On Mars, Opportunity Rover Spots Weird Rocks Near Marathon Finish Line

Scientists have found some strange rocks in Mars with compositions unlike any other rocks found so far.

The intriguing rocks lie atop a hill overlooking a site dubbed Marathon Valley — so named because Opportunity will have traveled the marathon distance of 26.2 miles (42.195 kilometers) on Mars by the time it gets there. As of Thursday (March 5), the rover's odometer read 26.139 miles (42.067 km), leaving it just 140 yards (128 meters) short of the milestone.

"We drove to the edge of a plateau to look down in the valley, and we found these big, dark-gray blocks along the ridgeline," Opportunity Project Scientist Matt Golombek, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. "We checked one and found its composition is different from any ever measured before on Mars. So, whoa! Let's study these more before moving on." [Opportunity's Latest Mars Photos]

The examined rock is rich in silicon and aluminum, and its composition is different than anything observed by Opportunity or its twin, Spirit, on the Red Planet, NASA officials said.

Hmmm.m.m...Perhaps quarried at some other location and transported to this spot? Maybe the Matian surveyors are just out of view of the Rover(s)? I think this is interesting, nonetheless, and should be investigated more....Could these rocks be there as a result of a natural process or other process? Inquiring minds want to know....What says ATS?

news.yahoo.com...

a reply to: lostbook

I , for one, would have liked to see pics of the rocks!

Awesome panoramics in the OP link, guys. You can select the individual pics and pan back and forth…

Pics

kinda cool that the robots are still getting the job done, but letś face it, they have been on that planet since 2004, if there was an actual trace of some civilization they would have spotted it by now, especially if they existed on the surface of the planet.
Even if we never find anything up there, it's still mind blowing to know that a golf cart sized robot was sent from here to there and is still doing it's thing
even more so considering nasa operates on a budget that is basically a joke.

originally posted by: IShotMyLastMuse
kinda cool that the robots are still getting the job done, but letś face it, they have been on that planet since 2004, if there was an actual trace of some civilization they would have spotted it by now, especially if they existed on the surface of the planet.

Yes, the first rover landed on Mars in 2004. The most recent rover landing (Curiosity) landed on August 5, 2012. Curiosity is the fastest rover up there with a max speed of 1.5 inch per second. Even if it landed in 2004, there is no way it would have covered enough of the planet to determine if any civilization existed. Source

Personally, I think something will be found on Mars. I would go as far as to say, something has already been found there and we are not being told considering there have been quite a few NASA images that seem to have been altered over the years.

But to say in 11 years that a rover that can only travel at a max speed of 1.5 inch per second has covered enough ground to find artifacts of a civilization. I'm sorry, I can't agree with you there.

a reply to: KnightFire

So it has covered 8,250 linear miles? The circumference is 13,000 miles - so could in theory have almost circumnavigated the planet. I imagine it goes up and down and hangs around the same few hundred square miles?

"We drove to the edge of a plateau to look down in the valley, and we found these big, dark-gray blocks along the ridgeline,"

I find it interesting that the term "blocks" was used to describe them as opposed to calling them rocks. Would this be indicative of what they found having flat surfaces, right angles, or straight edges maybe.

I think that may be a little slip up on NASA's part.

originally posted by: and14263
a reply to: KnightFire

So it has covered 8,250 linear miles? The circumference is 13,000 miles - so could in theory have almost circumnavigated the planet. I imagine it goes up and down and hangs around the same few hundred square miles?

You need to redo your math. You're not even close.

Actually the first rover on Mars was Sojourner which landed on Mars in July, 1997 and operated for about 3 months.

The Opportunity Rover is able to travel up to 2 inches a second or 600 feet in a hour.

The Curiosity Rover can move up to 300 feet per hour, but normally averages 98 feet per hour.

Wood complete with Woodworm.??

originally posted by: and14263
a reply to: KnightFire

So it has covered 8,250 linear miles? The circumference is 13,000 miles - so could in theory have almost circumnavigated the planet. I imagine it goes up and down and hangs around the same few hundred square miles?

Let me give you an example of how you are incorrect in your math.

After seven years of stop-and-go driving, NASA's intrepid Mars rover Opportunity has covered just over 20 miles on the Red Planet — more than 50 times the rover's original distance goal.

Source

a reply to: Ultralight

I'm guessing these are the "big, dark-gray blocks along the ridgeline."







The pictures are from SOL 901 (2/17), but you can see they are still there now (SOL 918):



SOL 901

SOL 918

The flat-faced rock near the center of this image is a target for contact investigation by NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in early March 2015. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech


The first rock checked at the site has relatively high concentrations of aluminum and silicon, and an overall composition not observed before by either Opportunity or its twin rover, Spirit. This was determined by examining the rock, called "Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau," with the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer instrument on the end of Opportunity's robotic arm. The next target rock at the site is called "Sergeant Charles Floyd." The team's target-naming theme in the area is from the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Although the rocks are gray, the visible-light spectrum of the Charbonneau type has more purple than most Mars rocks, and the spectrum of the Floyd type has more blue. Of the two types, the bluer rocks tend to lie higher on the ridge.

Actions to restore use of Opportunity's non-volatile flash file system will resume after inspection of the rocks on this ridge. Due to recurrent problems with the flash memory, including "amnesia events" and computer resets, Opportunity has been operating since late 2014 in a mode that avoids use of the flash memory.

phys.org...

It's a little disturbing that Opportunity's having problems. I agree, it would be nice to see more pics.

eta - wow, you people are fast.

originally posted by: lemmin
a reply to: Ultralight

I'm guessing these are the "big, dark-gray blocks along the ridgeline."

Maybe these ones..?

a reply to: Bilk22

1.5 inches per sec. = 90 inches per min.

1440 minutes in a day is 90 x 1440 = 129,600inches per day

Which is 2.05 miles

2.05 x 365 days a year = 748miles per year

748 miles per year = 8228 miles over 11 years.

I stated linear miles and used the figures given in the thread.

I can't understand why you would say I'm not even close? The maths looks good, whether it is practically applicable or not I don't know... hence the rest of my post.

You could have given an example or anything - but you just made a comment saying I need to redo my maths? I'm not even close? Explain further please... or do you have gym class to get to??

a reply to: and14263

None of the rovers on Mars have been moving continuously since the day they landed.

They have traveled a little, stopped, done science, taken pictures, etc. Moved a little more and stopped again.

So no, none of them have traveled 8,228 miles in 11 years.

originally posted by: and14263
a reply to: Bilk22

1.5 inches per sec. = 90 inches per min.

1440 minutes in a day is 90 x 1440 = 129,600inches per day

Which is 2.05 miles

2.05 x 365 days a year = 748miles per year

748 miles per year = 8228 miles over 11 years.

I stated linear miles and used the figures given in the thread.

I can't understand why you would say I'm not even close? The maths looks good, whether it is practically applicable or not I don't know... hence the rest of my post.

You could have given an example or anything - but you just made a comment saying I need to redo my maths? I'm not even close? Explain further please... or do you have gym class to get to??

Curiosity hasn't been up there for 11 years. That's why your math is wrong.

originally posted by: eriktheawful
a reply to: and14263

None of the rovers on Mars have been moving continuously since the day they landed.

They have traveled a little, stopped, done science, taken pictures, etc. Moved a little more and stopped again.

So no, none of them have traveled 8,228 miles in 11 years.

Wow, someone answered with a sentence of information!

a reply to: Bilk22

I went off this:

But to say in 11 years that a rover that can only travel at a max speed of 1.5 inch per second has covered enough ground to find artifacts of a civilization. I'm sorry, I can't agree with you there.

So my maths isn't wrong is it. You pleb. My facts are.

a reply to: lemmin

Is there an extension or something that would leave that 'footprint'? See the zig zagged imprint? Just looks odd. I thought a tire tread mark, but there is not any more to it than that? Like maybe a wheel was in the air from traversing a non flat surface and dropped down for a sec, then they backed up? Just curious.

Hey! alien life just over this next hill. Let's stop and look at these grey rocks for a few months first