Mars Image: Uphill Moving Object

Those of you who know me, you know my pastime, finding interesting anomalies in the hi res Mars images taken by NASA.

Here is my find on the most recent Mars HiRise image;
Mars HiRise Image Page

This looks to be an uphill slope to me, with the object in question clearly moving through the soft martian sands.

Click on the picture below for the full image.

What a find, you must have the patience of a saint to scan these images like you do.

My first thought was it seems metallic and therefore R2D2, it certainly is moving as the tracks/footprints behind reveal, one question how far apart are the two rovers, it would be nice to see a different angle of this area.

Wolfie

I wonder if a piece broke off and rolled down hill. Are you able to see where the tracks lead?

Interesting find!

Nice find, very interesting image. Im inclined to concur it does look to be headed uphill, and im not really sure what it is. Im assuming its not one of our Mars Buggies is it?

If thats ruled out then id really be interested to know what the hell it is. Last I checked Mars didnt have tumbleweeds of backpackers, or anything else than might be rolling off up hills

It also casts a shadow, to the North - Northwest.

Maybe it is the lost Russian cosmonaut?

The "tracks" seem to be sort of at a diagonal with a space in between each indention. They also appear to be pretty uniform.

Interesting, good find.

Nice find. But it was discussed in another thread. Meteor that fall onto mars sometimes roll.

EDIT: Asteroids to Meteor

[edit on 30-10-2008 by Benarius]

Originally posted by Benarius
Nice find. But it was discussed in another thread. Asteroids that fall onto mars sometimes roll.

Quite right It's been discussed before, with plenty of pics too if I remember correctly

Link: www.abovetopsecret.com...


Now, how can you definitively say they are rolling uphill? With that pic you posted I find it impossible to see what angle the ground is in that area.

[edit on 30-10-2008 by Chadwickus]

That is an interesting find. Very intriguing. I was trying to zoom in on the tracks to see if they were evenly spaced and whatever else I could find but is hard to make out because of the distortion of the pixels. They look similar at times and then slightly larger every now and then. LOL What the heck is that thing? Very cool!

Does anyone have any images of the Mars Buggy making tracks so a person can compare? This does look like one track (and at an angle), as opposed to a set of tracks side by side

Im looking at what is the original image but I dont see this there, I see a pixelated blur where the object is but theres nowhere near enough resolution to see any tracks.

hirise-pds.lpl.arizona.edu...

This I assume is the original right? Can you link to the original image you zoomed on to find this?

Originally posted by Benarius
Nice find. But it was discussed in another thread. Asteroids that fall onto mars sometimes roll.

No doubt that asteroids fall and roll on Mars, rocks also break free and will tumble down hill. I have found rocks that have rolled down hill in most Mars images.

The objects that I find to be interesting are the ones that do not follow the natural path of gravity, like objects that seem to roll "uphill".

Originally posted by silver6ix
Im looking at what is the original image but I dont see this there, I see a pixelated blur where the object is but theres nowhere near enough resolution to see any tracks.

hirise-pds.lpl.arizona.edu...

This I assume is the original right? Can you link to the original image you zoomed on to find this?

The linked page to the image is not the one I cropped from. There is much higher resolution images but you must download the "IAS viewer" which is FREE and available on the same link. Its a fairly small download, then you will be able to zoom in on the original images, where you can get really close up details of the surface. It is truly awesome, and I don't use the term awesome lightly.

The image in question can be found at these coordinates:
X: 1309
Y: 28628

You can enter this information in the field to the left on the IAS viewer panel, then hit "go" and it will zoom you to the exact spot of the object in question.

The objects that I find to be interesting are the ones that do not follow the natural path of gravity, like objects that seem to roll "uphill".

can you prove that it is rolling uphill ?

from what i see...it looks like whatever it is is rolling towards a depression or hole at the foot of that mountainous area.



[edit on 30-10-2008 by easynow]

Originally posted by super70

Originally posted by Benarius
Nice find. But it was discussed in another thread. Asteroids that fall onto mars sometimes roll.

No doubt that asteroids fall and roll on Mars, rocks also break free and will tumble down hill. I have found rocks that have rolled down hill in most Mars images.

The objects that I find to be interesting are the ones that do not follow the natural path of gravity, like objects that seem to roll "uphill".

You said it. They just seem to roll uphill. It's called an optical illusion. Or if you accept a technical distortion, thread closed...lol...that's not up to me. But you might wanna look up that other thread and let moderators know to close this one.

Meteors in soft terrain impact into the ground as far as I know they dont land gently on the surface and roll. Has anyone ever seen a meteor impact?

If this is soft terrain, sand, dust, earth, then it would impact into the ground wouldnt it?

Can anyone actually support a meteor landing an rolling like that in terrain soft enough to leave that kind of trail? Im pretty sure that its not logical. Up hill or down hill doesnt really matter, either way I can see a meteor rolling like that.

I realise Mars gravity is different but I dont think that would make a meteor gracefully touch down on the surface of dust and roll off.

[edit on 30-10-2008 by silver6ix]

In some places it looks like the dust layer is thicker on the side to which the object rolled, so I don't think it rolled uphill.

I also think this is one of those cases where a colour image shows more detail and may help.


(Click the image to see the area marked at 100%)

And no, this is not the same image, object or area as in the other threads, this is a new photo.

Edit to add: thank super70, and nice find, even if it's just a common rock rolling down hill.

[edit on 30/10/2008 by ArMaP]

I'm gonna go with dust devil.Ive seen some impressive pics of some on mars.