It's time to start a new thread - this will cover the remaining work in Seitah and the drive back to the landing site.
Phil
OK, a drive up to the outcrop on sol 238. Here is a circular view of the new location.
Phil
An outcrop of compact, layered rock with overlying vesicular rock fragments on sol 238.
Mastcam-Z left eye filter 0 (RGB), colors enhanced.
Tau, this stratigraphy is getting interesting.
Time to backtrack and try to intuit the bedding orientation.
--Bill
Perseverance had a pretty fair tilt when this was taken and these are probably as horizontal as the precious ridge.
Sol 239, another drive... another circular panorama.
Phil
If the term "vesicular" implies a specific type of rock or origin of the rock, then I would rather refer to it as "spongeous appearance".
I would not rule out weathering as the reason of the small holes/cavities.
I haven't had the chance to look at that video presentation yet.
The RIMFAX data fairly well corresponds to my general observations. In a general sense, the "beds are essentially flat-lying with a gentle regional dip to the southwest". Artuby ridge is stratigraphically the high point of this section of the traverse and we are headed along stratigraphically lower units. And Artuby is the youngest unit, and we are traversing along increasingly older units.
Nice presentation of yours.
--Bill
Indeed, good one tau. The Rimfax trace doesn't show any real change in the angle of dip despite a 90 degree turn across the terrain, not that I have any skill whatsoever in interpreting such.
The reason I suspected an element of tilt was due to this Sol 238 Navcam image.
That picture was taken at the sol 238 location, but Tau's image was from the sol 237 location, before the drive on sol 238.
Phil
4x4 Navcam tile of Perseverance's post-drive workspace on sol 239.
Very roughly assembled and reduced to fit upload limits
This site you noted, https://marslife.org/ , looks interesting and potentially useful. Let me dig around and find documentation on the site.
--Bill
The dipping structure in the Rimfax trace seems to disappear at the third position Tau and it would be interesting to see subsequent results to determine if similar structure re-appears. The trace presentation seems to be truncated in the X axis which accentuates the angle of dip which if the trace were extended to agree with the 15 metre depth would be around 7 degrees.
The Rimfax diagram has two small marks for sol 201 and sol 202.
In the Hirise map, the positions of sol 201 and sol 202 can be connected by a stright line ("as the crow flies") with a linear distance of about 43 m.
This line is almost perpendicular to Artuby ridge. The ridge can be assumed to represent a strike line of the layers.
When the Rimfax diagram between sol 201 and sol 202 is stretched horizontally according to the vertical scale, we get a dip angle of about 11° to 12°.
Sol 242 SuperCam Remote Micro Imager with double context.
Grain-size measurement by stereoscopy gives an average grain diameter of about 1.3 mm
Roughly processed sol 248 end-of-drive 4 tile Navcam. The site index incremented which could indicate we are at, or very close to the next sample site.
Yes, a move, but really just a turn in place (possibly involving a drive downslope, a turn and back upslope, but I only see the end result).
Phil
Kodiak behind Séítah as seen by the SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager on Sol 248
That's a beautiful image of Kodiak. Thanks!
Here is a circular panorama for the current position.
Phil
Paul: "The site index incremented which could indicate we are at, or very close to the next sample site."
I was asked about site numbering, and i don't have specific information about Persererance, but this is a document for Curiosity which discusses sites.
MSL_Coordinate_Frames_Mar5_2013.pdf ( 343.63K )
: 420
I expect the situation is the same for Perseverance. A new site number doesn't really suggest sampling is about to happen, though I expect it is.
Phil
The site incrementing is usually because the propagated error in attitude knowledge has reached a certain limit. It's usually based on cumulative IMU on time.
Sol 247 SuperCam RMI with Mastcam-Z context and sol 147 Helicopter color camera context
Sol 253: Processed R-Navcam (4-tiles) assembled in MS-ICE shows the latest abrasion target 'https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/m2020-zcam-brac-pre-abrasion-sol-249-8127c8cde2f24ba989dbdc456c65b816'
A sol 253 Sherloc Watson camera image with enhanced colors and an anaglyph of the abrasion target.
Could that small white triangle above the center of the abraded area be a lost part of the abrasion tool?
Mars Helicopter - November 6, 2021 (Sol 254) Flight 15 NavCam - 12:06 local time
The sol 253 abrasion target in sol 255 Mastcam-Z images
1. Raw image left eye filter 0 (visible RGB)
2. Left eye filters 0 to 6 multispectral principal components
3. Right eye filter 0 (RGB) and infrared filters 1 to 6 multispectral principal components
1
The abraded surface in a combination of sol 257 images with SHERLOC Autofocus and Context Imager for detail and SHERLOC WATSON camera for enhanced color.
Do I see concentric zoning and lamellae in some crystals (I do not mean the visible effect of the abrading tool hammering), or are these just image artifacts or imagination ?
We do see zoning as well as lamellae in these mineral grains. I'm thinking that the zonation is due to weathering in a wet and oxygenated environment. These rocks are covered with a weathering crust and this abraded area is just beneath that zone.
--Bill
Sol 256 SuperCam Remote Micro Imager with Mastcam-Z context and anaglyph
Percy hasn't covered much distance since leaving the Artuby ridge. But the Micro Imager shows consistent grain size, sorting, and angularity in several images. More important than the linear surface distance is the stratigraphic interval, which covers time as well as space. We don't know the deposition rates yet, so this time interval could be years, tens, or hundreds or thousands.
--Bill
Since this is Mars, it could be hundreds of millions of years.
Phil
Sol 248 Mastcam-Z. Kodiak with enhanced colors and as anaglyph.
The stereoscopic effect is quite weak because of the large distances.
The visible distant part of Séítah is about 1 km away, Kodiak 2 km, and the inner crater wall about 7 km and more.
Latest sample from Jezero imaged in the rover's coring bit.
November 15, 2021 (Sol 262)
Edit: Added L-Navcam of the hole
Edit#2: roughly assembled raw 4-tile L-Navcam (MS-ICE)
All jpg'ed to reduce server impact
My take on the 4-tile NavCam Left mosaic.
https://flic.kr/p/2mK4Ew5
Sol 262 CacheCam shows the core is in at least two sections. The 2nd (later) image provides us a with a side-on view of the upper section of the core closest to the camera.
I'm assuming the upper section of the core rotated after the static probe was used at the Volume station to measure the size of the sample, and to ensure there was room to fit the seal.
I'm sure geologists will enjoy this bonus side-on view of the split core and its grain structure.
Sol 255 SuperCam Remote Micro Imager with context images (2 Mastcam-Z sol 255, 1 Navcam sol 253), ordered by decreasing focal length
Sol 265 SuperCam Remote Micro Imager with context images Mastcam-Z sol 241 and Navcam sol 248.
It took me a while to find appropriate context images.
Looks like there may be some ripple structures preserved in the rock in that image.
John
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=8661&view=findpost&p=255151. Specifically the wavy bedding planes left of center, and the funky-looking slab surface on the slope just lower right of center.
John
Here is a detail of the http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=49728 mentioned above. Those two rocks caught my attention, too.
A second drill hole and sample just done at Brac.
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/pub/ods/surface/sol/00271/ids/edr/browse/ncam/NLF_0271_0691011600_601EBY_N0080000NCAM00705_03_0LLJ01_800.jpg
Phil
Here is a picture of the second drill hole in Brac taken on sol 271.
I have collected and labelled images of the various sampling (and related activities) sites with the names as I know them so far. I don't yet have a name for the most recent sample hole. All images are oriented roughly north-up, not in raw image orientation.
Phil
Sol 271: CacheCam 2-tile fusion stitch of sample number 5 in its tube prior to sealing, roughly assembled in MS-ICE (unprocessed other than the stitch)
Sol 248 of Perseverance's mission : more spectacular rocks to be seen... and also in 3D. Enjoy
Sol 274 SuperCam Remote Micro Imager with sol 274 and sol 265 Mastcam-Z context
Sol 239 : here is one of the nicest views with gorgeous piles of rocks taken during the whole mission !
Also in 3D. Enjoy
Here is my hasty effort ( avoid the extended sky! ) for Sol 275 MZR along with a 4k video on https://youtu.be/xS8JttdFOIY
Very nice, Sean. Thanks!
Sol 278 - we just had a small move uphill, so the rover is now above Brac - behind it from the previous perspective.
Phil
Sol 280 SuperCam Remote Micro Imager with sol 275 Mastcam-Z context showing the planned entrance to the delta remnants near a location on the crater floor called "Three Forks".
Will there be a continuation with some SuperCam RMI images on the right?
Sol 280, a circular view with lots of nice sandy ripples. This looks like the start of the return journey so it will lead to a new map.
Phil
Another drive on sol 281 - here is a circular version of a panorama.
Phil
The planned entrance to the delta remnants in sol 280 Mastcam-Z images.
1. Raw image
2. Contrast enhanced
3. With simulated haze to emphasize the relief and the landscape units, and with distances from the rover position on sol 280
4. Left eye filters 1 to 6 multispectral principal components
1
Sol 283, we had a small move, a few m only, to the NE plus a rotation.
Phil
EDIT: here's a circular panorama for sol 283.
SOL 275 9:15 AM
This is a part of the morning PAN (Kodiak) -- 4 image stitch
Adaptive-Equalization
Layered outcrops in Séítah with Kodiak and the crater wall in the background on sol 282
1. Mastcam-Z right eye filter 0 (RGB), colors enhanced by principal components analysis
2. Anaglyph with impressive stereo effects (best seen on displays with wide gamut or extended color space)
1
Sol 279.
I could not resist building this small panorama that shows such a romantic view with its scattered rock piles seen at late afternoon: this is the 'Mars' dreamed by Ray Bradbury.
Also in 3D. Enjoy
Here is a circular panorama after the sol 285 drive. The next drive might just get out of Seitah, or to the bottom of the last slope.
Phil
Welcome to site 9...
Sol 286: 4-tile Navcam (roughly assembled in MS-ICE)
EDIT: Looks like a drive SSW by about 8 meters
Sol 285 -- 2:28 PM
Early afternoon clouds over the crater rim -- deltas in the foreground
Looks like we may not be leaving Seitah as soon as I expected?
Sol 288 Hazcam (jpeg'd to save space)
Drill press? or maybe abrasion preparation?
Watch this space
Back at Artuby.
SuperCam Remote Micro Imager with Mastcam-Z and Navcam context on sol 286 at the edge of Séítah.
Stereophotometry gives an average grain diameter of about 1.3 mm
A pretty fragile structure on sol 286.
Mastcam-Z anaglyph and left eye filter 0 (RGB) with enhanced colors.
Many interesting panoramas in these days and sols.
Here comes sol 290 SuperCam Remote Micro Imager with context (Mastcam-Z and Navcam sol 288, HiRISE) and Mastcam-Z anaglyph.
The bright pebble in the SuperCam image to the right of center, enclosed between two layers, has a horizontal size of about 13 mm.
The distance from the rover to the SuperCam target is 18 m.
Sol 290 Mastcam-Z
1. Left eye filter 0 (RGB) raw image
2. Left eye filters 1 to 6 multispectral principal components
3. Right eye filters 0 to 6 multispectral principal components
The small sharp-edged fragments with a slightly purple tint in the foreground are probably made of a different material than the other rocks in the image.
The next poster to be seen on the wall of my office. Enjoy
With what instrument was this test performed? (sol 291)
(full_res: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/pub/ods/surface/sol/00291/ids/edr/browse/shrlc/SIF_0291_0692782532_679EBY_N0090000SRLC00704_0000LMJ01.png)
Deliberate wheel scrape? There seem to be parallel scratches that a wheel scrape would make. Just a guess.
At first I had also thought of wheel scratches. But the lack of wheel marks around the rock and the timing looks like an abrasion attempt.
An uneven surface with rounded granules apparently prevented successful abrasion. Some of the granules were crushed.
Sol 291 SHERLOC WATSON camera
A very elongated crystal (length/width ratio 12:1 or more), or something else?
SOL 289
My DD detector couldn't find any DDs in this sequence but it kept lighting up the sky - Clouds
2:53 PM to 3:14 PM (~21 minutes)
Chopped out the foreground
(faint) Clouds in motion:
Meanwhile on December 15 NASA published unusually large set of materials in the 'News' section (six or more?) among which the most encouraging (IMHO) is https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9098 named «NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Makes Surprising Discoveries». The article tells about the unexpected results of the 2-day intensive usage of RIMFAX at the entry of Seitah-S, just after crossing Artuby ridge on sol 200.
Sol 292 SHERLOC WATSON camera image (with enhanced colors) of a successful abrasion
Phenocrysts!
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/15/world/perseverance-rover-mars-findings-scn/index.html
I keep vacillating between "clastic" and "magmatic" as a source for these rocks. I've been ending up back in the pyroclastics camp since we are so close to the Syrtis volcanic province. The mystery here is the persistent presence of sorted, angular olivine "phenoclasts". Fast-cooling ignimbrite would tend to be glassy, so it's possible that we have cumulate deposits. Or, clutching here, an impactoignimbrite base surge (I just constructed a term there) of want of other explanations. Mars is a very unique place.
I'm looking forward to reading some of the papers on this area.
It may even get more "sane" once we arrive at the clear-cut clastic of the deltaic deposits. But who knows what we will find.
--Bill
The odd thing is that the wording of the press release implies that they think we're seeing primary crystallization textures, directly from a magma, not volcanoclastic or pyroclastic sediments. But yes, Mars is strange...
John
Two sol 291 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager composite images (one of them with 10 laser holes), and their context from Mastcam-Z and Front Right Hazard Avoidance Camera A.
The smooth surface is presumably some kind of desert varnish.
From the CNN report: "The rover's latest finding suggests that the bedrock it has been driving over since landing was once formed by volcanic lava flows -- something that was "completely unexpected," according to mission scientists."
Prior to landing the The consensus seemed to be that the crater floor was flooded by lava some 300 million years after the lake dried up. This embayed sedimentary/deltaic deposits including the olivine rich Séítah unit. Perseverance's track south and along Artuby ridge skirted Séítah and she didn't cross onto the olivine rich unit until Sol 201. So traversing eroded lava deposits and seemingly some sedimentary deposits since landing would not seem particularly unexpected.
Talking to someone who saw the AGU talk, it seems that the team actually agree that the Seitah rocks are sedimentary. But they contain clasts that they think preserve primary igneous textures. The press release is poorly worded, though, and gives the wrong impression (to me, anyway).
John
We have a name for the rock being worked on now: Issole, which was a name used around sol 201.
Phil
John_s: "...they contain clasts that they think preserve primary igneous textures."
Not to muddy the waters (so to speak), but this is intriguing. To me, this implies a breccia or pebbles in the mix. At least with our close-up imagery, I can't say that I've seen larger clasts. Sometimes these "sandblasted aeolian-eroded surfaces" are challenging to interpret.
In college we had a drawer of rock and mineral specimens cut and polished into perfect 1" cubes, which made it devilish to ID.
--Bill
For your perusal, mosaics showing interesting layered rocks taken Sols 288, 289 and 290. Also in 3D.
=>> Published also as a special tribute to Jim Bell, our dynamic past President (The Planetary Society), his Research Group at ASU, and the wonderful MastCam-Z Team.
Enjoy
Per VikingMars's request above, here is an updated map of Brac showing the name Coulettes for the second sample.
I'm not sure what the 'partial abrasion' actually was. If anyone can explain it I would like to know. We had that on sol 289 at Issole as well, before the sol 292 abrasion.
Phil
Sol 293 combined color/detail image of the sol 292 abrasion patch. Colors are enhanced. The scale may not be entirely accurate.
SHERLOC WATSON camera for color. https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/pub/ods/surface/sol/00293/ids/edr/browse/shrlc/SIF_0293_0692957360_269EBY_N0090000SRLC00479_0000LMJ02.png.
SHERLOC Autofocus and Context Imager for detail. https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/pub/ods/surface/sol/00293/ids/edr/browse/shrlc/SC3_0293_0692979624_464ECM_N0090000SRLC11360_0000LMJ01.png.
Thanks for the information about cumulate textures, HSchirmer. I also watched the press conference you linked, I found that it goes into a satisfying level of scientific detail that you don't usually see at press conferences. The team's excitement about these igneous rocks is very obvious.
Could it be that Percy caught the first ever photos of a halo on another planet on Sol 292 with its navcam? Notice the ring around the sun in the images below?
According to the specifications the field of view of the navcams is 96° x 73°. When I use those numbers I arrive at an angle of about 22.4° for the inner edge of the halo, not considering any lens distortion. That would match really well a typical 22° halo that is one of the most common types of halo here on Earth. Therefore the ring around the sun in the images could be a halo caused by water ice crystals (hexagonal prisms). According to atoptics, CO2 ice crystals would create a halo 26° from the sun (https://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/owmars.htm).
What do you all think? Have halos been imaged on Mars before?
Michael
Nice catch. Those don't look like lens reflections or colour banding due to low bit depth, so might be a real halo. There've been suggestions of halos before but nothing confirmed, see http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=8525&st=600&p=250552&#entry250552
This Seitah region must have been buried under the delta at some point and exposed by erosion?
Good post, Tim. In true Rover fashion, we are getting data and imagery in spurts, which can lead to speculation and arm-waving. I'm bad about seeing something and working up an interpretation only to get another "dribble of data" and revise the model. Arm-Waving at it's finest, as long as it doesn't morph into a rant!
No matter what, this will be a wondrous area to examine. We are making our way back to the landing point, and then westward towards the delta units. I'm looking forward to moving up in the current section, but moving slowly and not rushing things.
--Bill
Latest sample site from Jezero sol 295. The rock is named 'Issole', we don't appear to have a name for the abrasion or the core yet (AFAIK)
4-tile R-Navcam (using MS-ICE) and a L-Mastcam showing the core in the drill.
It is hard to believe that they would take so many samples from what would effectively be a sterile unit.
Without any geological expertise, but noting the confusion of those who have it, I note, by analogy, that sometimes a really strange accounting discrepancy is due to two errors in opposite directions.
Is it possible that Jezero has seen one more cycle of deposition and then removal by erosion than the simpler explanations that we started with? Then perhaps the things on the surface that seem like they should have taken place underground actually did take place underground, and have since been exhumed.
SOL 294 -- 15 images, 360 Pan, (no DDs) but here is the pan ...
https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1472817177086468097
The sample is called Robine.
Phil
Here is an attempt to outline some minerals in the Dourbes abrasion patch from sol 253.
The background image is an overlay of sol 257 images from the SHERLOC Autofocus and Context Imager (for detail) and the SHERLOC WATSON camera (for color, enhanced).
The boundaries between different minerals are hardly recognizable in the photos because the crystals have a crushed surface by the hammering abrasion tool.
The discussed olivine crystal, surrounded by pyroxene, is to the left of the center of the image. Pyroxene appears bluish here. Olivine looks very heterogeneous.
Thanks- very useful to see that correlation!
John
SOL 299 -- 15 images, 360 Pan, (no DDs) -- here is the PAN -- 4:25 PM -- low sun angle
Thanks for that analysis of the mineralogical makeup of this specimen. It narrows down the origin of this rock quite a bit.
--Bill
Sol 299 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager with context images from sol 299 Mastcam-Z (with anaglyph) and sol 294 Navcam.
The SuperCam image is distorted in the context images because of parallax between SuperCam, Mastcam-Z, and Navcam.
The distance to the SuperCam target is about 21 m in the northwest direction.
Sol 302 Mastcam-Z
1. Right eye filter 0 (RGB) raw image
2. Left eye filters 1 to 6 multispectral principal components
3. Right eye filters 0 to 6 multispectral principal components
1
Sol 306: We have a new sample in the drill acquired from the rock outcrop named 'Issole'!
The new cored hole can be seen next to 'Robine' in this 4-tile NavCam that I have roughly assembled in MS-ICE. The core was imaged by the L-MastCam-Z (a jpeg version of the image is uploaded)
Investigation of a finely textured rock coating (desert varnish?) on sol 305 with SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager and laser (at least 3 laser holes in the coating).
Context images from sol 305 Mastcam-Z and sol 303 Navcam.
Sol 306 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager (in this case rather a "Remote Tele-Imager") with a Mastcam-Z context image from sol 304, and the same Mastcam-Z image with enhanced contrast and colors .
There seems to be a slightly raised rim around the outcrop of the bright patchy sediment, and a faintly visible thin dark line (a layer boundary?) behind the bright sediment from the middle of the SuperCam image to the left.
Sol 308 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager.
Mastcam-Z context images from sol 288 with 110 mm focal length and sol 308 with f=34 mm (raw and enhanced with special attention to the distant part of the landscape).
Addendum to post #150
The http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=50045 seen from orbit by https://www.uahirise.org/ESP_062530_1985 (JP2 Black and white map-projected, 889 MB),
and a part of the http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=50047 transformed to approximately match the HiRISE photo.
At the boundary between the smooth unit (bright, downhill to the right) and the rugged crater rim unit (uphill to the left) there is indeed a rim.
Could it be that the smooth unit is younger but firmer, leaving solid material on the erosion front between the two units to form the rim?
Second addendum to post #150
A broader context for the sol 306 SuperCam RMI target in an enhanced Mastcam-Z image from sol 282
Sol 312 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager with Mastcam-Z and Navcam context
Looks like we have a couple of pieces of Mars (rock core) that fell out of Perseverance's drill bit / tube, while it was being placed into the bit exchange mechanism in the rover's carousel that's located on the deck.
This will likely prevent changing bits and processing samples until they can be safely removed.
This heavily processed image is from the rover's Watson camera acquired on sol 314
Blog post here with more details: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/status/356/assessing-perseverances-seventh-sample-collection/ Next week they will try to get them out.
Sol 315 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager with Mastcam-Z context, showing a cliff of layered delta sediments.
Compared to a https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/pub/ods/surface/sol/00282/ids/edr/browse/zcam/ZL0_0282_0691957753_863EBY_N0080410ZCAM08301_0340LMJ02.png, the air appears to be more dusty now.
Is that just a big broken off slab of rock under the cliff or an unconformity?
While the air was quite dusty and hazy on sol 315, it cleared up on sol 316.
Delta sediments in a sol 316 SuperCam RMI image with a sol 315 Mastcam-Z context (see also the right part of the context image in post #162)
Sol 313 NavCam images showing the Martian sky duly processed: it was a very cloudy day indeed ! And those are rare events on Mars. Enjoy
Given the haze obscuring the hills in the background could this be dust?
Various grains in a sol 315 SuperCam RMI photo mosaic.
At first I was puzzled why the overlapping parts of the individual images fit together so badly.
Then I found out that many grains changed orientation or moved between the takes (time intervals 10 to 13 minutes).
So a grain with a dimple can be seen twice in the SuperCam photo mosaic (arrows). Here is also an animation for this.
Did we have windy weather on sol 315? What does the weather report say?
Sol 317 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager with Mastcam-Z context and Mastcam-Z left eye filters 1 to 6 multispectral principal components
It think it's more of a dusty day Olivier
See the full panorama taken on Sol 313, especially the mountains under the Sun. Big patch of sand were blown away.
https://db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Perseverance/2022/Sol313_pano.jpg
3 sols later. A more homogenous sky, suggesting the dust load has risen since.
https://db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Perseverance/2022/Sol316_pano.jpg
(And a pretty sunset on Sol 318)
https://db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Perseverance/2022/Sol318_Mastcam34.jpg
More evidence of a presumed short-lived dust storm on day 315.
Sol 316 Hazcam: The lens of the Rear Right Hazard Avoidance Camera (Hazcam) is apparently covered with orange dust. Hopefully, this will not complicate hazard avoidance.
Sol 318 Mastcam-Z image: The rim of the drilling powder was partially blown away, and granular material was accumulated in the abrasion patch (raw image and enhanced).
Judging from the image, the wind or storm came from an easterly direction.
See also http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=8661&view=findpost&p=255825 (hazy atmosphere) and http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=8661&view=findpost&p=255852 (displaced sand grains).
Tau, this is another good demo of aeolian transportation in action. It acts long-term and shorr-term.
Sol 319 evening images of Phobos by Mastcam-Z.
Sun and stars appear to rise in the east and set in the west, the opposite is true for Phobos. It rises in the west and moves rapidly east about twice a day.
The opposite apparent motion of Phobos and two stars can be seen in this animation. View direction is southwest. Time is local mean solar time.
The track of Phobos is overexposed, but the night side of Phobos can be seen to the left of the track, illuminated by light reflected from Mars.
The performance of MZ at night looks similar to MSL mastcam, as expected. Here's a stack of two differenced images, where the differencing removes most of the noise:
Sol 320 MastcamZ panorama. Look at the rover tracks, partially erased from the Sol 312 wind blow
https://db-prods.net/marsroversimages/perseverance2022.php#4
Sol 316 Mastcam-Z landscape with delta cliffs (enhanced colors and contrast, anaglyph)
Another sol 320 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager with sol 289 Mastcam-Z context
This is my circular pan of the current area with three nearby features identified.
Phil
Merci Olivier Coming from you, this means a lot !
Sol 320 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager shows the effect of a laser beam on the rock surface
1. Animation before and after impact of the laser beam
2. After impact
3. Difference image after-before. The small black dot in the center is the actual laser hole.
The dust on the rock surface was blown aside by the small explosion in the dark area with a radius of about 4 mm.
Some of the removed dust (light and reddish brown in this image) has accumulated ouside of the affected area.
4. Mastcam-Z context
1
Sol 322 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager with Mastcam-Z context and again with remnants of those enigmatic coatings.
See also post #146 from sol 203 with two multispectral false-color images, where the coatings stand out in a different color from the bluish rock.
The feature seems restricted to specific layers, almost as though it is the remnants of interaction with a fine sedimentary deposit during formation.
Sol 323 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager no. 1 with sol 298 Mastcam-Z context
Sol 323 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager no. 2 with sol 298 Mastcam-Z context
The links to analysis of coatings in Tau's post refer to the dark coatings as imaged in his post #148. The recent images of beige coloured coatings seem to be a different beast. Thanks for your detailed images Tau.
Sounds like a typical desert varnish thus far.
Caput mortium? "Dead head". That's too much!
--Bill
Sol 315 and 323 SuperCam RMI mosaic.
What looks at first glance like a big broken off slab of rock lying on the talus, is even bigger than it seems without a scale.
By linking SuperCam RMI images, a HiRISE orthomosaic, and a HiRISE digital terrain model with control points, the dimensions of the scene could be calculated.
As a scale, a "marsonaut" (1.8 m tall) was inserted into the picture.
My presumption: It is not a broken off slab of rock, but the surface of layers that dip at an angle of 30° (foreset layers?).
Inset: a profile perpendicular to the cliff face.
Sol 321 Navcam panoramic
https://db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Perseverance/2022/Sol321_pano.jpg
Same, but with sky. I dreamt of it since years ! And it's done. But I still getting issues with the differences between the frames.
https://db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Perseverance/2022/Sol321_pano_sky.jpg
A second image series of the delta cliff by SuperCam RMI on sol 325, now with better visibility of the stratification due to a more favorable incidence of sunlight (solar elevation 68°) and a less dusty atmosphere than on sol 315.
On sol 315, the solar azimuth of 173° was perpenticular to the cliff face, but the sun was high in the sky (solar elevation 82°) causing more shadows by protruding parts of the cliff.
Taking into account geometry, shadows, and sun's position on sol 315, the part above the "marsonaut" protrudes about 1.7 m from the cliff (a very rough calculation due to the irregular shape of the cliff face).
Corresponding features in the SuperCam mosaic and in the HiRISE map are marked with letters.
On the pebble-clogged sampling bit carousel:
https://phys.org/news/2022-01-perseverance-dumps-contents-sample-tube.html
Just a literal copy and paste of https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/status/357/pebbles-before-mountains/
Yes, all clear! https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/status/359/ejecting-mars-pebbles/
The article also includes a surprisingly neat gif off the pebbles tumbling out in the 0.38 G to the surface.
A couple of 4-tile NavCam's after a short drive on sol 328 (roughly assembled in MS-ICE)
Both show a sand covered deck.
I implemented an immersive version of my 321 panorama on my website :
https://db-prods.net/marsroversimages/galerie_immersive.php
Sol 328, a small move to the southeast. Perseverance was facing the rocky ledge it sampled, but it has turned away from the ledge and moved so it is facing away from it.
My image combines images to maximize viewing of the surface, not the rover, so the antenna at the back end is not visible. There was also a missing quadrant in one frame.
Phil
Sol 323 Mastcam-Z multispectral image series no. 1
1. Left eye filter 0 (RGB) raw image.
2. Left eye filters 1 to 6 principal components false colors.
3. Right eye infrared filters 1 to 6, first two principal components. The first component is mainly the illumination.
The second infrared component differentiates between two rock types. Most rocks with a bluish-gray false color are layered and angular. Rocks that appear yellow-brown have often a more rounder shape and vesicles.
The third principal component consists predominantly of flatfield inhomegeneities and therefore is omitted. All other components are mainly image noise.
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Sol 323 Mastcam-Z multispectral image series no. 2
Explanation as in the previous post.
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Sol 325 Mastcam-Z multispectral image series
Explanation as in the previous post.
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Nice work Tau. Your post #206 seems to show a change in deposition with thin layering overlaid by blocky.
Sol 331 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager with Mastcam-Z context and left eye filters 1 to 6 multispectral principal components
A delta cliff in a long-baseline stereo anaglyph compiled by Mastcam-Z images from sol 200 and 208 (see also SuperCam RMI mosaics of the cliff in post #191 and post #194).
If there is too much ghosting and cross-talk of the left and right eye channels in the shadows of the cliff in the first image due to a limited color space of the monitor, the second image might work better.
Sol 328 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager of delta cliffs with a "marsonaut" for scale and a sol 308 Mastcam-Z context.
The images were aligned horizontally.
The layered outcrops to the right on the talus have a dip angle of at least 20° or more, depending on how they are cut at the surface.
Sol 331 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager of layered delta (or river) sediment outcrops with two "marsonauts" for scale and a sol 308 Mastcam-Z context.
The images were aligned horizontally.
The distant marsonaut stands at a small crater on the inner wall of the Jezero crater.
Sol 333, a small drive up onto the ledge, now facing the sampled block for another attempt.
Phil
A small readjustment on sol 335: 4-tile NavCam's assembled in ICE - Raw colours
A compilation of SuperCam RMI images of the delta cliffs from sol 306 to sol 331 in a Mastcam-Z context panorama and a HiRISE map.
Areas not visible from the rover position are grayed out in the HiRISE map. The contour interval is 2 m.
Tau, your work is amazing and very useful.
Sol 335, moving to get a better position for sampling.
Phil
Thank you, Phil, for your motivating and encouraging words.
On sol 337, the third coring attempt on the same rock appears to have been successfully completed:
Looks like a long drive on sol 340
4-tile NavCam looking back after the drive
The low sun caused a few exposure issues, but I still like the resulting mosaic (roughly assembled in MS-ICE)
The third drill hole seen by Mastcam-Z on sol 339
1. Left eye f = 110 mm filter 0 (RGB) raw image
2. Left eye filters 1 to 6 principal components false colors
3. Right eye filters 1 to 6 (infrared) principal components false colors
Interestingly, the drill tailings of the hole drilled on sol 306 have changed their multispectral color (dust from the dust storm?, aging of fresh surfaces?)
4. f = 34 mm anaglyph with discarded pieces of the second core
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Sol 340, the long drive Paul mentioned brings us to this spot. This could be the longest drive of the mission so far but I won't speculate about the exact length.
This panorama was very tricky. I don't really have time to do this but it's addictive.
Phil
JSON and GeoJSON are now reporting the length as 237.78 meters, so looks like a Mars rover record.
What is the longest drive on the Moon? Is it a solar system record?
Glad you still find time to do those circular pans, all I can do is the 5 individual NavCam 4-tile mosaics, the 360 pan is way beyond my skillset...
The longest drive on the Moon is tricky because the situations are in no way comparable. Strictly speaking I suppose the longest single uninterrupted drive was from the Apollo 17 lunar module to Station 2 at South Massif on EVA 2, driven by a human (Gene Cernan). For a robotic rover it was 3000 m (approx) during a single work shift for Lunokhod 2, driven using a live TV signal (slow scan but still live). Mars rover drives are all pre-programmed, though Perseverance is making use of advanced autonavigation software which must have been used here. The longest drive in a single sol on Mars before this was 220 m on sol 410 of Opportunity's mission. So this is a new record for Mars.
Phil
The Martian atmosphere is a desiccant and there is a possibility that the color change is due to dehydration in the powdery fines. While Olivine is nominally anhydrous it can include low levels of OH ions or water molecules. If there has been a change in the characteristics of the spectral reflectance of the fines, dehydration is the only thing I would think could occur in such a short timeframe.
another long drive on sol 341:
This end-of drive 4-tile NavCam mosaic looks like it's captured the tracks at the end-of drive on sol 175 at the 'Artuby' outcrop
My hypothesis: any powder under a positive phase angle will apparently brighten as it settles.
A much shorter drive on Sol 342
4-tile Navcam acquired after the drive and assembled in MS-ICE [2550x1914]
The photometric effects of powdery things are quite strange. Try it with a small pile of cornflower and a torch. Compacted, a little bit, it can end up both darker and brighter dependent on phase angle, how well it compacted etc.
True, but the effect also shows in the scattering of powder away from the pile.
Another short drive on sol 343 takes the rover up onto Artuby. The next sampling site?
End-of-Drive NavCam (4-tile, assembled in MS-ICE)
Investigation of a rock coating (desert varnish?) at Artuby East
1. SuperCam Remote Micro Imager on sol 345
2. Mastcam-Z context with focal length = 110 mm on sol 343
3. Mastcam-Z context with focal length = 34 mm on sol 344
4. SHERLOC WATSON camera on sol 345. There are at least 9 laser holes in this image.
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A new abrasion:
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/pub/ods/surface/sol/00346/ids/edr/browse/shrlc/SIF_0346_0697661611_539EBY_N0092982SRLC00758_0000LMJ01_800.jpg
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/pub/ods/surface/sol/00346/ids/edr/browse/fcam/FRF_0346_0697660199_987EBY_N0092982FHAZ02008_03_0LLJ01_800.jpg
And thanks to a tip-off from Paul we have a name:
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/m2020-watson-montpezat-abrasion-sol-346-3941243929be42bc98ed291ac690699e
Phil
Sol 341 'rock piles' in 3D.
A 'romantic' view of Mars... Enjoy
Pieces of a material that resembles rock-coating material
1. Fragments of Mastcam-Z images from sol 346 and 343 (left and right eye)
2. Sol 346 Mastcam-Z left eye filters 1 to 6 multispectral principal components
3. Sol 343 anaglyph
4. Sol 346 Navcam context
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Patches of "coating" (or whatever it is) adhering to the underside of an outcropping rock
Sol 346 Mastcam-Z image slightly enhanced
1. An image of an interestingly structured coating by SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager on sol 347
2. Sol 347 Mastcam-Z left eye filter 0 (RGB) with enhanced colors
3. Sol 344 Mastcam-Z context
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Here's a new map from an LPSC poster to try out:
http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2022/pdf/1921.pdf
Phil
And here is an abstract with some target names at South Seitah.
Phil
http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2022/pdf/2956.pdf
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/status/364/in-place-at-rimplas/
The current location is called Rimplas.
Phil
Just drove away, even got a few NavCam frames for a drive movie, fingers crossed for more frames...
Purple coatings on a rock of the Rimplas outcrop, imaged by SuperCam RMI on sol 349,
with context by Mastcam-Z (sol 349), Navcam (sol 346), and Front Hazcam (sol 345)
Yes, we have. Here you are, with context images.
The sharpness of the SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager image is quite limited due to its very shallow depth of field.
Sol 352... here is a circular panorama of the current position. For sol 351 we have a horrible mix of Navcam frames at different resolutions and I don't have time to try to build a panorama from it. How I wish the team would post assembled Navcam images instead of subframes! If anyone else can do something with sol 351, please do!
Phil
I have not yet seen the updated map at JPL or positional information, but the rover has been scooting along - we seem to be uphill a bit from the sol 137 location now, based on the picture above.
Phil
The map path is now been update by the traverse geojson, but the 'waypoint' geojson and json's are missing drive data for sols 350 and 351, that means the waypoints are not shown on the map. Thankfully the drive lengths are also provided on the traverse json's so we appear to have another record drive of 313.83 meters (sol 351) and the three sol drives totalling 488.58 meters which is pretty impressive.
I threw together a very quick panorama for sol 351, using just the top tier for 3 of the frames (no time to do more). Good enough for a quick look at that location.
Phil
Stereoscopic views of the sol 347 SuperCam RMI target (see also post #247).
1. Wiggle stereogram
2. Cross-eyed stereogram
3. Anaglyph
The purple coating appears to be formed by currents coming from a constant direction.
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The ventifacts, some with coating would seem to indicate a mixture of aeolian erosion and deposition of silt or clay particles. I believe the coatings we see are remnants of larger deposits, gradually disappearing as the rocks weather and break up.
Sol 353, a 212 m drive north to this location:
Sol 353... I like so much those late-afternoon romantic views of Mars "a la Ray Bradbury"
Also in 3D. Enjoy
(cont.)
...with its zoomed central section in 3D.
Now, you are on Mars ! Enjoy also
Indeed a romantic view, vikingmars!
I could not resist making some adjustments in your panorama for a more comfortable stereo viewing.
The scenic view of sol 353 in multispectral colors. Mastcam-Z left eye filters 1 to 6.
'Far Hills of Jezero'
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neWn_TvDlqc for the full panorama from sol 353 in 4k on Youtube
Detail...
Sol 354 - a circular panorama. If you look closely you can see the southbound tracks in this view and the last one.
Phil
A Martian rock garden on sol 353. Mastcam-Z left eye filter 0 (RGB), colors enhanced.
A good drive on sol 355 brings us within view of the crater Adziilii (visible near the top of this view, i.e. north). Obviously planning to drive east of it instead of west as before.
Phil
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/status/365/a-sol-in-the-life-of-a-rover/
A nice description of one sol on Mars (sol 345) with four rock target names. Can we have this every sol?
Phil
Sol 353 MastcamZ 110mm pano :
https://db-prods.net/marsroversimages/perseverance2022.php#6
And Sol 355 Navcam :
https://db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Perseverance/2022/Sol355_pano.jpg
Sol 356: Mastcam-Z looking at the rock-covered inner wall of Adziilii crater. In the background slopes of the delta, in the distant background the rim of Jezero crater.
1. Raw image right eye
2. Left eye filters 1 to 6 multispectral principal components. Brightness from filter 0 for better details.
3. Right eye infrared filters 1 to 6 multispectral principal components, second component for color, third component omitted because of strong flatfield inhomogeneities. Brightness from filter 0.
4. Anaglyph
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'Plains of Jezero'
Click https://youtu.be/5dDdd-zQO9I for the full panorama from sol 354 in 4k on Youtube
Details...
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-021-00816-9was likely given instructions shortly after the rover received them--it is designed to operate autonomously from the main rover computers after that. While there is no real-time application of weather information, Mars is a great place to assume today's weather is yesterday's weather. There are https://www.space.com/ingenuity-mars-helicopter-weather-delay-dust-storm when that fails.
I imagine many details are omitted from the summary in order to fit the perceived needs of a general audience.
The rover communicates with the orbiters https://spectrum.ieee.org/how-nasa-is-adapting-radios-to-a-noisier-mars, as have rovers and landers over more than two decades when power allows (not a silly question, there have sometimes been obstacles like Opportunity's stuck-on heater and its 'https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/32406/how-do-the-mars-rovers-sleep-through-the-night-on-mars' mode). These are typically brief wake periods as the orbiter is not overhead for long. I am not sure there are technical obstacles to overnight communication with the helicopter, but long chats would require both vehicles to be awake (and maybe heating something). That may be especially stressing for the https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mars-helicopter-ingenuity-deep-dive-its-6-pack-damien-frost.
Sol 357: Mastcam-Z looking at the southern rim of Adziilii crater (right eye filter 0 enhanced RGB colors, and anaglyph).
Here and there are small clusters of thin, flat flakes with a purple color similar to that of the purple coatings.
But their shape does not look like remnants of coatings, rather like a disintegrated fine-grained laminated sedimentary rock (shale?).
If the meteoritic impact during Adziilii crater formation was deep enough to penetrate the basaltic crater floor,
pieces of possible lake sediments may have been excavated from below.
Sol 358, we are right at the eastern end of the crater now.
Phil
Sol 356 Mastcam Z panoramic
https://db-prods.net/marsroversimages/perseverance2022.php#8
a few new feature names are found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IAcwLYYFGk, about 22 minutes in.
This is a screenshot:
Thanks tau, not the first time I have been fooled by a laser.
Sol 360, a drive right back to the sol 91 location near the landing site. I expect a sample will be collected here or somewhere nearby. After that, as we move away from the landing site, it will be time for a new thread.
This is the sol 360 location:
Sol 360 panoramic
https://db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Perseverance/2022/Sol360_pano.jpg
Very nice panorama! Thanks for posting it.
On sol 361 we moved about 12 m NE to this location:
1. Sol 361 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager
2. Sol 361 Mastcam-Z left eye context
3. Sol 361 Mastcam-Z right eye with enhanced colors
4. Sol 91 Navcam context. Perseverance was already here 270 sols ago
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Interesting! Here are some more names (thanks to Paul for the tip)
https://twitter.com/sfsholes/status/1496264943481819136
Phil
We didn't get a full panorama for sol 362 - a small move and a slight counterclockwise rotation - so this is a partial circular panorama.
Phil
Another abrasion, I believe the boulder is called 'Sid', they seem to name the abrasions as well, so I'll watch out for its name
Sol 367 NavCam
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