Heatshield |
Heatshield |
Dec 22 2004, 09:03 AM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 470 Joined: 24-March 04 From: Finland Member No.: 63 |
Heatshield AHOY!
:-) -------------------- Antti Kuosmanen
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Guest_BruceMoomaw_* |
Dec 24 2004, 01:40 AM
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#2
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Guests |
It's been very clear from the start of MER-B's explorations on Meridiani Plain that the plain is a very thin layer of basalt sand mixed with Blueberries, spread over a flat sheet of underlying sedimentary bedrock. What's happening -- as Ray Arvidson predicted in advance from MGS' orbital observations -- is that the sand has blown in from other places and is slowly eroding away the rock layer from the top down, powderizing the soft matrix rock and leaving a residue of Blueberries mixed with the immigrant sand. But of course once the thickness of the sand layer builds up beyond a certain point it stops the erosion process until some of the built-up sand blows back out of Meridiani and the erosion resumes -- so the overlying sand/Blueberry layer will ALWAYS be very thin. (I wonder how many Blueberries are mixed with the sand that's blown all the way through Meridiani and out the downwind side?)
That circular impact mark makes it clear that the heat shield came down flat on the surface and then bounced -- whereas the Genesis capsule, which was wobbling greatly during its fall, apparently came down on one edge. |
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