HiRISE and Mars Polar Lander |
HiRISE and Mars Polar Lander |
Guest_Sunspot_* |
Dec 6 2006, 02:05 PM
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Guests |
Looking at the images of the Spirit/Opportunity landing site, it seems many of the features such as tracks and rocket blast markings have faded considerably often to the point of being invisible in the nearly three years since landing.
This had me thinking about the MGS images taken in the hope of finding MPL. Initially it was reported that MGS had spotted the lander, one image had a white spot/streak interpreted as the parachute and a dark patch with a spot in the centre not too far off, taken to be the blast zone of the rockets with the lander in the centre. However another image taken 5 years later seemed to discount this theory - the features had faded or changed significantly. BUT, seeing how much the rover sites have changed in an even shorter time, wouldn't the same happen to the MPL site in 5 years - perhaps to an even greater degree with the more extreme seasonal changes at that location. Also, the latest HiRISE images show just how difficult it has been to spot the landers on the surface with MGS, the Viking sites in particular. I hope HiRISE takes another look at this spot. Mars Polar Lander NOT Found, MSSS article: http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/10/17/ |
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May 14 2008, 05:59 PM
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#2
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Director of Galilean Photography Group: Members Posts: 896 Joined: 15-July 04 From: Austin, TX Member No.: 93 |
Remcook,
Yes, that's exactly what I'm thinking as well. I'll bet that reflective or not, the net effect would be to make a depression in ice. If it's not reflecting the light it absorbs heat would tend to make a hole, and since the sides of the hole would be more vertical than the surface, the sides would tend to enlarge over time. And if does reflect the light, said light would mostly impact nearby, making the surface around the lander slightly hotter due to the reflections. I'm betting MPL will be in a small depression, larger than the size of the lander, whether it landed correctly or not. To do this properly, I created a spreadsheet on the Yahoo groups site with picture names across the top, and ppl checking them going down vertically. Post here which photos you have searched and to how far (Y pixel number), and I'll try to update the file. This way efforts can be divided appropriately. Link here. BTW, as a suggestion for future futile searches, adding some false positives to the mix is a good idea. Maybe 25-100 every picture might cut out the boredom, and give ppl something to score each other on. -------------------- Space Enthusiast Richard Hendricks
-- "The engineers, as usual, made a tremendous fuss. Again as usual, they did the job in half the time they had dismissed as being absolutely impossible." --Rescue Party, Arthur C Clarke Mother Nature is the final inspector of all quality. |
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