possable mars bug on spirrit rover pictures

you may need to zoom in small black dot in the sky. its there and then gone agen on diferent images.check it out check this out

There is just too many things it could be frankly..a quick list:

bit of dust
jpeg artifact
mars bug
superman
flying saucer
time/space rip
Obamas fault
etc.

Sorry...I mean, sure...its almost kinda interesting, the source is solid enough, but...ultimately its nothing...not that its not there, just that its unidentifiable...

omg, its a literal UFO...assuming its flying and not the artifact.

Yeah it's either a UFO by definition or a image artifact.

It's symmetry sort of says artifact to me, but I could be wrong.

its odd thats its so high

Originally posted by SaturnFX
There is just too many things it could be frankly..a quick list:

bit of dust
jpeg artifact
mars bug
superman
flying saucer
time/space rip
Obamas fault
etc.

Sorry...I mean, sure...its almost kinda interesting, the source is solid enough, but...ultimately its nothing...not that its not there, just that its unidentifiable...

omg, its a literal UFO...assuming its flying and not the artifact.

There isn't suppose to be anything flying on mars. If it is flying it is either a ufo, or an organism (which mars isn't suppose to have either). I don't think the wind would kick up a rock that high, and it can't be sand, because sand isn't that concentrated. It could be a meteor. Considering mars has a very thin atmosphere, and it is farther from the sun, I would assume it would be easier to see near by space rock that hasn't entered the atmosphere.

I don't think it's on the camera, because it would look more blurry if it was.

Whatever it is, it is pretty interesting. Star and flag for finding it.

Dang, I can't see it! Where is it?

reply to post by Violater1

Man...I don't know...there's no possible way to make heads or tails of that little black dot...I've enlarged it a little so we can have a better look:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b07e6f4f1ea2.png[/atsimg]

There's certainly not much to go on and I doubt there's any value in studying this UFO/artifact...

reply to post by SaturnFX


If this is infact obama's fault, is thisgrounds for impeachment? I like to think it is.

You spelt possible wrong.

Looks like a bit of dust to me

Originally posted by Nomad451
You spelt possible wrong.

Looks like a bit of dust to me

Dust doesn't stick in a dry area unless the service isn't fully vertical. It has to be moist to stick effectively. Who cares about spelling, be constructive, don't criticize people's spelling.

There's all sorts of blotches on the picture, very much doubt it is a bug or anything "living".

Originally posted by Phlynx

There isn't suppose to be anything flying on mars. If it is flying it is either a ufo, or an organism (which mars isn't suppose to have either). I don't think the wind would kick up a rock that high, and it can't be sand, because sand isn't that concentrated. It could be a meteor.

Well, there certainly is a lot of dust flying around on windy Mars when the "dust devils" sweep across the surface! They can lift sand and dust and probably small rocks too VERY high up into the Martian sky.

If it was a meteor captured by the camera, I am also pretty sure they would have tried to go get a look at the crater it would create on impact. And we would probably have heard about the meteor impact by now, it would have been quite the treat for the scientists.

Since the little dot is only visible in one of the raw photos taken by the Spirit Front Hazcam that day (Sol 2120), I think it is very possible that it is a grain of sand flying by in the wind close to the camera.

Here you can find all the Sol 2120 raw images from Spirit Front Hazcam in case anyone wants to have a look at them all:
marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov...

In this video you can also see some footage of Martian dust devils:


@ Nomad451: You SPELLED one word wrong.

Originally posted by ziggystar60

Originally posted by Phlynx

If it was a meteor captured by the camera, I am also pretty sure they would have tried to go get a look at the crater it would create on impact. And we would probably have heard about the meteor impact by now, it would have been quite the treat for the scientists.

It doesn't have to hit mars, it could just be a fly by.

I hate it when people post just so they can call the thread author an idiot. This time I have to do what I hate.

Secondly; Of course dust sticks to things without moisture. Static electricity will hold dust just fine. From memory there are plenty of mechanisms behind adhesion that don't require water. Don't ask me....look it up yourself.


It's a bit of dust/dirt/snot/whatever...and very obviously so.

[I always avoid these threads...what the hell am I doing here? Good god.]

I say it's just an artifact produced while compressing the picture, I can notice a couple extra similar looking artifacts.

It's a spot on the lens of the "Front Hazcam" (Hazard camera). It does not show up in all of the pictures from the front hazcam because that camera is actually TWO cameras -- a "left eye" and a "right eye" (so that way the rover operators can have binocular vision/depth perception). Only the "left eye" pictures have the spot, and the "right eye" ones do not.

You can tell if the image is ta left or right image by looking at the image file name. For example, the image in question is file name:

2F314571261ESFB296P1162L0M1.JPG

the fourth from the last character (which I underlined) tells us whether this is a left or right eye picture, in this case its an "L" for left. The other characters tell us which camera (front hazcam, rear hazcam, Navigation camera, Panoramic camera, or microscopic imager), and the time the picture was taken.

That spot has been on the left eye of Spirit's nav cam since landing.

Here's a picture from about 6 years ago. This is from Spirit's 10th day on Mars, and you will see that the spot was there even then:
marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov...

Here's one from a few years ago -- Spirit's 802 day on Mars (spot is still there):
marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov...

Here's one taken just last week on Spirit's 2158th day on Mars, which is about 30 days after the photo in the OP (and the spot is still there):
marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov...

and here is a photo taken the same time from the right eye (and no spot):
marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov...

[edit on 2/7/2010 by Soylent Green Is People]

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People

Yeah I can notice the other artifact to the left in those pictures as well. Thanks for the info.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


yep your right there

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People
...That spot has been on the left eye of Spirit's nav cam since landing....

oops...I meant to write "hazcam", not nav cam.
sorry