MSL...err, what's this?

I posted this here as images of assorted dead dinos, propellers etc have been put here.

Anyway, I came across this little ditty on unmannedspaceflight.com.

It's towards the right side of the pano, but here's a close up.



So is it a bit of the rover, an egg, a missle warhead, an American football?

I think we'll all agree that this isn't a rock.

reply to post by nomadros

Here's an idea. Go find the original image which was used to create the mosaic.
That would be a good avenue of investigation, don't you think?

reply to post by nomadros


I'll be the first to vote...rock....

Do I get a prize....

Des

reply to post by nomadros


Interesting find! It looks like there are tire tracks, rover tracks? It may be part of the rover arm that got peiced into the mosaic,

Or maybe it's the Energizer Bunny's Easter Egg stash! I always keep an open mind!

reply to post by nomadros


The source for that section of the image is Mastcam (left) Sol 198, taken 2013-02-25 09:24:11 UTC. The original is here:



and it contains no obviously fake shiny object.

Originally posted by nomadros
So is it a bit of the rover, an egg, a missle warhead, an American football?
I think we'll all agree that this isn't a rock.

If you compare the image posted by OP with another panorama showing the same area at GigaPan, it looks as though everything's quite normal, I don't see anything out-of-the-ordinary:

Panorama from Unmanned Spaceflight:

Same area at GigaPan based on original NASA/JPL imagery:

Nothing there ... really!!

But if you could provide some links to the original images at NASA/JPL, then we might be able to prove that there's indeed something shiny or artifical that had not been subject to any sort of image manipulation!

Otherwise, it's either nothing of interest or a severe case of photoshop-mania!

Originally posted by jeep3r

But if you could provide some links to the original images at NASA/JPL, then we might be able to prove that there's indeed something shiny or artifical that had not been subject to any sort of image manipulation!

I did that right above you. There's nothing there.

Originally posted by CLPrime

Originally posted by jeep3r

But if you could provide some links to the original images at NASA/JPL, then we might be able to prove that there's indeed something shiny or artifical that had not been subject to any sort of image manipulation!

I did that right above you. There's nothing there.

Yep, acknowledged, thanks for that (didn't see your entry before hitting the 'post' button!)
Apart from that, I guess we both wasted our precious time on this!

If you read the description of the creator of the picture, s/he made up the image of about 1000 images so the (main) chances are that it's part of the rover that got mashed up in the image. If you blow up the image, you can clearly see the join line at the left side of the object, however the thing that caught my eye was the fact that it was behind a "stone" object. Others have published other photos disproving its existence, so it didn't exist and is therefore an image artifact. Solved in 1.5 pages...no biggy and no need for angst.

I'm the last one to try to debunk but it appear to be some part of the rover during the mosaic image shot.

Originally posted by Phage
reply to post by nomadros

 

Here's an idea. Go find the original image which was used to create the mosaic.
That would be a good avenue of investigation, don't you think?

It would indeed be helpful, a link to an original image is always appreciated.

But is the arrogant sarcasm really necessary to point that out?

The thingy is part of the rover's robotic arm. mars.jpl.nasa.gov...



Here is the previous version of the panorama, with the robotic arm visible: Flickr

Someone then used images from other Sols, whithout the robotic arm obstructing the view, to make the "armless" version, but the little part of it remained.

I'd say it was part of this image from Sol 184 (I boxed the area that appears in the mosaic):



Here is the original image, taken by the right MastCam on 2013-02-10 23:57:53 UTC





EDIT TO ADD:

'Wildspace' beat me to it by four minutes.

Originally posted by Arken
I'm the last one to try to debunk

but it appear to be some part of the rover during the mosaic image shot.

Arken -- Mark this day down, because this is a first...

...I agree with you!!!

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People

Originally posted by Arken
I'm the last one to try to debunk

but it appear to be some part of the rover during the mosaic image shot.

Arken -- Mark this day down, because this is a first...

...I agree with you!!!

Mark it.

But... step by step, I will conduct you through the "portal"

Ok it has tire traks.
But why is some metal in the pic?
and why is it so Far from the rover in the pic???

and why has dust been removed in the pic with the metal thing?
it is half buerid in the other pic!

what will it take for you to see that you have people on ATS
Fooling you All the time?

reply to post by buddha


There are tracks there because Curiosity was in that location (the "snake river" where the rover crushed some rocks). I can't address the rest of your post, it sounds like incoherent rant.

Originally posted by buddha

....But why is some metal in the pic?
and why is it so Far from the rover in the pic???

and why has dust been removed in the pic with the metal thing?
it is half buerid in the other pic!...

Have you read this thread?

It has been pointed out in this thread that the picture in the OP does not show a metal object "lying" on the surface in the distance, but that object is really just a part of the rover in the foreground of one of the pictures, and the picture was not cropped very well.

Here is the picture that was probably used for that part of the mosaic, with a box indicating the specific part of the image that appears in the mosaic. Other pictures of the surface (pictures that did NOT include the rover in the foreground) made up the other pieces of the mosaic that surround this boxed area, leaving only a part of the rover visible (the part in the yellow box):

NASA/JPL don't have the best rep for being reliable with their mosaic images. In fact, they don't have much of a reliability factor when it comes to examining genuine surface oddities. They do, however, get a blue ribbon for grinding some into oblivion.

Reading some of the comments here, I don't quite understand why some members make fun of those who take the time to scan these images and point out interesting features. It's certainly more than many laureled scientists make any attempt at.

S&F for the courage it takes to offer this into this kind of environment

Looks sort of like an old army hat and piece of bent pipe superimposed on the picture. Could be part of a rusty motorcycle muffler and an old hubcap also.. I think someone needs to clean the junk out of their garage.

Oh wow, the did already, they stuck the crap on the rover Recycling at it's best, send the trash to mars.