Mystery Rock 'Appears' in Front of Mars Rover

Never mind. I misunderstood a post.

Really strange but could Mars also have quakes like Marsquakes ...? that caused debris rolling or moving? And is opportunity equipped with quake detection systems?

There is a face with its tongue out drawn next to the rock how can you not see that

Frocharocha

Arken
reply to post by grey580

 

This "ROCK" could be The Major Event in Mars exploration....
S&F.

"Something" is moving on Mars... and is NOT the Rover....

edit on 17-1-2014 by Arken because: (no reason given)

That rock...looks kinda weird.. I wouldn't be surprised if that terrible movie, Apollo 18 turned out to be real. LOL.

I hope I got the picture in the shot.
So far it won't let me insert pictures...
Look just below the rockdent Ok the rock. In the original picture there is a group of three pebbles two big and one little in a row. In the rockdent picture those pebbles are moved.
Now go below the rock down to the bottom edge of the large flat rock the rockdent in setting on. Observe the roundish spot in the before picture. If you look at the rockdent picture the pebbles around the edges on the right side have moved.
So it looks like the rockdent has rolled. Any hints about the slant of the ground there would help. The pictures don't show that at all.
It moved the question is what made it move? If it happened because of the rover moving over it I would expect there would have been a spike in the power usage for the wheel that flicked it around. First rolling over it and then a sudden discharge and lower power output after passing it.

reply to post by symptomoftheuniverse


Its either a chunk of the rover itself, or it grew out of the little feature that was in the "before" pic.

I'm sure the rover is going to investigate that. Can't yet rule out some kind of life form. This is why we went there in the first place.

That's a lot of tax money, but I like it anyway.

Well this kind of solves this for me anyway.

The rover is located on Solander Point here:



Now add to that what they say here:

The rover, which has been on Mars since Jan. 24, 2004, hasn't moved in more than a month because scientists are waiting for better weather conditions. It is currently up on 'Solander Point' at the rim of Endeavour Crater.

So it is on a mountain slop and there is bad weather, I think they just want attention.

Well sounds like bored:

The rover’s been parked at the same spot for weeks as it waits for better weather and a higher sun to help power it along its way. Sticking around the same spot allowed for nearly identical images to be taken on widely-separated Sols. Maybe a closer study of the rock in the coming days will tell us more about how it got there. - See more at: astrobob.areavoices.com...

www.thedenverchannel.com...

Look closely at the FIRST PICTURE where the "Mysterious Object" appears... The surface where the mystery object appears seems too be smooth with a slight dip. It is and oval shape. The rocks around this area also seem to be maybe pushed off to the side, away from the center of the mysterious objects appearance. The dirt around the mysterious objects appearance also seems to be pushed away creating an outline before the mysterious object appears.. Weird.... A rock kicked up? Wow what an ironic place to land... SECOND PICTURE The mysterious object has a dip in the center. It is shaped LIKE a birds nest... imagine an upside down mushroom, a dip in the middle leaving its center thin and its outer edge thick.. Where looking at our first mars plant or bacteria... It seems to be stationary due to the area it appears in, maybe only coming into bloom every so often to gather nutrients, and retreat back into the martian surface until it needs to feed again... This is MARS!!! Life goal is to adapt and survive!!

reply to post by Char-Lee


Thanks. That helps knowing the scale

reply to post by grey580


Are we even sure it is a rock? I blew up the image and it has a very strange texture in some parts, almost looks, shall I say, organic. There are a lot of creatures on Earth that cover themselves up with things for protection, the bagworm comes to mind.

I'm curious how gravel is made on the surface of Mars. What would be the naturally occurring geological events that cause gravel to be deposited there? It looks like 3/4 Crush supplied by LaFarge. It's not very sandy to have been blown around.

I recall a really cute film... 'the gods must be crazy'


which involved a careless pilot just tossing out an empty 'Coke' bottle somewhere in the vast expanse of south-African plains

the 'coke' bottle glanced off the head of an indigenous man ... who immediately thought the 'gods' had a reason to toss the 'coke' bottle on him...
the perplexed aboriginal man thought to perhaps return the (unremarkable) clear-glass, odd shaped bottle to someone who can return it to the gods in the sky.



perhaps the rover is being presented with such an out-of-the-ordinary situation... the 'gods' are toying with the rover camera




the 1980's movie:


en.wikipedia.org...

In my opinion. Upon looking at all ot the photos, both color and black and white, It appears to me to be part of a geode that was either broke open and fell there or exploded and landed there. Either way it is an interesting find.

after looking at the pic..i noticed that the circled areas in pink, look a bit different, taking into account for the slight change in angle and perspective...the one with the 'rock' as compared to the one without the 'rock' appears to have been disturbed...i wouldnt think that it would be from the tires....or maybe or ??

After studying the several "before" and "after" pictures (thanks posters!) in this thread, it appears that this "object" was left after a Martian flash flood had passed. The Martian version of a flash flood may only be a few inches deep and comes-goes fairly quickly. The object floated along for a time simply stopped there in that spot, as the water passed it by...just like you would see here in Earth. In fact, there are several minor changes to other pebbles in the vicinity and the soil looks darker (wetter) in the "after" photos. The scientists in charge of the rover did say that it's been parked for a long time due to Bad Weather. Just my 2 cents.
-cwm

Somebody is playing games. ~$heopleNation

Aleister

One of the wheels is broken, so it scrapes along the ground when turning left or right. They say that during one of its maneuvers this scraping probably dislodged and actually flipped over this rock. They say that since the bottom side hasn't been exposed for billions of years it's a unique chance to explore the "underside" of a Mars rock.

Can you find any other pebbles that were disturbed by the wheel dragging this rock along? I would expect to see other disturbances with this explanation.

That definitely would be the best explanation, but there should be other evidence that things were scooted around or at least bumped out of their original position.

Constant analysis of this object , over time, will reveal it's true nature.
If it stays absolutely constant, it is a flecked rock, otherwise it becomes an enigma, just like most of us want it to be.

clearmind

after looking at the pic..i noticed that the circled areas in pink, look a bit different, taking into account for the slight change in angle and perspective...the one with the 'rock' as compared to the one without the 'rock' appears to have been disturbed...i wouldnt think that it would be from the tires....or maybe or ??

Very Intresting! Stars.

This cast more questions on what really happened around that rock....

reply to post by Arken


Interesting Arken,

Maybe the "Pinnacle Island" is magnetized and did stick to the robotic arm and then Opportunity had to swipe the ground to loosen it off, so to speak, sending the rock rolling gently to where it is now. If that is even possible.

Would be a first, and incredible, and very cool...

Or if the wheel flicked the rock underneath the rover, that is a major point of impact before it came to a rest?

Very intriguing

Hey that missing solar panel.Did it happen to have NASA badge on it?
Off my lips theory= two mars punks or munks if you will are bored & realize the serious fold potential of debadging .Obviously aware of cameras a decoy is needed.stuff the actuator on wheel,sit tight waiting for owners panic ridden testing on his ride.Whilst all attention focused on that the quickest off the two munks races over Quick as his 7 legs will move with his much loved pet rock, places it at position we see it now & gets back to his slightly older,bad influence munk mate.lots of whooping & high 3's as they trek a big arc around to sneak up off camera on the now totally perplexed robot that's now playing statues with a little rock too stricken by fear to dare move or notice as these 2 munks lever out the panel with their blade like tongues & off to the pawn shop.
* note to NASA * mark this on maps for future expeditions to stay clear of.Obviously a bad 'hood & suck as it does be thankful there wasn't any more of them or you could've found old curio bricked up & the wheels missing !!