I've been wondering just how much the pancam filters could make up for the mini tes loss.

In the Journal Of Geophysical Research in 2003 in the paper "Mars Exploration Rover Athena Panoramic Camera (Pancam) Investigation" it says that the pancam multispectral imaging can identify iron bearing phases such as ferric sulfates, ferric carbonates or iron bearing clays. The researchers seem to be really focussed on iron compounds.

In an other paper on mini tes, I read they had exellent descernability of minerals within the silcate and carbonate groups.

I just wonder how much senitivity the pancam has for finding non ferric carbonates.

Thanks for the raw image. It shows just how little data their really was in that picture. The moon is only about one pixel wide in each color it seems to my untrained eye. You can just make out shape and general color when combining them. This is the kind of thing I come here for!

And a picture is better than no picture to me. It brings me there.

Wow! I just looked at the august 15th pancams and my head is spinning. My inner python is comming out!

Does that flat top rock have a thin crust of light material on top? Does the rock point back to the rock garden and a light colored path in it? Are the light colored shards in the soil pieces of the same stuff?

I need to see this stuff.

Monty.

Hopefully the fault was due to some benign thing like tilt or time out.

I've got to admit I haven't looked at a hazcam for a while and boy do they look different now with all those thin shards in the soil!

Great news. I wonder how many of the landing sites they can image in that time and if they could slew the camera (aka skeet shoot) the orbiter to improve the shots.

Fingers crossed!

I personally love the deflation hollow theory of the little depressions we have been seeing, and i think this is one of them. The bedrock void creating it could be enhanced by the fact we are so close to the rim of endeavour.

Beautifull morning flights there.

All you peoples great videos make me want to say - I LOVE UMSF!!!!

From what I've read, the CM didn't use a "skip reentry", which compleatly leaves the atmosphere; but did use a "double dip reentry" where the CM would roll and use its offset center of gravity to change the angle of attack to shallow up the trajectory - but remain in the atmosphere. This reduced g load.

I've never seen that splashing either. What a cool (HOT) video!!!

Thanks for that view Stu! I've been watching it grow with great joy.

I've been wondering if the controllers might do another super-res photo of them during a stop (like the idd one we will have now) on the off chance we loose the rover for what ever reason. Or would the time and downlink be too expensive?

Just sayin.

Mission complete. The engine burned for 146 seconds.

Goodbye old friend.

Just plain great!!

I think you'll finish about the time oppy makes it's first great discovery at endeavour crater.

These pictures are great considering they used tube cameras.

I've always wondered why the cassini people would risk a stuck closed engine cover. The risk for such an impact must have been thought to be well above zero or just compleatly unknown.

Wonderfull work Ralph and the spin idea does rock! I wonder if with enough engineering analysis they could build in some RCS firing to counter the off axis thrust as well as do spinning. Or could the RCS be used as a sorta kinda ion engine. Are the main prop tanks cross fed to the RCS?

I think JAXA shouldn't be counted out yet.

If maintaining propellant pressure over long burns is the problem, I wonder if a series of short burns and some long term trajectory replanning (like a long elliptical orbit of venus) would be possible?

I would drive right up to that dark boulder, and the crater rim looks quite high - the best access to the crater edge might be just beyond that boulder.

It's a wheel of cheeeese!

I should also add that they had 2 ships in the atlantic which I assume were ther for recovery opps since telemetry came from the cape and New Hampshire.

At the conference, someone asked him if they had recoverd the first stage. He replied something like - Why do you have to add a sour note to an otherwise great day. Nobody has ever recovered a liquid fueled stage in good shape before. But on this flight we got much better telemetry from the stage and we had a black box with cameras and sensor data on it to find out where the weak spots in the design are, and we will fix them. Our goal is to recover and re-use first stages.

Brian

At todays post fllght news confrence, Elon Musk said that the dragon was carrying a secret humorous payload. He would reveal what it was tomorrow, but if you like Monty Python, you will think its funny.

HE LIKES ME! HE LIKES ME!

Update. The spacex falcon 9 launch attempt with be wednesday with the window from 1400 to1722 GMT - 0900 am to 1222 eastern time. It will carry some thousands of commemorative patches thru at least 2 orbits.

According to Spaceflightnow the FAA has granted Space X the first commercial reentry license.

One thing they look for is appropriate insurance. YIKES!!!! I guess since they are commercial, one could sue them if the Dragon hit something.

Just an update. SpaceX has announced the new launch date is dec 7, with the 8th and 9th as backup. Amongst other things they are waiting for a re-entry license from the federal aviation administration.

I didn't know such a license existed. What needs one? A high altitude balloon return? A Virgin Gallactic plane return?

Brian

Info from the shuttle post-flight readiness review; the next space x falcon 9 launch has moved from no earlier than november 8 to november 18th. It will orbit a dragon capsule 2 orbits, manuver it and reenter recover it.