MECA (microscope) Images Options

[Astro0]

Doug I know this isn't exactly a "sub-element activity", but it's certainly a small image.
Can someone tell us anything about this MECA plaque. They don't seem to have captured the entire thing in their shots and it would be nice to fill in some of the blanks. I've inserted some assumptions in the attached merged image.
Just love these sort of personal touches which have stories linked to them. My name is on the mini-DVD...who else on UMSF signed up?

Astro0

[jamescanvin]

--Split MECA posts to a dedicated thread

I'm on the DVD

I read about the MECA plaque a while back, now where was it?...

Ah yes the BBC Phoenix blog (near the bottom):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7408033.stm

Our colleagues and family will be there, including the "Meca babies" born to our instrument team in the years it has taken to prepare for the mission.

Their names, together with those of our colleagues who did not live to see Phoenix launch, form part of an eyetest chart

[Skyrunner]

My name is on the mini-DVD...who else on UMSF signed up?

Ehhh...about everyone I suppose...Certainly my name is on it. Next time we should get our name on it automatically since we're UMSF VIP treatment.

[jamescanvin]

Just join the Planetary Society to get that treatment.

[djellison]

I assume everyone here is a member already. If they're not, they damn well should be. As a Brit who can't pay US taxes, it's the only thing I can do to contribute in a meaningful way to this sort of stuff.

Doug

[ahecht]

It's amazing to think that some of the MECA babies are now 10 years old (although technically they were born during the creation of the Mars Environmental Compatibility Assessment for the canceled Mars Surveyor 2001, not the Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer for Phoenix -- same basic instrument, different name)

[ilbasso]

I assume everyone here is a member already. If they're not, they damn well should be. As a Brit who can't pay US taxes, it's the only thing I can do to contribute in a meaningful way to this sort of stuff.

Doug

Doug, if you really want to pay US taxes, I'll be glad to work out a plan by which you can help me "contribute."

Jonathan

[imipak]

I'm on the DVD, and I'm both happy and embarrassed to say that it was a pointy remark from Mr Ellison on UMSF that prompted me to join in the first place, and to punt funds at various other related projects.

[CosmicRocker]

My name is on the disk, as are the names of everyone in my immediate family. It's kind of like riding in economy class. It would be so much nicer to have a place in first class, the plaque on the lander.

As for the microscopic imager, does anyone know what it was that it recently imaged?

[djellison]

It'll have imaged the sample collecting areas on the disk as a baseline before covering them in 'stuff' I would have thought. I was suprised we didn't see a OM guy at the press conf yesterday.

Doug

[ustrax]

Even my dogs are there...
My dearest Lhoba and Mr. Bingo who, having passed away without witnessing the arrival of Phoenix but that makes me dream that there he is...quite happy and ready to dig all the way to the ice...

[ahecht]

The first optical microsope images of Mars dust have been posted at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/main.php

• http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/phoenix/col...mhh_800-600.jpg
• http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/phoenix/col...mhh_800-600.jpg
• http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/phoenix/col...mhh_800-600.jpg
• http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/phoenix/col...mhh_800-600.jpg

[Stu]

I'm looking forward to the informed discussion here on UMSF about just what these images show, because, hands up, I haven't a clue. They look fascinating, but as for what's in them...

[fredk]

At today's press conference they more or less said that they are probably grains kicked up by the exhaust during landing, but they can't be sure they're of Martian (rather than Phoenix) origin until they grab what they know is a Martian sample with the arm and look at it. There was some discussion of the white grain (definitely not ice - it would have sublimed before the image was taken).

[Gray]

Wow. These are very interesting images of possible martian sedimentary particles. It's really hard to say too much about "grains mounts" such as this. You can look at the grain shape, it's opacity, and it's color - but it's hard to make any comprehensive analyses based on only that information.

A grain that is interesting to me is the pinkish, rectangularly shaped one that is "southeast" of the middle grain noted in the microscopic image. Halite frequently shows up as rectangular grains and can be stained pinkish by hematite - but then, other minerals can be pinkish and rectangular too. (shrug)

[CHOAM]

You can look at the grain shape, it's opacity, and it's color - but it's hard to make any comprehensive analyses based on only that information.

My first guess was salt or silica, but I'm no geologist, and Emily Lakdawalla has posted a more informed opinion on this:
http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001497/

Re. requiring a volcanic origin for silica: I'm guessing a grain of that size could be lofted and carried to a polar position, given a few billion years...


- CH

[dvandorn]

Isn't this the kind of thing that the atomic force microscope could help settle? Silica flakes and salt crystals have rather unique and recognizable structures at atomic force scales, don't they?

-the other Doug

[Airbag]

First sample sprinkled onto the microscope inlet:

http://www.met.tamu.edu/mars/i/SS017EFF897...5_12370R6M1.jpg

Hope not too much went into the far right wet chem sampler MECA inlet...it does have its own open/close valve, but what happens to material already in that little hopper? Or is it open at the bottom until the MECA valve is in the "accept sample" position, so that any unwanted material just falls though?

Airbag

[jamescanvin]

Sounds like the team is happy with the sprinkle into the Microscope.

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/06_12_pr.php

[ahecht]

The images of the first sample have come down. Click each image for a link to the full size:

phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/lg_4869.jpg



phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/lg_4867.jpg



phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/lg_4859.jpg



phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/lg_4870.jpg

[Shaka]

Interesting amber crystalline-looking particle (blue arrow).

I hope we see lots more.
Speculation time!

[centsworth_II]

Interesting amber crystalline-looking particle... Speculation time!

Cubic? With (if I may be so bold) a corner taken out.

[Shaka]

Cubic?

Oddly, I see a cylindrical 'hatbox', complete with lid, but then I'm a planktonologist with search "expectation" for centric diatoms.
NO, I don't claim it's a diatom!! I just mean I'm not the best person to identify it.

[fredk]

Interesting amber crystalline-looking particle (blue arrow)

We had a comment on that arrowed grain earlier in this thread - the left half of that image was from the first batch taken about a week ago, before the soil was sprinkled...

[imipak]

Am I right in my impression that the consensus is that any ice particles would have sublimed away by now? If so, can these whiteish particles or grains be anything else but salts?



(Edit, having seen fredk's animation of particles vanishing from the trenches in the other thread: I meant that isolated icy particles on this microscopic scale would have sublimed away )

[Decepticon]

The images seem a bit out of focus?

[SickNick]

The images seem a bit out of focus?

Decepticon,

They're trying to focus grains that are fatter than the depth of focus of the instrument. In the geological world, we take a rock, or a pile of grains, glue it all together with Araldite/Epoxy, cut a slice, and grind it down to less than 30 microns thick. We still have focus issues.

here, they're taking raw grains up to 1/10 mm size (100 microns) and trying to focus them.

Focus and resolution are not independent entities. if you want to "see" grains 1 micron in size - as we do, then anything bigger than 1 micron will be out of focus.

[Decepticon]

Thanks for that explanation!

[Airbag]

They're trying to focus grains that are fatter than the depth of focus of the instrument.

Yes, but the instrument is designed to take multiple (8) images at different focus distances, each with a depth of field of 50um. These multiple "vertical slice" images are then used on the ground to reconstruct an image where all parts (up to 200um deep) are in sharp focus, just as was done for MER's MI images, but on a much smaller scale of course. So I expect that eventually we will see images where all grains are in sharp(er) focus - assuming that was not already done!

Unfortunately, the Optical Microscope (OM) images do not show up on the otherwise very useful Phoenix SSI raw images directory web pages so there is no obvious way to tell how many "different depth" OM images have been taken and/or downloaded so far.

Does anybody know if the raw OM images are available online anywhere?

Airbag

[Decepticon]

So I expect that eventually we will see images where all grains are in sharp(er) focus - assuming that was not already done!

Even before I could ask It was answered!

I can't wait to see this!

[ahecht]

Unfortunately, the Optical Microscope (OM) images do not show up on the otherwise very useful Phoenix SSI raw images directory web pages so there is no obvious way to tell how many "different depth" OM images have been taken and/or downloaded so far

Give how easy it is to misidentify mircrosope images to those untrained in the art (as shown even in this thread), i'm sure they wouldn't release raw images until they had a chance to caption them. You wouldn't want a stray flourescent fiber from a laboratory Kimwipe sparking "Life Found on Mars" headlines.

[ugordan]

You wouldn't want a stray flourescent fiber from a laboratory Kimwipe sparking "Life Found on Mars" headlines.

By that token no raw images would ever be released because cosmic ray hits would inevitably be (and have been) interpreted as artificial objects in the distance, UFOs, etc.

[climber]

a bit out of focus?

Which was not the case of Holland against France yesterday

[Astro0]

I just love it when images like this come together.
From the very small (on Mars) to the very big (our Sun).
Phoenix and SOHO images side by side make an interesting comparison.

Enjoy
Astro0

[nprev]

... damn! That's actually more than a bit profound, but won't get into it here.

EDIT: Ah, what the hell: perception is an integral part of existence. Maybe we see things of wildly different origins in similar ways just to try to make sense of it all. We are limited in so many ways.

[Gray]

Interesting amber crystalline-looking particle (blue arrow).

I hope we see lots more.
Speculation time!

I found that grain to be of interest too.

I also thought that it looked more cubic than round. I even speculated that it might be halite. But of course, halite isn't the only mineral to break into cubiform shapes.


One interesting quality of the grains is that many of the larger grains are rounded - which suggests a fairly high degree of abrasion. It's not surprising, given the degree of aeolian activity on the planet...

[Airbag]

Interesting image and explanatory text of various substrates and soil samples for use with the Atomic Force Microscope:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/...ic_rotated.html

Airbag

[Juramike]

Interesting image and explanatory text of various substrates and soil samples for use with the Atomic Force Microscope:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/...ic_rotated.html

From the caption: "The strip third from the left, with a peg spacing of 5 micrometers, has been most successful in collecting the particles."

To put into perspective, grain sizes less than 4 um are considered "fine-grained". On Earth, once compacted and cemented together, these grains could form fine-grained sedimentary rocks like mudstones and fine-grained shales.

-Mike

[MahFL]

I just love it when images like this come together.

You know if no one had said anything I too would have thought those we the same type of image of the microscope view.

We are made of the same stuff stars are made of.

[elakdawalla]

By the way, I asked about the status of OM images on the raw images website, and was told they're reworking how the captions are generated for the images, and that once they're done with that work the images should start showing up again, hopefully within a few days from now. I don't know if this means that older images will be posted or not.

--Emily

[gallen_53]

Cubic? With (if I may be so bold) a corner taken out.

Could it be iron pyrite?

[Shaka]

Translucent?

[Aussie]

Looks tetragonal

[Stu]

This little animation just cries out to be shown on a big screen... Hold onto your chair arms though... !

[brianc]

This may be of interest - Dr Tom Pike - MECA - Diary on BBC News website


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7408033.stm

[MahFL]

Sample delivery to MECA ?

[peter59]

Probably to WCL

[ElkGroveDan]

Looks like my kids were playing around there.

[jmknapp]

By that token no raw images would ever be released because cosmic ray hits would inevitably be (and have been) interpreted as artificial objects in the distance, UFOs, etc.

It's interesting that of all the scientific data amassed by the spacecraft, only photographic data is released immediately in (somewhat) raw form. In the spirit of getting greedy, why not, for example, raw temperature/pressure readings throughout the day from the weather instruments, or dust readings from the laser?

[helvick]

The photographic data that we get is "obfuscated" slightly by the auto-levelling process used to make the images look acceptable for general purpose web browsing, that also eliminates much of the risk of anyone confusing the quickly released images for calibrated data.

The more basic non image data (like temperature measurements) present a problem because there is no acceptable way to carry out a similar sort of modification of the data that preserves an effective presentation of the form of the data without being too specific (so as to prevent confusion between uncalibrated and calibrated data).

[silylene]

Do any of you know what, if any, are the possible sources of tiny fibers which could have fallen onto the collection slide from the lander? For example, thermal blankets, insulation, or a woven wrapping around a cable ?

thanks!

[djellison]

Got a sample image?

[silylene]

Got a sample image?

There is a small fiber stuck which to me appears to be stuck by one end on the slide, the other end of which which appears to move in the wind by time lapse, perhaps also as focus was changed. (Perhaps the focal change makes it appear to move? I don't think this is the case.)

See the post by rlb2 who found this first in the middle of this page, for stills, and also read the discussion for the exact location: http://www.space.com/common/community/foru...elife.space.com

And here is a Flash animation of the apparent movement by a_lost_packet: http://www.zshare.net/flash/140388723809779c/

rlb2 has estimated the fiber's length to be 0.1 mm. In some posts, this apparently moving fiber has been termed a 'worm'. (and no, I don't think there is any chance that it is, though it is amusing!) I am just interested in what are the sources of fibers which could have fallen off the lander and onto the slide.

[djellison]

Given that this is from a clean slide that hadn't been exposed to the landing dustfall - anything seen is simply artifacts of a non-perfect collection slide. The illumination is entirely from within the OM ( http://www.mps.mpg.de/images/projekte/phoe...ca-om01_xxl.jpg ) and the LED's are in a ring around the OM optics, causing the change in shadows as the different LED's are turned on to image the slide. Notice how the 'worm' moves in exactly the same way as the shadow around all the other imperfections on the substrates?

Disappointing, but not all together surprising that people would try and make something out of it.

[silylene]

Thanks for the explanation and picture.

[ahecht]

Do any of you know what, if any, are the possible sources of tiny fibers which could have fallen onto the collection slide from the lander? For example, thermal blankets, insulation, or a woven wrapping around a cable ?

There are many things in a clean room which could leave tiny 0.1mm fibers in the microscope: the bunny suits, hair nets, booties, kimwipes, paper, etc. Any of those that contained optical brighteners (such as white paper or laundered fabric) would also fluoresce in UV.

[Ipparchus]

Do you know when are they going to use the Atomic Force Microscope? why didn`t they use it so far?

[Del Palmer]

Do you know when are they going to use the Atomic Force Microscope?

Probably real soon now. From Mark Lemmon's raw images page:

Sol 042: Clean and scrape Wonderland, AFM checkout part 1

[Ipparchus]

Do you know if the Atomic Force Microscope could detect and "photograph" any (possibly existing) micro-organisms in the soil samples? what size(nm) should the microbes have to be detected?

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[01101001]

Do you know if the Atomic Force Microscope could detect and "photograph" any (possibly existing) micro-organisms in the soil samples? what size(nm) should the microbes have to be detected?

University of Arizona, Mars Phoenix MECA

The optical and atomic-force microscopes complement MECA's wet chemisty experiments. With images from these microscopes, scientists will examine the fine detail structure of soil and water ice samples. Detection of hydrous and clay minerals by these microscopes may indicate past liquid water in the martian arctic. The optical microscope will have a resolution of 4 microns per pixel, allowing detection of particles ranging from about 10 micrometers up to the size of the field of view (about 1 millimeter by 2 millimeters).
[...]
The atomic force microscope will provide sample images down to 10 nanometers - the smallest scale ever examined on Mars. Using its sensors, the AFM creates a very small-scale "topographic" map showing the detailed structure of soil and ice grains.

[elakdawalla]

See my update from today -- they hope to finish characterization of the Atomic Force Microscope tosol, so we should shortly begin to see it being used on samples already tagged in the OM.

--Emily

[Phil Stooke]

Can we identify the Vestry location in an image?

Phil

[TheChemist]

The first AFM image of a test material was obtained.
So at least we know the AFM works as planned.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/images.php?fileID=14644

[remcook]

For those who haven't seen it yet, there's a new installment in Tom Pike's BBC blog:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7408033.stm

Interesting bit about the AFM:
"The particles, though, are much more difficult to image. They tend to be pushed about by the sharp tip of the AFM, frustrating our attempts. On Earth, we'd be able to turn a few knobs to minimise the forces between the tip and the particle.

For Phoenix, each "tweak" of the computer code takes hours to prepare and the results from Mars aren't known until the next sol. We also have to book ahead to be able to run our microscopes on Phoenix.

What takes just a few minutes to run on the testbed in our laboratory in Tucson takes several sols to complete on Mars. A good deal of patience is a requirement for any member of the science team. "

[jmknapp]

"The particles, though, are much more difficult to image. They tend to be pushed about by the sharp tip of the AFM, frustrating our attempts. On Earth, we'd be able to turn a few knobs to minimise the forces between the tip and the particle.

Roadblocks on all fronts, it seems.

In the BBC blog, I wonder what the point is of making soil/ice mixtures in one's kitchen--not exactly Mars conditions.

[MahFL]

I wonder if they anticipted this problem. In laymans terms, its not working.

[Juramike]

In the BBC blog, I wonder what the point is of making soil/ice mixtures in one's kitchen--not exactly Mars conditions.

I'd guess that they are taking the soil/ice mixtures and then putting them under partial vacuum (or what passes for atmospheric pressure on Mars) and watching stuff sublime.

[BTW, we do this all the time with water-soluble compounds. Dissolve in water, freeze, then put under a high vacuum to sublime out the water. The dissolved stuff slowly precipitates out in the frozen matrix and becomes hyperfluffy. The lyophilization process makes it real easy to manipulate miniscule amounts of material (sub-milligram quanities) with a laboratory spatula.]

-Mike

[Aussie]

I wonder if they anticipted this problem. In laymans terms, its not working.

They did. The substrate etching/holes were specifically designed to bound trapped particle size and minimise the movement of those particles. Given time they will probably be able to adjust the focus to reflect the sample, but the tip is delicate and vulnerable to the effects of rough particles. Overall the inclusion of the AFM seems somewhat of a gamble and possibly this is why there is an AFM shaped hole in the Mission Success Criteria.

[nprev]

Have to ask why it's even considered part of the mission success criteria, then. Nobody's ever flown an AFM before, AFAIK; if so, this is a pathfinder effort. Deploying the thing and getting a read on the control target is a success, as far as I'm concerned. Learning about the effects of environmental variables is one reason it's there in the first place.

[jamescanvin]

Have to ask why it's even considered part of the mission success criteria, then.

According to Mark in the mission success thread use of the AFM is not a mission success criteria. The OM alone is enough to satisfy "It shall also analyze 3 additional samples in its microscopy station."

[Aussie]

Poor use of language. By 'an AFM shaped hole in the Mission Success Criteria' I meant that the AFM was not included in the criteria. I agree with Mark.

[CosmicRocker]

For those who haven't seen it yet, there's a new installment in Tom Pike's BBC blog:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7408033.stm

Interesting bit about the AFM:
"The particles, though, are much more difficult to image. They tend to be pushed about by the sharp tip of the AFM, frustrating our attempts. On Earth, we'd be able to turn a few knobs to minimise the forces between the tip and the particle.

For Phoenix, each "tweak" of the computer code takes hours to prepare and the results from Mars aren't known until the next sol. We also have to book ahead to be able to run our microscopes on Phoenix.

What takes just a few minutes to run on the testbed in our laboratory in Tucson takes several sols to complete on Mars. A good deal of patience is a requirement for any member of the science team. "

I could hardly believe it when I first learned that Phoenix carried an AFM experiment. I don't know a lot about these devices, but sending one to Mars certainly seems like a bold move to me.

I couldn't help but wonder though, about the "computer code tweaking/uplinking/downlinking" strategy. Might it not be easier to simply move the tip to another potentially trapped particle, and try to probe it with the default parameters? I suspect my ignorance of interplanetary AFM operations prevents me from seeing the errors in my suggestion, but I couldn't help but speak my mind.

[teck]

Anyone wants to identify these tiny grains from the OM?
This looks like a nice catch.

[jmknapp]

Anyone wants to identify these tiny grains from the OM?

J-j-jumping Juniper! A golden egg! T-twenty-four karat dilithium crystals! We're rich!

[djellison]

The colours are really hard to pull out - looks cool though. This is a mosaic of three obs that cover the whole substrate.

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[Stu]

I got this... probably 1000% wrong but I just fell in love with the colours!



They look like tiny beads of amber... ( I know they're NOT, before anyone says anything! )

[Shaka]

Is there no official description of this OM? Was this a sample that should have included ice? Maybe ice granules become more spherical as they sublimate.
Where are these OMs being made public? How many have been made? I wanna SEE this stuff!

[nprev]

Hmm...wind-eroded (rolled around), or is there an erosional effect on the material from the seasonal frost? If this was from Earth I'd say they were silica, but not here. Olivene?

[Aussie]

Is there no official description of this OM?

Right on! What was the LED combination used. What was the substrate. We want to know what the real colour was. Enough already guys, stop teasing!

[01101001]

What was the LED combination used. What was the substrate. We want to know what the real colour was. Enough already guys, stop teasing!

Sol 58 Raw Images

For instance the green-illumination image of the wee balls is, 13:48:10 local Mars time, substrate selection 13411, etc.:

[Shaka]

Thanks, 0110...011...1... Do you mind if I call you '0'?
As the current "newby-in-the-know", are you the one to quiz about OM images?
Has anyone explained how all these...emeralds...er...rubies...amethysts...popsicles?
managed to get all clustered in the lower left corner of the field?
(I assume my biologist's explanation of gregarious behavior in Volvox colonies is inadmissible.)
TIA,
Shaka

[CosmicRocker]

They are very pretty grains. The illumination was RGB for some of the false color images we've seen here. The substrate was the "strong magnet", per the table.

[djellison]

We want to know what the real colour was.

Raw JPG's and Real Colour are essentially mutually exclusive.

[Stu]

They are very pretty grains. The illumination was RGB for some of the false color images we've seen here. The substrate was the "strong magnet", per the table.

Thanks for the link CR, very useful and interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing what the real imaging experts here do with the microscope images coming down. I didn't think I'd find them so interesting, if I'm honest... I'm definitely a "rocks" fan rather than a "grains" fan, but there's something fascinating about seeing Mars in such close-up...

While I'm here, can I just invite everyone over to my new Phoenix pictures site? I thought it made sense to tidy up all my clutter and put it in one place. It's going to be a gallery of unashamedly pretty pictures, with no claims of accuracy or scientific worth; just my own cosy little den where I can hang my favourite pics and share them with anyone who wants a look, too... Hope some of you will drop by - and if you'd like a link to your own pictures site putting on it, just drop me a line, ok?

[teck]

Right on! What was the LED combination used. What was the substrate. We want to know what the real colour was. Enough already guys, stop teasing!

Here is the caption for one of the jpg:



This should help

[jmknapp]

The substrate was the "strong magnet", per the table.

So, high in iron--meteoric?

[Aussie]

Thanks for the pointers. All of a sudden it is all so clear. I will read the website properly next time.

[elakdawalla]

...per the table.

That is an extremely useful link, CR. Where did you find it -- where is it linked from? I'm wondering if this is a file that they update or if it's a one-time report. Since it only goes out to sol 30 it seems it may be a one-time report...

--Emily

[01101001]

That is an extremely useful link, CR. Where did you find it -- where is it linked from? I'm wondering if this is a file that they update or if it's a one-time report. Since it only goes out to sol 30 it seems it may be a one-time report...

Link to table is here: MECA Microscopy Sample Stage Configuration Sols 0-30

[CosmicRocker]

So, high in iron--meteoric?

Well, not necessarily. Grains of meteoritic iron are not the only things that could be held by a magnet. There are a number of minerals that are weakly or strongly magnetic (eg, magnetite, ilmentite, pyrrhotite, etc.). Furthermore, minute inclusions of magnetic minerals within grains of otherwise nonmagnetic minerals can make them magnetic.

That is an extremely useful link, CR. Where did you find it -- where is it linked from? I'm wondering if this is a file that they update or if it's a one-time report. Since it only goes out to sol 30 it seems it may be a one-time report...

I found the link to that table on the same page 01101001 posted in the prior comment. There is also a picture of the sample wheel layout there. The table is apparently an example only, and will probably not be updated. However, I suspect if you ask the right person you could get a copy of the current table.

You probably know this, but I neglected to mention that one needs to determine the sample "rotation" to figure out which substrate was imaged. Since this is not currently metadata that is being captured by MMB in the .csv file it writes for the Pheonix images, you'll need to open the jpeg image in a text editor to read it, as teck demonstrates above.

[Aussie]

CR.
The rotation numbers, lighting etc are recorded in the image description that can be read by clicking the thumbnail and then hovering the cursor over the larger image. But the table is the key to correlating this to the OM designation and hence the substrate. Given this I would have expected the OM designation and the rotation position to be fixed. They are not and some OM images from SOL 58 nominate rotation positions that do not appear in the table against an OM number. So I retract my previous statement. It isn't clear after all.

[teck]

CR.
The rotation numbers, lighting etc are recorded in the image description that can be read by clicking the thumbnail and then hovering the cursor over the larger image. But the table is the key to correlating this to the OM designation and hence the substrate. Given this I would have expected the OM designation and the rotation position to be fixed. They are not and some OM images from SOL 58 nominate rotation positions that do not appear in the table against an OM number. So I retract my previous statement. It isn't clear after all.

The table still applys. The rotation number is given as nominal position. If you take set number 8, all rotation numbers fall in the range given. When the position is not in the table, it is generaly an offset from a nominal position. You can see this in the image where the edge of the frame is seen.

The image shown previously is possibly misleading concerning the origin of the grains. I could not find the calibration image before the sample was taken. There is a dark frame taken at this position but it is taken after the sample image

[CosmicRocker]

Thanks for reminding me about the mouse-over info, Aussie. I had forgotten the info was available there, since I typically mass-download the images using MMB, and I only occasionally use that raw images page.

teck: What do you mean by, "The image shown previously is possibly misleading concerning the origin of the grains." ...?

[CosmicRocker]

Raw JPG's and Real Colour are essentially mutually exclusive.

You may be surprised to hear this, Doug, but I've been working on a method to use raw JPGs to generate Real Color images of those elusive dust devils that have been cleaning off the MER solar panels. I'm not there yet, but I am getting close.

_{Sorry, the devil made me do it.}

[teck]

Because this is a strong magnet, the grains could have been there a long time ago. As I mentioned, unless there is an image showing the same target before a sample was taken, we cannot say where the grains came from. I did not find it.

[dvandorn]

You may be surprised to hear this, Doug, but I've been working on a method to use raw JPGs to generate Real Color images of those elusive dust devils that have been cleaning off the MER solar panels. I'm not there yet, but I am getting close.

Oooh... I've been trying the same thing, CR, and I've been using both good-quality wands and multi-person spell casting, so far with no luck. Tell me, have you decided whether or not to use live sacrifices? I've not yet committed to that level of effort, alas.



-the other Doug

[ahecht]

Because this is a strong magnet, the grains could have been there a long time ago. As I mentioned, unless there is an image showing the same target before a sample was taken, we cannot say where the grains came from. I did not find it.

From what I can tell, the photo of the clump is the "before" photo (that is, before a sample was deposited there). In the past they have done an empty image before a "full" image, and I couldn't find any earlier images of that particlular section of the sample wheel. The particles clumped around the magnet probably fell off of the other substrates as the wheel was rotated.

[01101001]

Covault's article:

Aviation Week: White House Briefed On Potential For Mars Life

(I didn't notice this MECA topic was more about imaging. This news is about MECA WCL, wet chemistry laboratory. I added an article to topic Sol 65 and after, since Covault was already being discussed there. Further discussion of this Aviation Week story is best conducted there.)

[akuo]

Tom Pike describes the trials and tribulations of the AFM, but it looks like that they've got an excellent image of the calibration grid. A new update from the 1st of August:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7408033.stm

[Guest_Oersted_*]

wonderful blog by Pike, please keep linking from it when there are news!