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Mars Rover Spirit - Steering to Serpent
JPL.NASA.GOV ^
| 3/16/04
Posted on 03/16/2004 7:01:20 PM PST by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge
I'll bet it's diamond or carborundum!
41
posted on
03/17/2004 6:29:42 AM PST
by
mdmathis6
(The Democrats must be defeated in 2004...." MDMATHIS6, The Anti-Democrat")
To: Phil V.
The shiny buffed berry bears remarkable resemblance to those found when Opportunity dug a trench about a month ago.
Phil, what's your best guess on the reasons for such shiny stones (if they are stones)?
I have a gut level feeling that they are not being entirely forthcoming with all of the microscopic images of the last few sols. And a good portion of what they are posting is out of focus. They spent a lot of time of "berry-bowl" and there seems to be a huge gap in imagery.
So when can we expect the next "clear the decks" newser from NASA?
42
posted on
03/17/2004 6:30:15 AM PST
by
rond
To: Phil V.
I just have a feeling that they are "hording" some really kool stuff.Are you crazy? Those berries are made of Soylent Green! Run away!
43
posted on
03/17/2004 7:00:49 AM PST
by
Shryke
To: rond
Phil, what's your best guess on the reasons for such shiny stones (if they are stones)? There are examples of spherules with luster besides the ones seen in the trench. The most likely means of putting the shine on the berries is wind erosion - fine dust over time polishing the spherules
LINK
LINK
44
posted on
03/17/2004 8:56:10 AM PST
by
Phil V.
To: rond
So when can we expect the next "clear the decks" newser from NASA?I just have no clue . . . just an intuitive feeling that there is a lot more to tell and that some of the story is in pictures arrived but not posted as of yet.
Here is a magnified 3-D of the spherule in the stereo set that I posted above. I see a strong suggestion of a hexagonal structure . . .
45
posted on
03/17/2004 9:27:59 AM PST
by
Phil V.
To: Phil V.
Here is a magnified 3-D of the spherule in the stereo set that I posted above. I see a strong suggestion of a hexagonal structure . . .I 3-D see what you mean.
I just have no clue . . . just an intuitive feeling that there is a lot more to tell and that some of the story is in pictures arrived but not posted as of yet.
Is there a way to decipher the naming protocol for each set of data, to determine whether there are "skips" in the sequences? It doesn't seem likely, but the possibility intrigues.
I'd thoroughly enjoy eavesdropping on some of the conversations going on within the rover teams. Not just to be in the loop. They must be living out some incredible lifelong dreams, and that would be cool to witness.
46
posted on
03/17/2004 11:36:11 AM PST
by
rond
To: Phil V.
"I see a strong suggestion of a hexagonal structure . . . '
If things start poping up with Golden Mean type of geometric proportions (other than Hogland's crap)..we may indeed be dealing with cell reproduction.
47
posted on
03/17/2004 2:06:10 PM PST
by
Dead Dog
To: Phil V.
I've heard of various things (fish, crustaceans, insects, etc.) whose eggs remain dormant for long periods of dry time, and then when the rains come, they get going, mature, and reproduce in very short time, then the next generation goes dormant again.
I wonder if the "berries" are something along those lines? They could conceiveably be 99+% nutrient supply and -1% germplasm of some sort, no?
I wonder if the next trip, they'll soak some of them at various temperatures, in a variety of "soup" compositions?
48
posted on
03/17/2004 4:31:50 PM PST
by
Don Joe
(We've traded the Rule of Law for the Law of Rule.)
To: Phil V.
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A Double Take at 'Serpent' Drift
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this pair of microscopic imager pictures of the drift dubbed "Serpent" on Spirit's 73rd martian day on Mars after successfully digging into the side of the drift. The left image, which has a black box at the top caused by missing data, captures a transition part of the drift where lighter, undisturbed material meets disturbed, darker material. The microscopic view of the undisturbed material reveals sphere-like grains with diameters between one and two millimeters (.04 and .08 inches), which are similar to the grains Spirit observed in other drift areas near Spirit's landing site, Gusev Crater. These larger grains form a single layer or crust on the surface of the drift and are covered in a fine layer of martian dust.
The right image is the first-ever microscopic look inside a drift. It captures only the scuffed interior of the Serpent drift and is dominated by larger pea-shaped particles. These grains are not natural to the inside the drift, but are crust particles that have tumbled into the scuffed area as a result of the digging. These grains lost their dust cover in the process of falling into the scuff, giving scientists clues about the strength - or lack of strength - of the bond between the dust and sand particles.
Most interesting to scientists are the fine grains making up the interior of Serpent drift. The grains of sand found within drifts or dunes on Earth are usually about 200 micrometers (.008 inches) in diameter -- much like sand on a beach. On Earth, dunes are formed when sand particles of this size are bounced across a surface by wind and collect together as drifts. Smaller particles, like the ones making up Serpent drift, would not necessarily collect into a dune on Earth, but would more likely be distributed across the surface like dust. The fine grains making up the interior of Serpent drift are no larger than 50 or 60 micrometers (.002 inches) and can be compared to silt on Earth.
How did this very fine material managed to accumulate into a drift? Earth-based tests that simulate the wind speed and atmospheric density of Mars have found it difficult to reproduce dunes with grain particles as small as those found in the Serpent drift. However, Earth-based tests cannot duplicate the gravity of Mars, which is one-third that of the gravity on Earth. This environmental factor is a likely contributor to the diminutive material making up Serpent drift.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS
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Image A: Large (144 kB) |
Image B: Browse Image (97 kB) Large (231 kB) |
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49
posted on
03/19/2004 10:35:33 PM PST
by
NormsRevenge
(Semper Fi Mac ... Support Our Troops! ... Thrash the demRats in November!!! ... Beat BoXer!!!)
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