Curiosity: Potential Anomalies (Update 01/2014)

reply to post by Aleister


me ? a t&c violation , never ,

*funBox radios up to mars control room with a list of the next mildly perverse Martian anomalies*

im glad natural forces have a sence of humour, I nearly brought up the chips I had been eating when I saw last nights rock engorgement, what a hoot

funBox

While everyone was looking at rocks, I was looking at this.
What am I looking at here??
At first I thought of some on board experiment,but there are
no signs of tracks from Curiosity going anywhere near this area.
Let the speculation begin.

reply to post by mark1167

At first I thought of some on board experiment,but there are no signs of tracks from Curiosity going anywhere near this area.

You are looking at composited images. Your next assignment is to abandon the composite and find the source images before proclaiming that there are no signs of tracks.

To clarify a bit: Who took this picture?
www.nasa.gov...

reply to post by Phage


Its simple really, NASA packed a mirror with it so it could take selfies on mars...

Actually, this article has a video that they claim how it was done.

news.nationalgeographic.com...

reply to post by mark1167


I was first looking at the Pizza box at the right.. But then I scrolled further.. Brilliant find!
I have no clue what it could be...

reply to post by mark1167


they look like something casued by the drill bit or laser, hmmm

was looking back to sol 518 , mardi took an upside down pic, does anyone else notice the swarm of dust in the sky , or do I need to clean my monitor?

mardi sol 518



a gif showing extent of the tool arm



funBox

reply to post by mark1167


As funbox said, it's the result of an experiment with the laser, I remember seeing that photo when they did it, and as phage said, we don't see any signs of the rover being close to that area because that image is a mosaic made with several photos.

mark1167
While everyone was looking at rocks, I was looking at this.
What am I looking at here??
At first I thought of some on board experiment,but there are
no signs of tracks from Curiosity going anywhere near this area.
Let the speculation begin.

If you are talking about the holes, there is no speculation necessary...they were made by Curiosity's ChemCam Laser. The laser can shoot several meters, so you would not necessarily see any wheel tracks leading to those spots.

Here is an article about other laser blasts from Curiosity:

Curiosity’s Laser Leaves Its Mark

Thanks to everyone for clearing that up.
I can always count on you guys for a reality check.

reply to post by jeep3r


Seemingly geological(?) in nature, but IMO still distinctive enough to be posted ... here's a close-up of some interesting rectangular formations at Dingo Gap:



And some straight/bent grooves and striations (layers?) on top of this formation:


Does anybody on here know how geologists would call such striations/formations as seen in the image above? Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this ... !

SOURCES:
------------
1. NASA/JPL Image Link 1
2. NASA/JPL Image Link 2
3. Sol 529 Panorama (MastCam100)

reply to post by jeep3r


Good pictures, the Rover is traveling in an interesting area. I'm not a geologist (but I did once play one on the radio, or was that a gynecologist?) but they look like strata. Could they have been formed when Gale Lake dried, then filled again? Sand strata? Just a guess, but maybe it's time to call the ATS geologist in for a look at those and maybe Buzz's first large spoke objects(s).

reply to post by jeep3r


That's why I said I was hoping they would choose that path, it's much more interesting from a geological point of view, as all those layers represent different stages of the "life" of lake.

That thin, darker layer looks like silt, for example.

Since this is a catch-all thread, with links to other threads as well, here is a new one about the standing object that funbox linked a video about earlier. They call it a leg, the guy in the video called it a water pipe with a handle, and we like to call it a rock. The thread here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

ArMaP
reply to post by jeep3r

 

That's why I said I was hoping they would choose that path, it's much more interesting from a geological point of view, as all those layers represent different stages of the "life" of lake.

That thin, darker layer looks like silt, for example.

I also think the team wants to use the dune at Dingo Gap as a testbed for 'smooth roving', in terms of checking how Curiosity's deteriorating wheels do on sand and smoother ground. Depending on the outcome, that experience might alter the route towards the base of Mt. Sharp/Aeolis.

Of course they wouldn't want to risk getting stuck in the sand (like 'Spirit' a while back), but perhaps they'll choose to avoid terrain that's too rocky, in favor of keeping the wheels 'operational'.

reply to post by jeep3r


Wouldn't they know how it holds up on deep sand, from earth experiments, or do you mean the wheels are so bad now that chancy maneuvers have to be undertaken to get to the base of the Mount? Are you saying that they may not go to Murray Buttes, but try to cross the sand? Are the wheels that bad (I haven't kept track of the major concerns). Thanks.

reply to post by Aleister


I read about it on space.com, here goes a short excerpt:

NASA's Curiosity Rover Seeks Smoother Road to Reduce Wheel Damage

Curiosity's handlers are driving the 1-ton rover more cautiously now and are checking the condition of its wheels frequently, NASA officials said. The rover team is also considering sending Curiosity over a 3-foot-tall (1 meter) sand dune soon to access a potentially smoother, less rocky route to its ultimate science destination, the foothills of the towering Mount Sharp.

That area is obviously very interesting from a geological point of view. But it also looks as if they are trying to check the ground consistency of dunes, like Dingo Gap, "in-situ" so to speak ... but I can't really imagine they'd send Curiosity across larger dune fields just to reach Mt. Sharp faster and with less wheel damage. Ultimately, we'll have to wait and see what solutions theirs engineers come up with.

ETA: Perhaps they're just trying this 'once' to get Curiosity beyond Dingo Gap, in order to not have to steer her around those (much more rocky) outcrops towards the western part of that formation.

reply to post by Aleister


if they try to get across around this area dingo grove? they might be able to get a closer image of blueshe its house

would like to have some different focus for these shots, the background looks amazing



sol

sol

@jeep3r is that an asphalt layer? on hardcore?

funBox

funbox

 

@jeep3r is that an asphalt layer? on hardcore?

Asphalt? In combination with "BlueIt" and that accident on a cliff? Would make kinda sense, wouldn't it?

reply to post by jeep3r


defiantly. you can't expect the poor little blighters to walk now can you , I can imagine a troop on the back of a wagon , racing off to fix the crappy potholes that crop up every Martian winter and cause nasty accidents like on that cliff

did that picture I posted, the one covered in black dots have a thread all to itself?

funBox

added the third level of detail picture to the blue it ridge collection, amazing how bringing the camera closer with multiple perspectives can do



funBox