Crossing the Dunes at Murray Buttes, Sites 54-62, Sols 1353-1659, May 28 2016-Apr 6 2017 |
Crossing the Dunes at Murray Buttes, Sites 54-62, Sols 1353-1659, May 28 2016-Apr 6 2017 |
May 27 2016, 11:01 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2431 Joined: 30-January 13 From: Penang, Malaysia. Member No.: 6853 |
Midnight Planets has reported Curiosity's movement of ~46.3m WSW (-116º) on Sol 1353.
Only 7 L-NavCams were available for this rough & ready stitch in MS ICE, the raws are a little overexposed, but they may assist in pinpointing the location. I cropped the stitch a little to get it under the upload limit. I'll post the full resolution 360 on an image host as the images become available, unless someone beats me to it |
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Jun 7 2016, 03:58 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2431 Joined: 30-January 13 From: Penang, Malaysia. Member No.: 6853 |
Sol 1363 L-MastCam Rover Deck / CHEMIN Inlet Port Cover.
An interesting pattern of the surface dust has developed on the outside of the cover. I looked back at the early images of the deck instruments acquired on sol 36, these show the port covers from SAM in the open / closed positions and were featured by JPL in a rather nice animation at the time. However in a short search I did not find an image of the open CHEMIN port cover, as I suspect the pattern may match strengthening ribs on the underside of the cover. Has anyone seen any manufacturing / assemble stage images of this cover? Note: The pattern is visible in both the 'before and after' images related to inserting a sample. I can't recall observing this on earlier images. My question is... How did the pattern form? Thinking out loud, we could have had some frost or differential condensation on the cover followed by a dusting event that resulted in the pattern we see today. Any other ideas welcome I'm also wondering if we will be able to observe the formation of patterns on SAM's covers, after placing the Oudam sample inside in the coming days. |
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Jun 7 2016, 07:43 AM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 691 Joined: 21-December 07 From: Clatskanie, Oregon Member No.: 3988 |
Note: The pattern is visible in both the 'before and after' images related to inserting a sample. I can't recall observing this on earlier images. My question is... How did the pattern form? It is clearly an exact imprint of the fidicual target that is seen here in the pre launch mastcam selfie in the thermal vac chamber. Now the question is why is this still visible if it was removed before launch? Perhaps left over adhesive and dust or frost is clinging to it now making it more visible? Hmmm.... http://marsmobile.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/wh...amp;NewsID=1130 |
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Jun 7 2016, 08:09 AM
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#4
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2431 Joined: 30-January 13 From: Penang, Malaysia. Member No.: 6853 |
It is clearly an exact imprint of the fidicual target that is seen here in the pre launch mastcam selfie in the thermal vac chamber. Now the question is why is this still visible if it was removed before launch? Perhaps left over adhesive and dust or frost is clinging to it now making it more visible? Hmmm.... Great call on the fiducial targets James... I usually look at these before & after images of the port covers looking for dust trails, hoping to make an animation, but the wind shields have usually done a good job of keeping the covers fairly clear. As you say adhesive residues sounds plausible, but why have we had to wait nearly 4 years to see the effect... It does not seem likely that they would have been painted over before launch, I saw the red organic sample boxes and thought maybe some painting followed the test, but I figure that those are not the flight canisters? Edit: typo corrected 'fiducial' |
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Jun 7 2016, 11:36 AM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 684 Joined: 24-July 15 Member No.: 7619 |
As you say adhesive residues sounds plausible, but why have we had to wait nearly 4 years to see the effect... Hmm, very interesting point. Most commercial adhesives are water sensitive acrylics, What is the recent history of humidity around the rover? Seems like you've stumbled across a simple and direct way to measure martian humidity.... |
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Jun 7 2016, 11:53 AM
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#6
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2431 Joined: 30-January 13 From: Penang, Malaysia. Member No.: 6853 |
What is the recent history of humidity around the rover? The Spanish REMS web page is not currently reporting humidity, only daily min/max air and ground temperatures and pressure, and those don't appear to be out of the ordinary for the rover. Yes, should apply patches of that adhesive to sections of the 2020 deck, maybe get some interesting and cheap returns |
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