The Curiosity On Mars Thread.

Jawgap

don't forget the ice-caps - Mars has two polar ice caps comprising of mostly water ice (understandably enough), with some dust and frozen CO2.

The patterns in the landscape also suggest there was running water (rivers, if you like) at some stage and there may be something akin to a muddy slurry that appears from time to time........

Seasonal Flows on Warm Martian Slopes

shizz

I believe there is thought to be an underground ice-water table which its distance to the surface decreases with an increase in latitude.

JupiterKid

I thought that this was very funny!:D

shedweller

Software upgrades are being done this weekend to change from EDL to surface ops. Once this is done we can expect some driving around to happen. Well, maybe not "around" but certainly towards mt. Sharp.

AugustusMinimus

Could someone explain why there are so many blacked out areas in rover photos.

For instance, that panoramic shot they took has parts of the rover blacked out.

AugustusMinimus

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Could someone explain why there are so many blacked out areas in rover photos.

For instance, that panoramic shot they took has parts of the rover blacked out.

Have a look for Microsoft ICE(excellent panoramic software and it is free)
Take some photos that overlap an area and use ICE to join them. Unless you line it up perfectly you will get black areas. it is simply unphotographed areas


You will also notice in the panoramas where the photos do not join properly. This is usually at widest angle and or near objects as lens distortion is magnified

shedweller

Nasa mostly go for data type photos. Later on there will be more visually pleasing photos from msl.

Jawgap

This is a bit of a giggle.....

https://twitter.com/SarcasticRover

An alternative take on the MSL Mission!

My own favourite would be....

"I think I've got a dust allergy!! WORST PLANET IN THE UNIVERSE TO BE! EXCEPT FOR EARTH… POLLEN amirght?! I miss the flowers."

refusetolose

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/images/pia16051_figure_1_raw_smaller-br2.jpg

refusetolose

even higher res here

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia16051_figure_1_raw_smaller-full.jpg

The Scratcher

So many stones!! I don't know where to look!! :P

Only joking! amazing pics, It reminds me of Mongolia actually!

AugustusMinimus

Could someone also explain why Mars looks so red in certain photos and more of a sandy colours in others.

Jawgap

A combination of a few factors. Different filters (Curiosirty has 14 of them) will be applied to photos for scientific reasons - also light on Mars light 'looks' different to light on earth because of the amount of dust in the atmosphere and the composition of the atmosphere itself. The colour of the sky and the light change during the Martian day.



From NASA.....

"The Mastcam is designed to take single-exposure, color snapshots similar to those taken with a consumer digital camera on Earth. In addition, it has multiple filters for taking sets of monochromatic (single-color) images. These images are used to analyze patterns of light absorption in different portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Jawgap

An explanation of some of the jargon used during the landing.......


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19198189

transylman

refusetolose wrote: »

even higher res here

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia16051_figure_1_raw_smaller-full.jpg

Looks like a quarry.

shedweller

A strange cloud on Mars seen by NASA's Curiosity rover just after it landed on the Martian surface this week set the Internet buzzing over what it might be. Was it a dust storm? Part of the rover? Something a bit more … alien-y?
Well, NASA has solved the mystery. The weird blob in Curiosity's first photos was actually the huge dust cloud kicked up by the sky crane descent stage that delivered the rover to the Red Planet.
"We believe we've caught what is the descent stage impact on the Martian surface," Steve Sell, NASA's deputy operations lead for Curiosity's Mars landing, told reporters today at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

http://www.space.com/17047-mars-rover-photo-mystery-cloud-solved.html

It's probably the closest we'll come to seeing the descent stages final moments. It did its job so well there's hardly any soil disturbed around the rovers wheels, from what i can see.

Scruff

dont know if it was posted already, too excited to check

http://www.360cities.net/image/curiosity-rover-martian-solar-day-2#460.07,6.59,16.6

irishgeo

Scruff wrote: »

dont know if it was posted already, too excited to check

http://www.360cities.net/image/curiosity-rover-martian-solar-day-2#460.07,6.59,16.6

whats going to happen the rover if its get hit by a huge dust storm?

all the camera would get covered in dust and be unusable.

Chuck Stone

irishgeo wrote: »

whats going to happen the rover if its get hit by a huge dust storm?

all the camera would get covered in dust and be unusable.

Hasn't happened to Opportunity which has been on the surface of Mars for years.

Maybe they use similar cameras that you see in formula 1 racing that clean themselves?

Beeker

irishgeo wrote: »

whats going to happen the rover if its get hit by a huge dust storm?

all the camera would get covered in dust and be unusable.

They just turn the camera away from the direction of the storm. Any dust that stays will be blown away by the winds.

Jawgap

They also calibrate the cameras (you can see calibration targets on different parts of the rover) so the software can figure out what's dust on the lens and what's an actual object.

refusetolose

NASA to Host Teleconference About Curiosity Rover Progress at 6 i believe

http://www.nasa.gov/news/media/newsaudio/index.html

shedweller

Scruff wrote: »

dont know if it was posted already, too excited to check

http://www.360cities.net/image/curiosity-rover-martian-solar-day-2#460.07,6.59,16.6

That is an EPIC panorama! I'd show my kids but they'd be "meh!"
Feckin playstation generation!!
I haven't heard any word on the software update. I presume this panorama is a product of it.
Any updates on the ....er.... Updates?

shizz

Curiosity as taken from the HiRISE camera

Jawgap

May be of interest......"Invaders from Earth" - a graphic summarising Mars missions to date

irishgeo

shizz wrote: »

Curiosity as taken from the HiRISE camera

Looks like a police car with the camera going?

who_ru

shedweller wrote: »

That is an EPIC panorama! I'd show my kids but they'd be "meh!"
Feckin playstation generation!!
I haven't heard any word on the software update. I presume this panorama is a product of it.
Any updates on the ....er.... Updates?

did you try the 'little planet' view....excellent it is. right click anywhere and a choice of different views comes up.

shedweller

I did and it is excellent. I did find it worked more intuitively on the touchscreen of my phone.

shedweller

Here's a pdf file of the science that lays ahead:

http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/msl/workshops/5th_workshop/talks/Tuesday_AM/Anderson_Gale_Traverse_compressed_final_opt.pdf

Just a little light reading....:)

Cheerful Spring

I have stopped been interested in these missions because its fairly obvious to anyone with a thinking brain. We only get half the story and told some of it. Cameras are so advanced today/ imagine what the military has, and yet the images so far are ok but not great. Till i get to Mars and that is likely never. I will keep an openmind how dead Mars is. Weren't they meant to be looking for signs of life ( Methane was found) yet are looking at rocks. Boring.