Welcome to Route 66... Er, make that Site 66
Drive 0000 on Sol 1812. Roughly stitched L-NavCam using MS ICE
Midnight Planets reporting it as ~5.6m ESE (115º) https://twitter.com/MidnightLoader/status/907124787012620288
A new site seems like a good spot to make the split to a new thread.
After the short drive on sol 1814 here's a quick-n-dirty NLB 360 pan, Please delete when the complete version is posted, this may help fix the location.
and the view looking back ( North ) on Sol 1814.
Jan van Driel
The really fine laminations indicate suspension fallout in reasonably deep still water, so the crater was experiencing a wet environment when this level was laid down. Given the original permeability of the deposits my horribly unreliable intuition suspects that the hematite developed during a dry cycle via a mixing interface between groundwater and water infiltrating from a disconnected stream, fed by acidic meltwater at the beginning of the volcanic period that gave rise to the sulphate formation. Development in an open rather than closed environment.
Sol 1814 post drive workspace, assembled in MS ICE, raw colour, no additional processing.
Specular reflections which is a pointer to crystalline minerals. Given that this is the hematite cemented ridge we could punt for hematite / goethite.
2 MAHLI's from Sol 1816 of the fractured sedimentary bedrock in front of the rover. The first is a context frame, the second is a focus merged product of the center of the context frame. The surface dust is more abundant on certain areas, probably just on the 'flatter sections' but at first glance I thought is was concentrated at specific laminations
ChemCam RMI Z-stack & red/cyan anaglyph of fine laminations in the target "Phoney Island".
Assembled using the 7 'https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=1817&camera=CHEMCAM_' posted by JPL of the 9 RMI frames acquired, it may be possible to pull some more detail from all 9 if the missing 2 turn up as enhanced files. I used http://www.picolay.de/ to assembled the Z-Stack and the anaglyph shown here. I'm sure https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sol-1815-1816-stopping-to-smell-the-rocks will be much better than this basic version, but it was fun making it
After all those fine laminations, now for somethiing a little different.
The Lmastcam view on sol 1819:
https://flic.kr/p/XCN48P
Sol 1819 Workspace from the left MastCam (Raw in MS ICE)
Well I can't claim to have seen a reaction like that to a ChemCam LIBS session )
The plan for Sol 1821 has several ChemCam targets, but this is a first to come down, maybe they turned up the power to celebrate the 500k shot of the laser
Yes, that does look interesting.
This is Jan's panorama for sol 1819 in circular form. The rocky pavement is a big change from so many sols among broken rocks.
Phil
PS - I'm in Salisbury, UK for the next few weeks. If any UMSF fans want to meet up send me a message.
Looks like we can add another small iron meteorite to the list
That really does look like a meteorite! From the update, it is called Mustards Island.
Phil
(PS - I am replying to jasedm privately but if anyone else is nearby, send a message)
Quick and dirty partial pan of the L-NavCams after the nice drive on sol 1822. Mods can delete after the full version is posted. Some long awaited views of the distant target destinations gradually coming into view
The sol 1822 Lmastcam view:
https://flic.kr/p/XJrNzK
Apparently we are now in a new quadrangle. Names from the latest status report include Sherwood Forest and Troll Valley, taken from the 1883 novel The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. Previous quads took names from geological features of the areas which gave the quads their names. I don't know what this quad will be named. If anyone can fill us in, I would be grateful.
Phil
That does seem to be the target, good eyes there Paul. The RMI operating range is 400 nm to 840 nm so there was possibly a big spike in one section of the reflectance spectra.
I think this sol 1822 ChemCam target is https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sol-1822-onward-and-upward, I added the R-MastCam context image as well as a small mosaic of R-NavCam images to the 4 frame RMI mosaic. AlgorimancerPG was used to create the scale bar.
Quick and Dirty R-NavCam after the short drive on 1827.
Page mods can delete when the good version is posted
Well the depositional environment is certainly changing as we get closer to the top of the ridge.
Almost looks like tree rings. Very uniform in thickness I think. Seasonal?
A circular view of Jan's new panorama. Soon enough - a month or two perhaps - and we will be looking into the stunning terrain south of the ridge.
Phil
There are a number of factors that could have influenced bedding formation that are not necessarily cyclical. For example changes in the sources of sediment and variations in sediment supply, water depth and velocity, changes in climate or local environment, wind velocity and direction if aeolian, airfall from volcanic activity or impacts and so on. There should be some interesting papers in the next LSPC.
R-MastCam from 1821 which is the context image for the ChemCam target called 'Mustards Island'. We can see the LIBS locations as bright specs which are very similar to earlier LIBS sites on iron meteorites, but I've not yet seen any reports from JPL, I guess we have to await a paper, or a Photo Journal post
Using AlgorimancerPG I get a width of ~6 cm.
Yeah - that was a fun shift yesterday (1829) - did my best to raise the drive direction (ncam00267) to cover Mt Sharp without getting a hole in coverage between it, the Workspace (ncam00375) and the ChemCam targetable region (ncam00312) - a lot of back and forth, relying on an end of drive pitch/tilt to make it work.
Super relieved that it all worked out
The sol 1828 Lmastcam drive direction view:
https://flic.kr/p/YXqWAP
R-MastCam from 1828 I think this is https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sol-1828-bye-bye-bar-harbor (raw in MS ICE)
The view is getting stunninger and stunninger (for one as easily stunned as me). Here are Jan's two latest panoramas in circular form.
Phil
sol 1828:
The sol 1829 Lmastcam drive direction view:
https://flic.kr/p/YVBpD9
Probably a superb image Charborob, but unfortunately Flic.kr is yet again declining to play.
Sol 1830 Lmastcam view (compressed):
A pair of rather interesting ChemCam Targets from sol 1831, shown in context on a resized version of the L-MastCam workspace from 1830
The https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sol-1831-quite-a-diffracting-weekend refers to them as "Normandien," and "Black Reef."
Besides the interesting shapes, any thoughts on the small surface pits?
Strange little beasts. Normandien appears to be shot through with crack-filling intrusions of white material, so possibly metamorphized. The pits may have been inclusions of some other mineral that either evaporated out during the metamorphism or eroded away after the rock reached the surface.
(Sheer guesses; let's see what the real geologists say. )
I think we need to wait and see what this little fellow is made of. While there may have been a few kilometres of sedimentary material covering this area in the past there would not be anywhere near the heat or pressure necessary for metamorphism. Could the apparent veining on the sunlit side be an artefact of reflectance?
Given that we are still on a slope climbing towards the top of the ridge and these probably bounced down from a higher level, it wouldn't surprise to find that "Black Reef" is a chip off the old block so to speak.
Only two in the immediate vicinity? If they were tumbling from above, wouldn't there be more? Having said that I don't know what "the immediate vicinity" is . Certainly seems to me to be out of context with their current location, very interesting that one seems to be a 'longer baked, bigger version, more developed', call it what you will, version of the other. Perhaps one arrived at it's current location long before the other?
Geology....madness solidified, I don't know how you do it!
I would amend that to read " Sedimentary geology is solid climatology" - you.
I was in fact mulling over the possibility that "Black Reef" parted from "Normandien" on the way down, along a fracture. We have seen a few instances of this with float. For example, this three piece jigsaw.
Arm/drill issues after placing a sample from Ogunquit Beach in CheMin prevented the drive on sol 1833. That presented an opportunity to take another look at Normandien with ChemCam in Passive mode. It also meant the rover acquired a set of NavCam images with the arm extended
MS ICE managed to assemble these three frames. 'Curiosity looking back at its path', I hope others will properly assemble these.
To add to the range of possibilities... it was suggested that these rocks fell down the slope from higher layers, but I would point out an alternative direction of movement - impact ejecta thrown up from the plains to the north, or even from much further afield. If the material was impact melt, solidifying in flight, the holes might be vesicles (bubbles). Not saying it has to be that, I just want to add to the confusion.
Phil
Drive of approximately 13.9m SSE (147º) on Sol 1834 (Oct 3, 2017) http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/sol/01834.html
Very roughly processed and roughly stitched partial pan assembled in MS ICE using the L-NavCam's... Poor processing, but a great view
Sol 1834 Hazcams reprojected to find the location after the drive - not always good enough, but today they work just fine.
Phil
PS I just spent an enjoyable afternoon with ngunn, a very nice chat about all things UMSF.
On the latest NavCam pics, and due to the low opacity of the Martian atmosphere and our climbing the hills, we are beginning to see clearly some far horizon features (herewith a Sol 1834 pic).
Dear Phil, as our talented Cartographer-in-Chief, could you please give us your opinion with a location on a map ?
Thanks so much in advance
Those look like the same features Phil identified in http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=8309&view=findpost&p=236966
The Navcam L view on Sol 1834. (Added 1 Right Navcam image)
Jan van Driel
Sol 1834 Lmastcam view:
https://flic.kr/p/Z5rXwN
One of sol 1836 DRT targets has some lighter toned areas within the brushed zone (not the calcium sulfate veins). I thought maybe these were DRT scouring on the high spots on a soft rock target, however another MAHLI of the same target after the LIBS array, but prior to the DRT appears to show some of the light toned areas may have been present before the DRT brushed the target. The raw images are attached. One of the LIBS sites may have hit the edge of a light toned area, so it may be interesting to review the spectra once released
I think she's getting a bit creative with her ChemCam laser.
Now this is interesting. Reduction spots in hematite rich sandstone, with the lack of sphericity probably indicating formation pre-compaction. I don't know if it is possible to get any indication of the mineral in the cores but some of the possibilities are fascinating.
My take on the beautiful MC34 panorama of sol 1812, while climbing the ramp to top:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasappere/36901484073/sizes/o/
And panorama taken with NavCam Left on sol 1833 patched with pictures taken on sol 1834, with a sky adapted from scalbers' work:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasappere/36857019984/sizes/o/
You can explore it in Virtual Reality https://roundme.com/tour/204804/view/553595/.
Does someone know a sol where the rover would have taken a picture of its turret in the same orientation as on sol 1833? So that I can fill the part not imaged on sol 1833...
Mosaic of pictures taken with MC34 on sol 1830 and 1834. Top of the hills were patched with pictures of sol 1829. I'm looking forward to a panorama taken with MC100 !
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasappere/36867131834/sizes/o/
Jan's last two panoramas in circular form. They really help to give the impression of driving across this elevated and pitted surface.
Phil
Sol 1834:
Sol 1838 Lmastcam view:
https://flic.kr/p/Zdh6dS
I was the two so close together, particularly with the bright pixel that threw me.
exhumed meteorite fragment or specular deception? m34/m100 cross anaglyph and detail in parellel view, but clearest view in the http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/01837/1837MR0096320000304875E01_DXXX.html original
Actually made me think of that 'italy' https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00173/mcam/0173MR0926020000E1_DXXX.jpg way back at yellowknifehttp://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=7591&view=findpost&p=197528, which looking back was probably a meteorite fragment still embedded.
A small move on sol 1843... but just a turn in place, I think. If it was intended, it may be to reach an interesting target with the arm. Otherwise it might be an aborted drive. No map update for this.
Phil
Here's a cheat for those following along at home. Every day there is a drive or robotic arm stuff planned, ECAM delivers a sequence called FHAZ00190
It's an off-nominal image - if something happens that causes a drive to abort early or an arm sequence to stop unexpectedly....then FHAZ00190 gets taken.
Such as https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=FLB_560761808EDR_F0661332FHAZ00190M_&s=1839
If it's a drive - quite often - the rest of the post drive imaging will still occurs such as a normal end of drive FHAZ, RHAZ and series of NavCam sequences - which is why there's an FHAZ00337 taken shortly afterwards..
https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=FLB_560761909EDR_F0661332FHAZ00337M_&s=1839
Thanks, Jan. Here is your panorama in circular form. Moving along the ridge a bit. A map update will follow shortly.
Phil
The sol 1846 Lmastcam drive direction view:
https://flic.kr/p/ZtLqiq
And a view of the nearby rocks:
https://flic.kr/p/ZtLjkU
Roughly assembled sol 1850 L-NavCam post-drive partial pan assembled in MS ICE, raw, no additional processing.
Take Curiosity away from the gravel patch, and onto a potential drill test site? (Feed-extended drilling)
Rocky workspace on the ridge (1850 L-MastCam raw in MS ICE)
8 raw frames R-MastCam mosaic, looking south and acquired before the drive on sol 1850. No processing after stitching in MS ICE
Sol 1850 post-drive Lmastcam:
https://flic.kr/p/Cx4etG
Animation of the drill load test (with the drill feed extended) on sol 1848.
9 FLB HazCam frames used in this simple animated GIF assembled in PhotoScape.
The image time-stamps indicate ~12 minutes in elapsed time for the test.
https://i.imgur.com/ePVMVrZ.gif
The last complete image is down and here is the view.
Sol 1848.
Jan van Driel
Panorama taken with MC100 on sol 1852, debayered on Gimp:
https://flic.kr/p/ZkhLqS
Full resolution: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasappere/37630620450/sizes/o/
Three new Photojournal entries with updates on the steps taken towards possible resumption of drilling:
https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22061: Testing New Techniques for Mars Rover Rock-Drilling
https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22062: New Rock-Drilling Method in 'Mars Yard' Test
https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22063: Mars Rover Step Toward Possible Resumption of Drilling
Since we are stuck for a bit, here are two of Jan's recent panoramas in circular form to show off the great scenery.
Phil
Sol 1848:
Sol 1856 batch with extended sky & foreground fills...
Mastcam left Panorama East
https://flic.kr/p/ZQWFTh
Mastcam left Panorama North
https://flic.kr/p/ZTM9m8
Mastcam left Panorama North detail
https://flic.kr/p/ZR6gN5
Mastcam left Panorama West
https://flic.kr/p/ZTWdLH
Mastcam left Panorama West detail
https://flic.kr/p/ZRf1X5
Mastcam right...
https://flic.kr/p/FX6zjc
edit: uploaded the correct Mastcam right image
Sean thank you for these beautiful pics
Mars in the morning, noon and evening as imaged by MC34 and MC100 on sol 1844:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasappere/26320369199/sizes/o/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasappere/26320727129/sizes/o/
Very impressed with the recent posts on this thread, splendid work by all contributors...
Meanwhile.... Another in the ongoing checks of the dust on the REMS UV housing took place during sol 1863.
Here is a reduced montage of 25 selected checks since landing, sol numbers added with a rough description of the location. I've also provided a link to the latest MAHLI.
Partial L-NavCam pan after Curiosity's drive to the WSW during Sol 1864 (roughly assembled in MS ICE) http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/sol/01864.html
Mastcam left view from Sol 1866, extended sky, patched in Mt Sharp & foreground fills.
https://flic.kr/p/21bAXsJ
Thanks, Jan - here is a circular version. I can see I should have moved the map location for sol 1867 a bit further southeast.
Phil
Sol 1866 Lmastcam:
https://flic.kr/p/GjEJvg
What an amazing view of the path ahead. Does anyone know the height of some of those large mesas at the base of Mt. Sharp? So hard to get a feel of scale in these photos. I remember early in the mission the first high res shots of that area there was a boulder down at the base of one of them and it was supposedly taller than the rover and it looked tiny in comparison to the hill beside it.
If you have a Daydream or GearVR phone [ or phone supporting VR ] or HMD you can visit this area in person. The mesas are frickin' huge.
https://skfb.ly/68HnC
The rim is so clear now--dust must be very low!
Yes, it's great to see the rim again so clearly.
Here is Jan's panorama from sol 1869 in circular form. We are in a recess in this small topographic step on the ridge, probably ready to climb it now. Let's hope that drill can be used on the ridge before we have to move on.
Phil
Any chance this is a walk around to understand the overall diversity of rock types, and when done, possibly go back down the hill to an older layer to start drill sampling?
I really can't see a return to the lower surface north of the ridge. That geologic unit had been drilled further north, and examined at almost every stop by ChemCam and APXS along the way.
Phil
I was thinking older and younger layers of Vera Rubin Ridge, not all the way back down.
Question for the group: I used to get the approximate elevation of Curiosity from the JPL traverse maps posted https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/whereistherovernow/, but JPL have not updated the maps since sol 1830. I'm guessing I could obtain elevation from NAIF or maybe from the JSON files. Not sure how easy that would be, but likely beyond my skill-set. So I'm hoping there could be another source for that data without having to await the PDS....
In the meantime here's a (very rough & ready) Curiosity Sol 1871 L-NavCam partial pan assembled in MS ICE, the stitch is poor, but the scenery is lovely.
I made an animation with the 25 MAHLI dust level checks of REMS UV sensors that Paul selected.
The distribution of dust changes between sols 1498 and 1552: while dust was evenly distributed on the ring-shaped magnets before sol 1498, it then forms accumulations, as if the fine fraction of dust had been blown away by a wind event. We also observe this dust accumulation on the left side of the REMS device.
"But, if you don't drill actual bedrock, how would you know it's the same geologic unit?"
All the ChemCam and APXS data, plus geological interpretation of HiRISE and rover images. The rover updates at JPL have made clear the interpretation being followed by the rover team. This ridge is a new unit. To go back to the earlier question, which I misinterpreted, certainly there might be a return to lower units on the top of the ridge if variations in ChemCam and APXS (plus Mastcam multispectral) suggest it's useful, otherwise one drill site may be enough.
Anyhoo, here is Jan's 1871 panorama in circular form.
Phil
Curiosity's weekend workspace L-MastCam, raw in MS ICE. Also a rather nice cropped ChemCam RMI target that features in the workspace. sadly no target names (yet)
Hi everyone
Found some motivation to do some work there. So, a little bunch of panoramic of my own
Sol 1866 Mastcam34
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1866_Mastcam34.jpg
Sol 1867 Navcam
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1867_pano.jpg
Sol 1869 Navcam
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1869_pano.jpg
Sol 1871 Navcam
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1871_pano.jpg
And an extra postcard, from Sol 1866, by Mastcam100 :
http://www.db-prods.net/blog/2017/11/08/mars-by-curiosity-a-sol-1856-postcard/
Enjoy
C'est la cas!
Merci Damia
Possible aborted drive on 1873, very small move, nothing obvious in the workspace that would warrant a short bump, but what do I know
Sol 1873 Navcam panoramic :
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1873_pano.jpg
So the first step would need to be detailed geological mapping using HiRISE images and the CRISM compositional data. Is there much evidence of faulting? Not sure, but it could be looked for. My impression is that there has not been a huge amount of faulting, so I would not be expecting an explanation based on large vertical motions. But I haven't done that work myself. Part of the reason for all the Mastcam imaging of the ridge along its northern side was to map the stratigraphy and structure. That can continue to the south as well. Wil there be evidence of vertical offsets? Or is it all stratigraphy, layer after layer without much faulting? I don't know, but that's how it could be tackled.
Phil
Sol 1873 Lmastcam:
https://flic.kr/p/GyvhnP
The boxwork is on the horizon between the sulphate rich upper member of the Mount Sharp lower formation and the overlying aeolian deposits. There would almost certainly have been a hiatus following the final water influenced deposition so dessication fracturing must be a contender and given the lack of lithification of the overlying deposits any subsequent groundwater interaction must have occurred before the aeolian deposition.
Tafoni-esque weathering due to differential cementation? nice example of a bedrock remnant here in stereo (anaglyph/cross/parellel) from http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/01870/1870MR0097720280105178C00_DXXX.html M34/m100 pair (debayered via G'MIC in GIMP).
Are the sediments Curiosity is among still nearly level on the average, or are they dipping towards the rim?
Sol 1876 RMI mosaic (MS ICE), possibly the dark-toned pebble dubbed "Middleton" referenced in the latest https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sol-1875-1876-sitting-on-the-boundary
Curiosity completes another drive on sol 1877, https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sol-1877-1878-the-last-drive-before-thanksgiving. We don't have the post drive images yet, but Midnight Planets is https://twitter.com/MidnightLoader/status/931327328327753728 it as ~20.2m Southwest (-143º)
Nice NavCam Pan Jan
Here's the Arm Workspace for Sol 1877 L-Mastcam MS ICE / Raw
Really nice facets on the sections of exposed bedrock? I guess there is a proper name for that sort of erosional feature, but they look cool whatever they're called
Sol 1877 Lmastcam view:
https://flic.kr/p/21zBupE
On sol 1878 a set of images were taken by the Right Navcam looking at the mountain to search for changes (dust devils etc.) No dust devils are obvious in them but there is an interesting change.
There are 5 images in the set. Images 4 and 5 show a significant change, a band crossing the mountain:
And Jan's sol 1877 panorama in circular form. Interesting that the top of the ridge here has a gravelly surface, quite different from the bare fractured rock on the lower terraces. In HiRISE it looks very bland.
Phil
Rough and ready stitch of a set of 10 sol 1979 RMI's that feature a distant target seen on this mast cam frame from charborob's 1877 mosaic.
The images are unprocessed except for stitching.
Sol 1877 Navcam panorama. The softness of late afternoons landscapes
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1877_pano.jpg
Interface of two rock types? or alteration zone (groundwater from the larger fracture?)
Raw Sol 1879 MAHLI (https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/01879/mhli/1879MH0002990010702448C00_DXXX.jpg) Many more fine examples of dark and light toned targets examined by the MAHLI http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/sol/01879.html
Mosaic of two debayered MC100 photos, showing nice details on the distant hills.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasappere/38472252266/sizes/o/
Some rather nice L&R Mastcam images acquired just before sunset on http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/sol/01880.html The mission update refers to these as https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sols-1879-1881-stay-frosty
Sadly they are Bayer encoded and jpeg'ed, so beyond the range of my rather basic skill-set. Hopefully someone can do them the justice they deserve and possible acquire another fine animated Martian sunset.
A small set of pre-dawn RMI's looking for https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sols-1882-1888-stuffed-with-science on sol http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/sol/01883.html
One http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/01883/CR0_564628645PRC_F0670000CCAM01882L1.html in the set of four! Maybe some sort of over exposed or a calibration image? I have not encountered one like this before... Any ideas?
Underexposed, by the look of it.
Here's a quick-and-dirty stab at deBayering that sunset pic:
Ryan Anderson 'Advocated for ChemCam to use its RMI to take a closer look at an interesting geologic contact on Mt. Sharp during Sol 1885' in the current https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sols-1882-1888-stuffed-with-science.
Here's my roughly assembled mosaic of the raw RMI's using MS ICE:
My take on this picture
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/1880ML0098480180703571C00_DB_web.JPG
1887 drive, no details yet, but here are the 3 available L-NavCams frames featuring the horizon assembled in MS-ICE, the distant rounded Mesa's and Buttes look really inviting
My take:)
I played a little with tosol images. So I can make a little Postcard of this nice point of view
http://www.db-prods.net/blog/2017/11/27/la-terre-promise-sol-1887-postcard/
Nice postcard! These are the reprojected Hazcam images I used to estimate our current position, about 10 m south of the Thanksgiving stop.
Phil
Thanks
Maybe it can be handle to have the full panoramic now all the images are downlinked ^^
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1887_pano.jpg
I thought we had moved about 10 m south, but Midnight Planets says 26 m. I'll have to think about that... but Damia's full panorama will be useful. More to follow.
EDIT - sure enough, the full pan tells a different story. Here is a circular projection of that panorama (Thanks, Damia):
Really stunning terrain captured in this telephoto RMI mosaic of a distant mesa on Mt sharp that Ryan Anderson at USGS/JPL has been monitoring for changes.
Sol 1888, roughly assembled in MS ICE, full size 5655x1704
Link to the http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/sol/01888.html
NASA/JPL-CalTech/MSSS/LANL
It's a pity they don't do the cloud and DD searches with the stereo paired cameras.
An 1888 R-NavCam sequence of 8 frames has a really nice cosmic ray strike or whatever else one would like to think it is
The version uploaded here is increased in size to 1000x1000 and a link provided to the raw image https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/proj/msl/redops/ods/surface/sol/01888/opgs/edr/ncam/NRB_565099491EDR_M0670216NCAM00567M_.JPG
The sol 1887 Lmastcam view:
https://flic.kr/p/21WLi4W
Gosh darn it this should be in my book and it's too late.
Another long-distance telescopic survey with ChemCam, this time on sol 1890 featuring 'a fan like deposit closer to Mt. Sharp' (mentioned in this https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sol-1889-1890-back-to-grind)
All ten frames were roughly assembled using MS ICE without additional processing.
Raw images https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=1890&camera=CHEMCAM_
Sol 1889 Navcam panoramic
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1889_pano.jpg
The sol 1889 Lmastcam drive direction view:
https://flic.kr/p/21ZAFhW
The https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sol-1891-making-do-with-what-you-got drive for sol 1891 towards the Southeast may take the rover close to the next map quadrant. Any guesses on the theme for the next quadrant?
Just 4 of the L-NavCams after the drive on Sol 1894, the rest of the images are down, but MS ICE did not want to play ball today. However, these may help to narrow down the location until someone can stitch the set together Nice to see the whole of the mountain without the need for a top tier, great pointing JPL Looking forward to seeing the full pan
This panorama taken on Sol 1894 is just incredible. Like we could touch the hills !
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1894_pano.jpg
Nice work Damia! What a wonderful sight Let's to the hills!
Yes, that is a beautiful view. Here is Damia's panorama in circular form. There are lots of circular depressions around here, presumably small impact craters.
Phil
There doesn't seem to have been any progress on the drill since late October. Given that the hematite ridge is a reasonably important area for analysis can we assume that the non stabilised test on the drill function was unsuccessful?
Sol 1894 Workspace (raw L-MastCam assembled in MS ICE) contains several of the targets located above the shadow of Curiosity's mast that were mentioned in the https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sols-1895-1896-dogleg-left
I've been dying to see the latest views in 3D. Here's a quick and dirty one from 1894
https://flic.kr/p/216eCAQhttps://flic.kr/p/216eCAQ
[quote name='Ant103' date='Dec 4 2017, 01:25 PM' post='237857']
This panorama taken on Sol 1894 is just incredible. Like we could touch the hills !
Magnifique encore Damia merci
"We seem to be high enough now to see some mountains beyond the northern crater rim. They are at about 11:30 on that circular projection. Does anyone have a handy map of what's out there?"
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=8309&st=165&p=236966&#entry236966
Phil
MS ICE made a pigs ear out of the 1896 NavCams, but the tracks came out well
Thank you everyone for your kind messages
Here is Sol 1896 Navcam pan. Again, spectacular view there.
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1896_pano.jpg
Thanks, Damia - here is a circular version to show our location in the crater-like depression
Phil
On one track, the three wheels seem to be pretty well aligned, while on the other track they seem to be displaced by almost the width of a wheel, resulting in a wider track.
I could only speculate about the reason for the different horizontal displacements with respect to the driving direction. Might be some lateral slip due to the slope and sandy ground.
One way to do that would be if the track were not straight but actually had a constant curvature bent slightly to the rover's right. The middle wheels are positioned about half a wheel width outside the corner wheels. A slightly curved track would put the tracks from the wheels on the outside of the turn on top of each other, but would displace the track of the middle wheel on the inside of the turn off of the path of the corner wheels.
Here's a 3D look at those tracks.
https://flic.kr/p/EaYpTQhttps://flic.kr/p/EaYpTQ
1901, very roughly assembled in MS ICE, but should suffice until a better version is posted...
Yes Paul, I'm here now
This Sol 1901 Navcam panoramic :
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1901_pano.jpg
Expertly crafted Damia, many thanks
MS ICE has its good days, but only rarely with NavCams.
I really enjoyed your version, not just for the quality of the blending and the stitching, but with this increase in elevation we are getting to see a little more the distant detail at the base the rim walls, such as slumping material and hints the alluvial fans that washed material into the crater. Imagine what those would look like in a MAHLI 'selfie' at the next drill site? (fingers crossed)
A nice new panorama - thanks, Damia. Here is a circular projection of it. We are parked just north of a little step in the topography. (note that a rise near the rover is greatly magnified by the reprojection geometry here - I could re-do this with that taken into account but I don't usually bother)
Phil
Sol 1901. Sphere, hemisphere, concretion or something else?
A spherical tektite?
Looks very similar to some of the larger concretions at Meridiani.
Navcam gives a diameter of around 5 or 6 mm. That is indeed at the large end of the Meridiani blueberry size distribution.
It is a lonely little critter so regardless of provenance, transportation was probably involved.
Drive on 1905: Roughly assembled L-NavCam pan in MS ICE, may help pin down the new location until a proper version can be assembled and posted. Some nice terrain just in front of the rover
Thanks, Paul, it does help. Here's a circular version of it.
Phil
Sol 1905 panoramic
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1905_pano.jpg
Unusually close to the sun dial in this MAHLI from 1904, much closer than the distance used for a Selfie, and focused on the ground. Hopefully the backdated weekend plan will be issued in a day or two will shed some light on what they were aiming to capture.
This is the best image of the cal target I've seen, and you can see the "MARS 2010" that we didn't update after the launch slip.
Cool! I suppose there's a good reason this sort of imaging hasn't been done until this far into the mission?
Here is a partial glimpse of the epic panorama waiting in the wings.... MSL 1903 ML
https://flic.kr/p/HFY488
And my take on this awesome early morning panorama that is coming... Sol 1903, 8h07 local time.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasappere/38432819554/sizes/o/
https://flic.kr/p/22CSAvM
1903 is going to be a outstanding 360. My previews all failed to pass internal QC, so I delighted to see these stunning teasers, plus I saw that Damia is working on de-bayering this set as well.
Further good news is that the team have ensured we can fill in the gaps on the 360 with a full suite of NavCam's of the deck. Hopefully the remaining images will make it to JPL soon, I'm really looking forward to seeing all the different versions
Keep up the excellent processing
It might be premature to ask but any working hypothesis as to the origin of Rubin ridge?
And, to complete the trio.
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1903_Mastcam34_tmp.jpg
In all those wonderful photos there's a ridge ahead with a rock layer on top and steep walls below it. I see no obvious places to climb over it in the wide section we are seeing. Is our path off to the left of what we're looking at with a gradual slope somewhere?
Click thru for a video of the horizon area featured in the recent pano...
https://flic.kr/p/RscShW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr3-WPhzoqI
More on the route ahead...
https://flic.kr/p/QcKTK1
[quote name='Art Martin' date='Dec 19 2017, 03:37 PM' post='238015']
... there's a ridge ahead with a rock layer on top and steep walls below it. I see no obvious places to climb over it...
[/quote
That ridge is a remnant of what Anderson and Bell termed the "mound skirting unit" which was protected by fan material from the channel, now eroded back. If you watch Sean's impressive video titled Hematite and Clay, towards the end the rather benign area of the proposed path, towards at the rear left side of the fan is visible (around time stamp 1.45).
I think I recall this is the area where Curi will ascend...just before the dunes on the left
Hopefully 'The Stooke' or Fernando will confirm or correct.
Around past the dunes I believe, unless they have significantly changed the basic route. Image from https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia20846/curiosity-destinations-for-second-extended-mission
This is a newer plan, but not very different:
https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21720
I was wrong. Here is the ascent area according to the post by Fredk...
some stereo (cross-eye/anaglyph/parallel) of a couple frames ripped from Sean's absolutely remarkable rendered sequence. The path in the map that Fredk linked a few posts above would run up along the right bank of the channel as seen perhaps most distinctly in the parallel view at right, that sean pointed out a few posts above, though i was too lazy to attempt an oversketch of that route atop the frame.
Here is a quick pass on a portion of the complete 360...
https://flic.kr/p/D7TdNi
Detail...
https://flic.kr/p/21qPB3D
Lovely work Sean....
~5.4 meter drive SE (Midnight Planets) partial L-NavCam, also in the set was a couple of top tier frames featuring the extended drill, but MS ICE would not stitch them on to the others
Sol 1912 Navcam panoramic.
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2017/Sol1912_pano.jpg
Paul, seriously, trash your Microsoft Ice thing. Maybe it's efficient with common pictures, but Navcam pictures are not common. Use Hugin, or PTGui or something. It will be better
Another beautiful pano Damia. Do you straighten the horizon yourself? It always seems so 'locked in'. Looking forward to your debayered 1903 360...
Hugin finds correspondences itself. But with NavCam this usually doesn't work well. But you can add and remove these correspondences. By choosing such corresponding points near the horizon, you get a "locked" horizon.
Thanks Gerald... I used Hugin a long time ago so I might give it another look.
I'm doing it all manually. And all of my panoramas are made with manual settings, never automated process, with Navcam imagery.
And thanks you Sean I have a special project for this color panorama.
Sol 1912 Lmastcam:
https://flic.kr/p/EGUbqQ
I don't understand why some mastcam images are debayered, and some are not.
Does anyone know why MARDI was taking so many images during Sol 1910?
And so https://www.flickr.com/photos/nev-t/38646816984
Rather fascinating ChemCam image from sol 1921. Are these crystals, presumably (impure) gypsum or some sulfate? It almost looks like staurolite, but that would be a highly unexpected complex mineral. Hopefully there will be an analysis soon.
Fracture fill remnants feels right and they have the appearance of scattering rather than eroding out in situ. I wonder whether the two "host" rocks were once a single piece of float that fractured, separating along the plane of the fracture fill. Both "host" rocks seem to have areas of lighter colour which may, or may not be significant. One thing is certain, there are going to be some very interesting papers at the next LSPC.
1923 drive: here's a crop of what I could stitch with the L-NavCams, Damia or Jan will hopefully tackle the full pan, but this rough version may assist in narrowing down the location until they can post
EDIT Midnight Planets is having issues, but Joe's page has elements that are working again, his http://curiosityrover.com/tracking/drivelog.html suggest the drive was ~12m ~ESE
They got really up close and personal with this image and the broken ends do look metallic. Some segments can be seen bonded to the rock and given that this area is the hematite ridge it seems likely that this is indeed iron oxide. It is almost as if Mars has its own version of banded iron formation based on fracture fill. On balance this seems more likely for oxygenated water infiltrating the saturated zone from a disconnected stream than groundwater flowing to the surface.
Hopefully, they'll be able to collect some APXS data, at least, in order to see whether it's actually some kind of iron mineral, or some SiO2 modification, instead. The latter could https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conchoidal_fracture, and then appear specular, too.
A quick and dirty stereo anaglyph of the Mount Sharp view on 1923
https://flic.kr/p/F2cPMbhttps://flic.kr/p/F2cPMb
Sol 1922 Lmastcam:
https://flic.kr/p/F2nMmE
Noting a few apparent 'breaks' in the apparent layer remnant, did it get run over? its revealing brighter material inside almost as if its some sort of piping condensate. aside from that is an almost vertical line of 'etched' graininess to the right of the main leg and most visible in this http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/01922/1922MH0001760010703194C00_DXXX.html image, looking almost like an extended REMs strafing. heres cross/parellel stereo of the two main sections from a http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/01923/1923MH0007280000703205R00_DXXX.html pair.
I never did post a circular version of the 1912 navcam panorama - this is from Damia's version.
Phil
And the Sol 1923 complete panoramic
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2018/Sol1923_pano.jpg
I have a request from my friend Nick Schneider, who's a coauthor of a popular astronomy textbook, https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=cosmic+perspective+8th+edition. He's looking for a publication-quality illustration for the latest edition of the book, that shows Curiosity's route of ascent of Mt Sharp (current and projected future) superposed on an oblique view of the terrain, ideally something like one of Sean's wonderful renderings, but with the route shown something like http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=8333&view=findpost&p=238068. I suspect that an image focusing on the traverse from Bagnold Dunes onwards would be ideal.
I don't remember seeing an image exactly like that- could anyone point me to such an image if you know of it, or would anyone like to volunteer to generate one?
Thanks,
John
As a note, I can see the correlation now between the terrain in Sean's rendering in post #242 and Nogal's view in #245.
Has anybody taken a crack at DeBayering and assembling the sol 1911 MR panorama of the interesting "blue" outcrop? According to Abigail Fraeman in the sol 1911-1912 update:
Here is a possible contender for the notional route map... this one is only good from mid Murray Buttes though
https://flic.kr/p/Ri6Hmf
http://gigapan.com/gigapans/195482
MSL Traverse Map v1 covers the whole route plus incorrect notional...
https://flic.kr/p/SdQrv1
http://gigapan.com/gigapans/196659
It might be possible to update with a new render depending on when it is needed.
You really can see the color variation from red above to less red below though. Nice work, and thanks!
A small mosaic of one of the Sol 1925 https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=1925&camera=MAHLI. MS-ICE, colours unprocessed.
This https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/01925/mhli/1925MH0002910010703326C00_DXXX.jpg seems to open an option for http://eos.tufts.edu/varves/Geology/chronology.asp.
The thing I find intriguing is that there does not seem to be any indication of a freeze - thaw cycle.
Looks like the outstanding images for the L-MastCam 1903 pan are finally down. Looking forward to see what the image wizards can do with them
I seem to recall Phil predicting some interesting terrain on the other side of the ridge based on the satellite images. Looking at this roughly assembled 1928 partial L-NavCam pan I'd have to say 'Good call Phil'
It's got the usual stitching errors for MS ICE, but it may help get a rough fix of drive direction etc until the remainder of the images come down and they can be properly assembled. Feel free to delete once the proper version gets posted.
Thoughts on this little target?
When I saw the pictures taken by the Curiosity rover on Sol 1903 which came online last week, I told myself "WOW !", because they reminded me the early morning view taken by the Viking 1 lander in 1976, the famous one with the backlit dunes...
Although the Curiosity pictures were shot in colour and are distributed in panchromatic 'raw' format, I think that the most artistic view is to leave them in black and white, because processing them to colour would erase some of the exquisite details inside a quasi-uniform yellowish-brown.
So, I decided to process the pictures as if they were taken in a panchromatic format.
Here is the resulting panorama from Curiosity, a truly spectacular one that is presented alongside the Viking lander historic view !
Enjoy it ...and also as a tribute to the Curiosity/MSSS team and the past Viking Lander Imaging Team
Sol 1928 Lmastcam:
https://flic.kr/p/23kfks6
Well it sure looks like they made it to the 'Pay Dirt' at https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sol-1929-30-aiming-for-pay-dirt
Partial L-NavCam pan on sol 1930, shows lots of potential targets in workspace....
Thanks Olivier
Sol 1930 complete navcam pan. There is a gigantic gap behind Vera Rubin ridge, some deep valley.
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2018/Sol1930_pano.jpg
The preliminary name of this valley seems to be https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2016/pdf/2224.pdf (PT), and the contact between Vera Rubin Ridge and PT seems to be of particular interest, in order to help select the most likely formation option for Vera Rubin Ridge.
There is a nice view of the area ahead about 1 minute into this video when we clear the ridge...
https://flic.kr/p/QcKTK1
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