interesting Mars pic...what is it?

origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov...

make sure to enlarge the image to see what I'm talking about. at the top of the image there is something definitely metallic. looks to be the size of a small car. starting with the image at the top left scroll over abot 1/3 of the way to the right. this object is sitting on the top rim of the crater. what do you guys make of this object? also if you scroll further right there are some strange lines on the ground...several straight,parallel lines. thought they looked interesting as well.

Whatever it is certainly looks totally incongruous with the rest of the landscape, so much so that I at first thought it was a 'photoshop fake'. However, it's obviously a nasa image hosted on a nasa server, so I assume it isn't!!

If you look to the left of the anomaly, along the brow of the dark ridge there's also a tiny sliver of something the same colour.

Not sure what it could be, but it does look artificial, kind of like a big sheet of crumpled foil.

It is undoubtedly a piece of the landing apparatus for the rover...or other debris from us. Nothing more, nothing less I would venture to say.

Lukefj

Yup, as I remember from the press briefing, that's what it is. If it were anything else, this would have been the news of the century.

I believe the "sliver" object is the landing pad for the rover. And the parallel lines are the tire tracks.

Thats Spirit's heat shield on the side of Bonneville crater.

I can see where the heatshield makes sense. the parallel lines are not tire tracks. there are about 6 lines that just end, they dont go anywhere.

I dont see anything unusual, just it looks like a crater or something hit Mars.

Reminds me of the Saudi/Iraqi desert.....

some of you knows very well that i belive in "life" in mars...but that "object", for some weird reason looks to me "pasted" in the foto! i can't explain very well, but it have weird strong colors, and color intensitie to be a part of that landscape for sure...even if it was the land rover pad or something. looks to me a "pasted object"!

Its not the 'landing pad', its the heat shield. You can't be following the mission all that closely if you get the lander confused with that.

This was actually covered at the time, quite extensively because there was a lot of excitement about Spirit reaching the crater. Later to find it wasn't deep enough to be of use.

I wish they would sent a landing craft too the cydonia region and look at those tunnel like formations.

Originally posted by Kano
Thats Spirit's heat shield on the side of Bonneville crater.

I agree, it would have been ejected just before landing.

Originally posted by themaninblack
I wish they would sent a landing craft too the cydonia region and look at those tunnel like formations.

Tunnels? Ive seen the face and the pyramids but not tunnels. Do you have a link please? I really like to have a look at that.

Heat shield ummm heat shield burn up on entry and are not shiny and silver. Ever see the apollo capsule was that all nice and bufed. I dont think so.

Uh, you may not have noticed, but this wasn't an Apollo capsule.

You might not think so, but hey, thats what it is. It was covered extensively when the Bonneville crater panorama was first released, a few months ago.

Heatshield on the Horizon

Yes I know that Kano but Im saying that in the Smithsonian the capsule heatshield is not silver its been burnt to a crisp and here we have a shinny heatshield.

So you are saying this isn't a heatshield then kriskaos?

Remember the heatshield is jettisoned at over 20,000 feet after the parachute deploys at 30,000 feet. It isn't headed for a soft landing. The impact would knock off the most damaged remnants of the ablator. We are just seeing the mangled remnants of the aluminium heatshield itself. Possibly even parts of the inside face also, it doesn't look like it took the landing too well.

Guys you have it all wrong....that thing is my Mom's old AMC Pacer

man, Im way behind on this stuff. I havent seen the face or pyramids or the tunnels of the cydonia region. anyone got a link to that???