The Secrets of Schröteri Crater

Originally posted by Blue Shift
I'm thinking something like this, where the boulders eroded in various sizes as a result of heating and cooling by the Sun, then bounced/rolled downhill (blue arrows). The pink rocks are those which could have come from the boulder cluster, depending on how much they broke or bounced, etc.

Again, I have to question where the enrgy source was to make them roll away? Remember that hillock is still there, how did it get flattened? If we are to take it as rolling this way now, it would take even more energy from the starting point, as the hillock is now even further away. How do you explain the repeating pattern in the track? Are there any boulders in the resting place big enough to cause the indentations?


I'm as keen as anybody to debunk something if it is explainable, however, I can find no explanantion for this anomaly. I'm interested to hear your explanation. Btw, the yellow lines you marked out on the track are not continous like they are in the image at a zoomed in level, why is this?

Originally posted by chr0naut
Now I remember where I parked it...!

But seriously, perhaps it could be a bolide or micro comet impact, with the object having been broken up by the lunar gravity & rolling on impact.

edit on 16/2/2011 by chr0naut because: (no reason given)

That would still leave no explanation as to the repeated pattern made on the track though. If that was the case, I'd be expecting to see an impact crater, if only small, with a lot more scatter than this relatively linear track.

Originally posted by chr0naut

But seriously, perhaps it could be a bolide or micro comet impact, with the object having been broken up by the lunar gravity & rolling on impact.

There are only two possibilities; it is a lunar lander or it is a bunch of rocks.

Folks,

Since we are talking about anomalies, how would you guys debunk this next one which appears to be moving?

*Note, I'm referring to the thing next to the fiducial mark (small plus sign)*

(*Scans used for animation: lo3 181 h2 and lo3 181 h2c.)

Originally posted by Exuberant1
Folks,

Since we are talking about anomalies, how would you guys debunk this next one which appears to be moving?

(*Scans used for animation: lo3 181 h2 and lo3 181 h2c.)

What are we looking at exactly? There are loads of things that appear to be moving in that image.

Where is lo3 181 h2b?

Originally posted by Blue Shift
I'm thinking something like this, where the boulders eroded in various sizes as a result of heating and cooling by the Sun, then bounced/rolled downhill (blue arrows). The pink rocks are those which could have come from the boulder cluster, depending on how much they broke or bounced, etc.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/89c0048c07fe.png[/atsimg]

I bet if I show that pic to a child they will ask is that Barbie's beach buggy..

Show is a interesting grouping of rocks...

Originally posted by AmatuerSkyWatcher

Originally posted by Exuberant1
Folks,

Since we are talking about anomalies, how would you guys debunk this next one which appears to be moving?

(*Scans used for animation: lo3 181 h2 and lo3 181 h2c.)

What are we looking at exactly? There are loads of things that appear to be moving in that image.

Where is lo3 181 h2b?

I edited the post to help you see what I am referring to.

reply to post by zorgon


Wow, great photo!

I assume you're meaning the anomaly that left an asymettrical track that begun at the top of the mound which to me, looks like material which has fallen down the slope, originating from the other similar-looking material positioned around the top of the mound all this material is on.

I can't see anything else odd I'm afraid.

What immediately drew me to consider this was indeed 'rocky' like material from the top of the mound was the track it left. To me this looks consistant with the trail left by a rolling boulder or similar object(s). That, combined with the fact the tracks start from the top of the raised area and stop when the object has reached the bottom, suggesting this was material which had dislodged somehow and rolled downhill. Additionally, the beginning of the tracks show slippage as apposed to roll, also suggesting this material slipped first, before rolling down the slope.

reply to post by Exuberant1


The whole pic is moving and many specs disappear, too hard to tell..
Maybe post both pics and we can compare?

reply to post by zorgon


Thats a very odd photo. Is it possible that we have been to the moon many times, and even built bases on there? I have always found it odd that we have not progressed when it comes to space flight and going to the moon.

If only we could get a clear image

reply to post by Exuberant1


BTW, do we have a scale for these pics?
Be interesting to know size..

Originally posted by mysteryskeptic
moving rocks are a strange thing indeed.
It just so happens we have similar things happening right here on earth.
www.frontiernet.net...

OMG Your right! it's just like death valley! The moon had some rain, then it froze and then the wind pushed it!!

Corroborating evidence found in the quote below i have underlined the areas that really back up your truth.

It appears that the boulders do not slide very often because an unusual set of weather conditions must occur. There must first be enough rain to form a shallow lake on the playa, followed by freezing temperatures to form a sheet of ice. When this happens, the boulders become trapped in a sheet of ice that floats on the shallow lake. When there is wind, all the trapped boulders and the ice sheet are pushed around the shallow lake. The wind blowing over the ice causes "frictional drag." In other words, there is friction between the moving air and the ice sheet. As the air blowing over the ice is slowed down by this friction, it exerts a pushing force on the ice which helps to move it. This is how the wind pushes the ice sheet . The bottoms of the boulders leave the tracks that we see in the pictures. When the ice melts, the boulders assume their new resting places.

I got tired of underlining all the evidence.

Just in case Sheldon Cooper is reading the above comments ARE sarcasm.

Originally posted by Exuberant1


I edited the post to help you see what I am referring to.

Ah I see what you mean now. It does appear to change shape, not sure about move though. The picture isn't great quality, so it's very hard to tell, but I'm guessing it's the change in light (look at shadows of craters) that gives it that appearance and the fact that both picture aren't alligned exactly?

The bright spot in the top left corner is really interesting though! I wonder what would make that area so bright? All the rocks near it are a fair degree duller than that object, and it appears the same in both images.

Originally posted by backinblack
reply to post by Exuberant1

 

BTW, do we have a scale for these pics?
Be interesting to know size..

The resolution is 0.8m per pixel for those two.



Edit:

AmateurSkyWatcher,

The bright spot is what attracted my attention to the area in the first place.

reply to post by Exuberant1


awesome job in this thread Exuberant1! Why do you think the tracks are so odd and not necessarily uniform like other rover tracks?

It looks like a dude wearing a cowboy hat, looking up, as if he knows he is having his picture taken.

That is not my final answer, but it is my first impression.

Originally posted by zorgon
in one of the LRO images NASA uses the title "Secrets of Schröteri"
Now when NASA uses a term like that, one just has to be curious

Definition of Secret: Something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained.

Like the cold virus that baffles understanding and cannot be explained!! So the geology in that area is such that it's difficult to explain. That's not a big deal is it? After all we're talking about the Moon here 240,000 miles away! And we know almost zilch about it!

Originally posted by ziggyproductions05
reply to post by Exuberant1

 

awesome job in this thread Exuberant1!

Why do you think the tracks are so odd and not necessarily uniform like other rover tracks?

Thanks Ziggy.


....Maybe it isn't a rover.

The surveyor probes weren't rovers.

I give one highly speculative cause for the trail in my notes on the image in this post:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by ziggyproductions05
reply to post by Exuberant1

 

awesome job in this thread Exuberant1!

Why do you think the tracks are so odd and not necessarily uniform like other rover tracks?

What if something was floating over the surface? That would explain why these tracks seem to start and stop from no where I guess?

Or alternatively, what if these tracks start from below the surface? This is just an idea i'm throwing out there atm, I don't subscribe to that theory, just an idea I am exploring. I need to do more research and look at more images when I get time.


Area just north of the original image:

Originally posted by AmatuerSkyWatcher

What if something was floating over the surface? That would explain why these tracks seem to start and stop from no where I guess?

That was one theory I had.

It is outlined in the image in this post:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

This thing seems kinda large. The other probes and landers aren't nearly so detailed as this feature, this detail could be a result of its size.

*I haven't yet checked the size using the original image, if one of you folks do that could you please post it here.

I certainly would appreciate it and so would many others.

Meanwhile in another moon crater - perhaps !

www.dailygalaxy.com...