Weird Mars Landing Sites Selected By NASA!

Here’s some of NASA’s projected landing sites on Mars. The area covered is fairly large but I’ve zoomed on to the areas that seem pretty anomalous, having strange geological formations and areas with weird looking ‘objects’.

One has a pyramid shaped structure in a crater fed by what look like pipes entering them from the op. Then there’s one with a strange structure on top of a hill that doesn’t conform to the natural surroundings. It does seem to be artificial, but that’s not possible, is it? And how about the strange objects seen inside sharply defined edges in depressions?

I haven’t the faintest idea. But then why has NASA selected these strange looking landing sites? A far cry from the ‘barren dessert’ sites of the earlier missions. Are they finally trying to get some answers to some of the anomalies?

The proposed landing sites.

Take a little time to look at these images carefully. The more you study them, the stranger they will seem!









Cheers!

Source images:

hirise.lpl.arizona.edu...

Hi Mike
I'm looking at the series:
there's an odd semi-circular formation, at list apparently, in
PSP_006175_2060
hirise.lpl.arizona.edu...

The appearance of many of these sites looks to be rugged ....

reply to post by internos


It doesn't look much more odd than the ridge to the left of it. Just slightly "smoother" if you will. If the protrusion on the same ridge wasn't there it would definitely stand out, though.

Still, I'll be interested to see what you turn up. You always seem to do a good job with these things.

reply to post by _Del_

Thanks _Del_ :
i agree: after checking it again, i think that it's nothing more than an oddity, but absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.

Well get to work on the other ones then

I'll still laugh on the day better pics from a different angle of the same area just happen to show the giant buried saucer "smoking gun"

reply to post by internos


Hi internos! That was interesting, but also check out the terrain around it. Lots of straight lines and curves. Looks like something lies buried down there!!

An now have a peek at this landing site...



I have adjusted the contrast and brightness, put it through the 'unsharp mask' and removed dust/scratches. The object towards the lower right looks kind of strange, what?




[edit on 20-4-2008 by mikesingh]

Just wanted to thank Mikesingh for sharing these images with us. I think the first two images in his post are absolutely amazing!

Best regards, Ziggystar60.

Interesting thread.

hirise.lpl.arizona.edu... Looks serpentine in nature. Does anyone know how such circular regions of elevation can be created by weathering? I know its natural, just interested in how it can get so well rounded.

hirise.lpl.arizona.edu... Striking picture of a martian stream. You can clearly see where an eddy current has formed, taking sediment to the slope.

Could you please post the IDs of the photos?

It would be easier for us (at least for me) than look 88 huge images trying to see what you posted.

Thanks.

I have found the original image from where the OP.

It's image PSP_006887_2050_COLOR

Is this what you called "pyramid"?


Here with a wavelet shappening of 2.0 applied in IAS Viewer.

hi Mike,

I wonder why they are choosing some (what looks like) really rugged terrain. The chances of a 'lander' coming to grief I would think is quite high!
Anywho!, Have a look at this and tell me what you think I am looking at!



This is from hirise-pds.lpl.arizona.edu...

Perhaps our friend Internos maybe able to enhance?

Oh! Flag and star for you, as per usual my friend

reply to post by Havalon


That's an interesting feature.

This is at 25% zoom.


Seen at 100% zoom we can see that they are just small dunes and the ground is not that rugged as it appeared, this image has a resolution of 30 cm per pixel.


You can see the area you posted at 100% zoom here.

reply to post by ArMaP


Thank you my friend,
Excellent resolution (I could not get that close without too much distortion)

Still a bit rugged to land a piece of machinery!

Have a star for your work sir!
H

reply to post by Havalon


Thanks.

I use the IAS Viewer, it's a very good program.

I don't remember it well, but I think that I read somewhere that MSL will be able to pass over 70cm rocks, so it can reach places out of reach of the present rovers and it can be dropped in much less flat surfaces.

Unless I am wrong.

reply to post by mikesingh


Mike I believe it is finally time that NASA shows artificial intelligently designed structures. I see humanoid faces not just faces but elaborate humanoid faces. These faces take time to see and these Martonian detailed faces pop up in 3D and most do not see what I am seeing.

If I had not have spent thousands of hours scanning Mars I would think when I first saw these humanoid faces it was a fluke. It is not a fluke because I see these humanoid elaborate different detailed faces over and over again on the surface of Mars. Yes I take a lot of heat about what I see but that is O.K. my position is still the same I believe in and see intelligent life on the surface of Mars today. Rik Riley

Hiyah Mike!

Great post as usual I find the first picture you put on the most interesting....

Hey ArmMap or Internos can you take the first picture and do any more with it, because it certainly looks like "pipes" or something made, not formed by weather, etc.

I am sooo glad they are finally taking a look at more interesting areas of Mars, even if they turn out to all be natural, at least it's better then looking at flat desert and a few rocks

Starred and Flagged

reply to post by LateApexer313


Unfortunately, mikesingh did not said where on that image (or another image?) did he find that "object", I may be looking for it on the wrong image or in the right image but in the wrong places.

My memory was right (again ), Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) can really travel over 75 cm high obstacles.

Once on the surface, the rover will be able to roll over obstacles up to 75 centimeters (29 inches) high and travel up to 90 meters (295 feet) per hour. On average, the rover is expected to travel about 30 meters (98 feet) per hour, based on power levels, slippage, steepness of the terrain, visibility, and other variables.

The landing is also a novelty, and (if it is successful) much more accurate and less stressful on the landed material.



And I still haven't found that first image from mikesingh...

Edit: I forgot to say that MSK will have a colour camera also capable of 10 frames per second video.

[edit on 23/4/2008 by ArMaP]

Originally posted by ArMaP
And I still haven't found that first image from mikesingh...

Duh! I'm that friendly neighborhood village idiot! I forgot in which thumbnail in the NASA web site, linked in the OP, I got that image from! What's worse, I've just come back from an assignment after two days, and didn't have time to check it out.

OK. Hold yer horses. All's not lost. I'll dig it out tonight.

Cheers!

[edit on 24-4-2008 by mikesingh]

Hey ArMaP! Eureka! Here it is. Check it out 1/4th the way down in the central portion. It's small as the image is taken from a couple of hundred km up, but it stands out like a sore thumb! It's atop a small hill feature.

hirise-pds.lpl.arizona.edu...

Cheers!