Mystery Rock 'Appears' in Front of Mars Rover

Okay. Currently working on the theory that "Pinnacle Island" was initially dislodged by Opportunity on SOL3512 by the front left wheel (rear right now) resulting in a motion that sent the rock flying. The rock then ricocheted off the opposite wheel and fell to the ground. Shortly thereafter, Opportunity ceased movement. Here is a picture of the scene, taken on SOL3514:



Source: marsrover.nasa.gov...

As we look at the photograph: the wheel visible on the left ran over a small rock or outcrop. Note the darkened area where the previously underlying terrain is visible.

Here is a picture taken of that spot, taken later (top center):



Source: marsrover.nasa.gov...

And another better shot here which shows the spray of material (left on the ground) as the rock was flicked across the rover's path:



Source: marsrover.nasa.gov...

"Pinnacle Island" hit the opposite wheel, rebounding a few centimeters and then coming to a rest. The scuff mark left as it skidded is obvious:



Source: marsrover.nasa.gov...

That is the first part of "Pinnacle Island's" journey. Subsequent investigation by the robotic arm was carried-out nearby, but we do not yet have pictures of the arm in very close contact with the rock. The closest available is about 25 cm distant. If the arm moved no closer to "Pinnacle Island" that will very likely rule-out the arm "picking-up" the rock accidentally (or even deliberately).

If that is the case, it leaves the possibility that Opportunity rotated it's position and again flicked the rock - this time back across and under the rover to it's final position.

The odds on this scenario happening twice? Astronomical.

fotsyfots
Hey that missing solar panel.

There's no missing solar panel.

refering to this............files.abovetopsecret.com...

fotsyfots
refering to this............files.abovetopsecret.com...

I know, and it's not missing because it was never there, as you can see in the link below.

www.nasa.gov...

I don't know why the panels have those spots empty, I suppose it's because the side panels were folded.

reply to post by grey580


I was reading this on drudge I think . I went under comments and started reading there also. One comment that intrigued me was that if you look at about 10 o clock on the second picture you will see an indent that looked like it skip there. Also they say that the rover hasn't moved for quite sometime because they are waiting for weather or something. Just my 2 cents.

reply to post by grey580


After much thought I've come to the conclusion that............ it's a Martian mushroom, they pop up all over.

Soylent Green Is People

Even though Opportunity hasn't moved its position between Sol 3528 and Sol 3540, it was still doing some maneuvers during that time. I can imagine a scenario where the spinning of a wheel may have kicked up a rock that was beneath the wheel.

the rover wheels never rotate anywhere near fast enough to 'spin', let alone 'kick up' rocks. it moves at an absolute crawl.

RoScoLaz

Soylent Green Is People

Even though Opportunity hasn't moved its position between Sol 3528 and Sol 3540, it was still doing some maneuvers during that time. I can imagine a scenario where the spinning of a wheel may have kicked up a rock that was beneath the wheel.

the rover wheels never rotate anywhere near fast enough to 'spin', let alone 'kick up' rocks. it moves at an absolute crawl.

As I mentioned in another post, Steve Squyres (MER principle investigator) thinks the rock could have been "tiddlywinked" out from under a wheel when the wheel was chattering during a maneuver; not necessarily "thrown" out by the spinning, but "flipped" out (like a tiddlywink) due to the wheel pushing on it.

He mentioned a turn-in-place maneuver was done to the rover. During that maneuver, some of the wheels could be grinding into the rocks/soil as the rover does a tight turn-in-place. That grinding/chattering of the wheel flipping the rock out during the turn-in-place maneuver is one theory behind how this rock got there. Plus don't forget that gravity is 1/3 less, so it would not take as much force as we intuitively think to move the rock.

Each wheel on the rover has its own actuator. Should an actuator jam or otherwise fail, the robot's mobility can suffer. In the case of this wheel, it can no longer turn left or right. "So if you do a turn in place on bedrock," continued Squyres, "as you turn that wheel across the rock, it's gonna kinda 'chatter.'" This jittery motion across the bedrock may have propelled the rock out of place, "tiddlywinking" the object from its location and flipping it a few feet away from the rover.

www.space.com...

reply to post by RoScoLaz


Well said- Ive been chuckling away at the thought of the rover doing 'wheel spins', particularly of the type big enough to dislodge debris like this.

I have seen many references to the rover not moving for several days, but I think that's not exactly true, it hasn't move from one site to another but it has had several "drives".

To explain it better, the image's file names have several things in it, so the "before" image file name has this meaning:

1P441385648EFFCADPP2385L2M1

1 P 441385648 EFF CA DP P2385 L 2 M 1

1 - Spacecraft ID (1 = Opportunity)
P - Camera ID (P = Pancam)
441385648 - Spacecraft clock (441385648 seconds since January 1, 2000 at 11:58:55.816 UTC, meaning December 27, 2013)
EFF - Product type (EFF = full frame EDR. EDR means "Experiment Data Record", the image as it was received, in this case converted to a viewable format but not processed)
CA - Site number (started wit 00 and has been incremented for each new site the rover moves to)
DP - Drive number (rover's position within site)
P2385 - Command sequence number (P = PMA and remote sensing instruments, 2000 to 2899 - Pancam sequence commands sent from Earth)
L - Eye (L = left "eye" camera)
2 - Filter (2 = 753nm with 20nm bandpass)
M - Product producer (M = MIPL (OPGS) at JPL
1 - Product version (1 = first version of the image)

So, while Opportunity hasn't changed site for some time, it has had some "drives" in that site.

PS: the "site" acts as reference for the rover's actions, I think they re-calibrate the coordinates any time they change to a new site, as the MERs do not have any positioning system or an odometer.

Edit: I forgot to show the "after" image data.

1P442453196EFFCAEFP2594L2M1

Just looking at the "site" and "drive" values we can see that the rover is on the same "site" (CA) but the photo was taken in a different drive (EF).

Soylent Green Is People
Plus don't forget that gravity is 1/3 less, so it would not take as much force as we intuitively think to move the rock.

I agree, but don't forget that the rover also weighs less than on Earth, so the downforce of each of the wheels is not that big either, right?

The clue had to be in the marking beforehand. Discounting meteorites that are 200 per year- so probability of one in the area near the vehicle is virtually non existent. The marking is an indent that exactly fits the stone (or whatever) .
- It could be part of the wheel but that is great coincidence that the part fits the indent. I also wonder why NASA would take the composition of the rock if it was a wheel.
- It could be part of a marsquake, but this would suggest this piece of rock has somehow forced its way to the surface and popped out. marsquakes is an idea created to understand recent geological anomolies. (recent in these termsncould be thousands of years)

So we are left with the fact that the rock has 'grown' from the markings. If this was Earth then it would be most likely organic growth.


I have been getting suspicious of Mars ever since this Sol picture seem to show light lines between the ice blocks as though they are trails left by animals visiting the area, and clearing the stones (floods would not cause equal width lines or tracks)

Could it be volcanic? Looks like the lid of a vent blew off.

EDIT ignore,see below

Blister
reply to post by learnatic

 

Er, they did:

And they still are. Please read the whole thread for sources and pics.

Zoom in top right corner of this image,is that a head/proboscis,leg,tentacle sticking out...?
I often jump the gun but im going to scream LIFE LIFE YES YES

Edit some kind of coral?

Is this the biggest news like ever? Do i win a prize? Lol

ArMaP

Soylent Green Is People
Plus don't forget that gravity is 1/3 less, so it would not take as much force as we intuitively think to move the rock.

I agree, but don't forget that the rover also weighs less than on Earth, so the downforce of each of the wheels is not that big either, right?

Good point! Thanks.

Of course all of this is just speculation, even on Steve Squyres part (and he is close to the information), but the chattering of a wheel during a "turn-in-place" maneuver sounds plausible.

reply to post by templar knight


Are you ignoring the possibility of that rock having been thrown by a wheel of the rover pressing it on one side, making it jump?

ArMaP
reply to post by templar knight

 

Are you ignoring the possibility of that rock having been thrown by a wheel of the rover pressing it on one side, making it jump?

its not a rock-deny ignorance

symptomoftheuniverse

ArMaP
reply to post by templar knight

 

Are you ignoring the possibility of that rock having been thrown by a wheel of the rover pressing it on one side, making it jump?

its not a rock-deny ignorance

Well NASA said it is made up of three minerals mainly soooo