelis]

But .. is that logical, Spock?

Perhaps not, but it is fa-a-ascinating to speculate.

[prognostigaator]

mars bump

[Bush Cheney]

Never mind the trenching, I'm amazed at the work Dr. Jim Bell and his engineer staff did on the design and functionality of these cameras. They are simply amazing!

[Grimas]

I would guess that the soil seems to have "cohesiveness" due to static electricity rather than moisture. Just a dumb "oil" geologist's opinion...