White Rocks on Mars

It's getting close to drilling time!

Taken just Yestersol on Mars. Gigapan:

gigapan.com...

Preview:



I can't wait to see MAHLI shots of the drill-hole!

Nice! The second and thirds pictures could almost be mistaken for pieces of broken pottery

Am I the only one to be constantly blown away with Curiosity's images? To be looking at the surface of another planet that mankind has wondered at for centuries in such high detail is utterly fascinating and awe inspiring!!

reply to post by Phage


yah that or they were split open and its on the inside, the second one looks like it was split in half or off the side of a larger rock.. well how many things are white and chalky, TONS lol ,

good sign though right?, could be limestone. or cake frosting one or the other ^^

According to NASA, the white stuff is likely some sort of hydrated calcium sulfate, like gypsum or bassinite. I guess that means there had to be flowing water at some point. Just more evidence of a wet past on Mars.

I think it is high time a manned mission went up to the Red Planet and took a gander at what all is up there. There is only so much robots can do. And I think technology could get us there (and If not, then at least they could hoax a Mars landing, but that is another thread).

reply to post by Phage


why exactly is this important?

Its been a while since I've brushed up on chemistry and geology.

reply to post by Phage


Very interesting. I wonder how It resisted time erosion and wind storms.
Oops, I just read it was within the rock. Is it right?

It sure looks like chalk. Any known reason for these loose rocks to have that white substance inside?

These rocks are ancient and suffered erosion firstly from water and later from wind. The trapped "chalk" got free after the rover broke the rock. The slice taken by the rover was superficial and it was weak exactly where the chalk was deposited. Can we take it from here and raise some possibilities?

Cheers

reply to post by Phage


Hmmm..The third picture almost looks like it is from something that was at one time painted.

Originally posted by canucks555
reply to post by Phage

 

Hey Phage where do you get your (those) Curiosity pics>? I'm scouring the Nasa raw images site here and can't pin point them. ~ Thanks in advance

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Dude, Phage is the supreme overseer of science and the interwebs.

You know, there's an old story about how he's wired in like one incredibly intelligent human super computer. The source of all man's knowledge...... just a urban legend though... I think.

reply to post by Phage


Interesting find Phage. From observing the images provided 1 had to wonder did the rover find interest in this rock formation due to it being somewhat in line.

Thanks for the update on Aries/Mars and hopefully in time some form of scale device will be added to the images to get a better feel of what is being observed.

NAMASTE*******

Originally posted by Hijinx

Originally posted by canucks555
reply to post by Phage

 

Hey Phage where do you get your (those) Curiosity pics>? I'm scouring the Nasa raw images site here and can't pin point them. ~ Thanks in advance

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Dude, Phage is the supreme overseer of science and the interwebs.

You know, there's an old story about how he's wired in like one incredibly intelligent human super computer. The source of all man's knowledge...... just a urban legend though... I think.

That's the impression I get after just a few months here. Nice to have a go-to when you're dealing with the Hamster on mars believing idiots here
Did I say that?? lol.. JUST JOKIN (sheesh)
All good, that's what makes it ATS

reply to post by canucks555


One last thought before bed. As someone stated earlier, but sticks out.

In layman's terms, That sh1t is way too clean and white looking to me to be a million years old. Just sayin. yes it was hidden until Curiosity crushed it, but still..
That sh1t is way too clean and white looking to me to be a million years old

With the smooth rounded pebbles and the cracking of the soil that resembles dried mud that I have circled here,
It looks to me this area was wet no too long ago.

reply to post by Phage


Frost? Oxidisation? Some sort of "crystalline" growth/compound? Interesting none-the-less....
Oh and nice to see your "JOHN LITHGOW" avatar back again PHAGE! Was starting to miss that!

Originally posted by chrome413
According to NASA, the white stuff is likely some sort of hydrated calcium sulfate, like gypsum or bassinite. I guess that means there had to be flowing water at some point. Just more evidence of a wet past on Mars.

I think it is high time a manned mission went up to the Red Planet and took a gander at what all is up there. There is only so much robots can do. And I think technology could get us there (and If not, then at least they could hoax a Mars landing, but that is another thread).

Oh, we definaely have he technology and smarts to ge here it's just not very cost effective apparently, go figure! when it comes to expanding man's knowledge and possible survival if something disastorous happens to this planet the powers that be would rather spend money on new weapons than going to another planet to see if it's habitable or ripe for possible terraforming!

reply to post by impaired


impaired's new gigapan (linked in his link not too far above) has quite a few spots where the "white rock" is both exposed and prevalent.

Originally posted by kdog1982
Looks kind of like this.

That's exactly the "stuff" I was thinking of, which does have a "natural" occurance also. (I've alsways liked observing rocks, etc., but never made it a point to proper study them, so I couldn't say what it is, but that to me seems to be the same, or similar substance. Could be the stuff on the wall is calcium Carbonate, some kind of reaction with limestone amd the environment, and the rocks on Mars might be the same, or similar chemical compound...why whyyyyyy? These are the kinds of things Curiosity's scientists are studying (I hope), I really do hope there are a lot of research papers over thr yeas published. So much raw data - so little knowledge of what they're actually doingg with it or planning to do with it (so far!)

Originally posted by LeLeu
With the smooth rounded pebbles and the cracking of the soil that resembles dried mud that I have circled here,
It looks to me this area was wet no too long ago.

According to NASA, and they seem to have an answer for everything, the cracks in the soil are because of the temperature variations between night and day. It gets pretty cold there at night. Apparently, they explain, that the surface of Mars is made of different materials, which some warm faster or cool faster than others, which leads to the cracking we see in the pics. Sort of like asphalt gets hot and expands in the summer then shrinks in the winter and suddenly the freshly paved road or parking lot is full of cracks. Maybe.

All the better reason to send me there. I'll find out and send you a postcard from Mars.

Originally posted by Signals
Anomalous reflections, obvious tricks of the lighting / probe cameras.

Move along.

OK sorry

Originally posted by VoidHawk

All the edges are slightly rounded, what is it thats rounded them off like that? Looks to me like that rock has been rolling around on the...sea bed?

I think it looks more pitted, similar to wind exposure. Not sure it looks like river rock so much.