Finally drove away from Pahrump Hills on sol 923. Wheel tracks sure are piling up at the end of the drive -- there seems to have been quite a bit of slip.
[admin note: I was going to start a new thread for this, but realized our thread naming may be a bit out of whack because we're really not journeying to Mt Sharp anymore, are we? We'll discuss it with admins and I'll move/rename posts when we figure out our naming schema.]
I agree with ngunn that it's reasonable to say we're still "journeying to Mt Sharp". But the precise boundary of the topographic feature is not well defined, so at some (somewhat arbitrary) point in the future some moderator will have to put their foot down and say "we've arrived".
Maybe after passing the dune fields would be as good a point as any in the meantime? It could be titled 'final approach', or 'ascent beginning'?
http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00924/NRB_479523710EDR_F0450774NCAM00277M_.html
<sings> You're so vein, you prob'ly think this image is of you... <backtoprose>
Yes, vein alert! Very interesting area.
Phil
Well, according to the mission, we arrived at Mount Sharp as we approached Pahrump Hills, and the rocks we're driving on now are basal to Mount Sharp. But I won't rename the old thread.
We've driven onto some rocks with some pretty interesting-looking veins:
A quick circular view of the region - half a circle anyway.
Phil
I had a brief gasp when I read "we're not journeying to Mt. Sharp anymore, are we?" -- I wondered if plans to climb after adequate science has occurred at the base had changed. ack, I'm still the kid in the back seat who wants the panoramic view and to see Curiosity hold the altitude title.
http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00924/NLB_479523648EDR_F0450774NCAM00277M_.html...And a two-hump camel makes an ummm.. (http://www.solspot.com/files/2011/12/camel-poop-taro-gomi.jpg kidding!)
The road ahead.
The MastCam L view on Sol 923.
Jan van Driel
YES! Looks like we are going to take a look at all those veins
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=FRB_479702715EDR_F0450852FHAZ00302M_&s=926.565191980773
What amazing veins. I'm irresistibly drawn to the old description of the discovery of gold in the Klondike:
"gold lying thick between flaky slabs of rock like cheese in a sandwich"
Phil (reporting from LPSC)
Don't underestimate the PR value of a gold discovery...
Wow indeed; that's paydirt (if we're still talking in terms of gold)!
must be trying to steal the limelight from Oppy.. http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00926/0926MR0040720050501734E01_DXXX.htmlanaglyph .. what happened here?
so much going on here, had to revisit the area to the left of above.. and portion in xeye form
Visible on the lower right of that last anaglyph rendering is a dimensional "bubble" of sorts that certainly has a hollowed aspect to it. And those boxy segments remind me of overhead views of Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico (http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/gallery/gal151.html). All around, this is an amazing place to be. And this is an amazing time to be witnessing all these outstanding and previously unseen views of so many distant worlds.
Absolutely spectacular, surely to be one of the highlights of the entire mission.
Speaking as a COMPLETE amateur, this looks to me like extraordinarily powerful evidence of hydrothermal activity; finding silica would presumably clinch that interpretation.
Our mosaic and anaglyph of this amazing angle!
https://flic.kr/p/rEv1Er
https://flic.kr/p/rCqjZW
and sol 926 mosaic:
https://flic.kr/p/rohbXM
My take on the MastCam-R view of Garden City on Sol 924 (Raw)
Interesting -- y'all remember those things Curiosity came across early on, that looked like popped mud bubbles that had frozen into stone?
Looks to me like this formation shows one of those bubbles as an erosional remnant in the uppermost layers of what has most effectively resisted erosion, circled in red in the attached detail.
I also see a lot of other little circular-to-spherical features in the remnant formation, here. Some might be the remains of small impacts, but others might well be the final remains of other of these "popped bubble" formations.
-the other Doug
Here is my take on stitching pictures of this amazing place.
Sol 924:
https://flic.kr/p/rFyRPX
Sol 925:
https://flic.kr/p/rFonkE
https://flic.kr/p/rnbVcH
Sol 926:
https://flic.kr/p/rEkrxQ
https://flic.kr/p/rFsVZx https://flic.kr/p/rFof9V
https://flic.kr/p/rm77ZM
The shape, orientation, and geometry of these fractures reminds me of terrestrial examples of seal failures due to hydrofracturing via overpressure. This is also supported by the observations that they occur in a rather thick massive to laminated mudstone interval and terminate in the overlying more permeable coarser-grained strata.
For the interested, this a nice accessible review article on the subject:
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2013.00004/full
For those less curious, here is a link to a nice photo from the article of the phenomena:
http://www.frontiersin.org/files/Articles/74145/feart-01-00004-HTML/image_m/feart-01-00004-g006.jpg
For those in the UK, the classic exposures at Kilve and Watchet in Somerset are worth a pilgrimage to see these phenomena in incredible beach cliff and wave-cut terrace exposures. Check a tide chart, if you do though!
Here is the complete Navcam L panoramic view taken on Sol 926.
Jan van Driel
What a beautiful rock!!!
Sol 930, some processing:
https://flic.kr/p/rHfkvK
https://flic.kr/p/rqPv3a
and anaglyph
https://flic.kr/p/qLtRUn
Outstanding work Elizabeth.
The Garden City mineral veins, rotated and shown in context
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00930/mcam/0930MR0040900010501797E01_DXXX.jpg, probably of the Telegraph Peak drill powder.
This simplifies arm movements, e.g. for MAHLI wheel imaging, and opens an option for a next drilling.
With respect to the Garden City MAHLIs, here an annotated crop of http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00930/mhli/0930MH0004770010303180C00_DXXX.jpg:
My take on MAHLI close-up on those mineral veins. Images are corrected from artifact and color corrected:
https://flic.kr/p/rpJ2FR https://flic.kr/p/qMaPk5
https://flic.kr/p/rGT6D9
That sounds plausible. Thanks a lot for helping over this hurdle!
Mars is full of serendipity. You spend 6 months throughly exploring and studying a scientifically important area (Pahrump Hills), then hit the road and travel less than 100m before finding Garden City.
To explore Mars with less chance of driving by unseen treasures (just 100m away behind a hill or in the next canyon over), it would be nice to have a swarm or rovers or a rover with a drone scout
Another take on the extended R-MastCam mosaic from sol 929. I tried to add the images from 926, but had stitching issues, working on resolving those (edit : link repaired)
https://flic.kr/p/qN2a4e
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16273346823/sizes/l
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16273346823/sizes/k/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16273346823/sizes/o/
whimsical wisp in foreground http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00929/0929ML0040870240402859E01_DXXX.html
A (probably failed) attempt to find fluorescence in the Sol 935 MAHLI night shots:
Starting from this http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00935/mhli/0935MH0004820020303337C00_DXXX.jpg, RGB channel-wise histo stretch returned this image:
http://imgur.com/L95m0mh
Starting from http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00935/mhli/0935MH0004820060303341C00_DXXX.jpg, perliminary cleaning by subtracting a Sol 910 night image without LED returned this image
http://imgur.com/a8ZrV8H
then RGB channel-wise histo stretch returned this one:
http://imgur.com/OzbrhTG
Subtraction of the histo stretched white LED image from the cleaned and histo stretched uv LED image returned this image:
http://imgur.com/kSTFIyA
Histo stretch of the difference image returned this result:
http://imgur.com/TBstHL5
In the latter image I wasn't able to indentify fluorescence or phosphorescence uniquely.
Most variations are probably due to shadows and slightly different positions of the LEDs (my preliminary interpretation).
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00936/mhli/0936MH0004830050303406C00_DXXX.jpg(Sol 936) close to the complex Garden City vein seems to be very soft again (well-scratchable by the brush).
The rock contains grains (clusts, concretions,...) which appear harder (more erosion-resistant) than the matrix. The interior of the rock looks greyish relative to the rind.
This is a really zoomed in crop, my brain/eyes can't make sense of anything any closer.
The detail is great, the only problem is that I can no longer focus on my keybooorf!!
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=0936MH0004810050303378C00_DXXX&s=936.
Here a version with the derived scale:
http://imgur.com/1laccAS
The size of the grains seems to be between about 0.5 and 1.0 mm.
There may be some fine layering.
My favorite interpretation would be a sandy mudstone/siltstone of fluvial (velocity about 30 cm/s) origin.
My turn to add a scale: I used the motor count of sol 930 MAHLI pictures to derive the scale for these mosaics of veins at Garden City:
https://flic.kr/p/rMnCCo
Any way you cut it the rock is black & white. Seems this area is a mantel breach of some type. The black rock being mantel basalt.
Basalt would be very surprising as a vein fill.
The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vein_%28geology%29 are probably the result of some kind of groundwater activity (fluids).
Transported or solved minerals have been precipitated in fractures, or even extended the fractures.
In a http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=7988&view=findpost&p=218956 T. Demko provided a link to very detailed explanations.
resistant fill patch and dune xeyes http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00940/NRB_480948797EDR_F0450996NCAM00354M_.html
R-Mastcam mosaic of the sol 940 target "Kanosh"
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16800030640/sizes/k/
Edited
Cap rock "Kanosh" Sol 940, Mastcam L/R, x-eyed, and anaglyph version:
http://imgur.com/BPaLJl5 http://imgur.com/GuU86WG
interesting little 'http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00940/0940MR0041320090501939E01_DXXX.html' at the bottom of the image here, theres no parellax betweent he two http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00940/0940MR0041320080501938E01_DXXX.html, and the m34 doesnt provide enough resolution in the second crosseye, nonetheless it does seem to be half embedded in and thus eroded out of the rock (outcrop?) at its left, as opposed to being a segment of cleanly detached fill vein as if jetsam from Kanosh.
A better look down Artist's Drive. Sol 940, left mast camera.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16994259855/sizes/h/
Also a possible return to Garden City : http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sols-942-943-cap-rock-kanosh-
Nice view.
MAHLI looking at the wheels and down on Sol 939.
Jan van Driel
A rock of Garden City imaged with MAHLI on sol 937:
https://flic.kr/p/rBL5LJ
MAHLI close-up of Kanosh on sol 942 (red/cyan anaglyph)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16818098389/sizes/l
4-image, R-MastCam Mosaic : Looking deeper into Artist's Drive (Sol 942)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16819226728/sizes/k/
The complete Navcam L Panoramic view on Sol 940.
Jan van Driel
Jan's sol 940 panorama in circular form - it shows the path through the valley quite clearly, and the view back to Pahrump Hills..
Phil
A NavCam anaglyph of the Garden City, Sol 944
Back at Garden City.
The Navcam L view on Sol 944.
Jan van Driel
6 image mast camera mosaic of the extended veins at Garden City, images acquired after the drive during sol 944 (April 03, 2015
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16832828647/sizes/h/
Contrast marginally stretched to highlight the different surface materials.
A section of the mineral filled veins at Garden City acquired on sol 946 (9 MAHLI frames) EDIT : Additional frame added (now 10 MAHLI frames) and roughly stitched and rotated to provide a little context with some earlier mast camera images (sol 929)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16859884210/sizes/h/....https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16861485368/sizes/h/
Nicely done Paul. A consensus seems to be forming that the veins seen here and at Sheepbed represent hydraulic fracture fill. This indicates that the mudstone must have been covered to depth certainly no less than a kilometre and probably much more. But it also implies that there would be a significant thickness of sediment below the mudstone which compacted to provide the high pressure solution necessary to fracture the mudstone cap and form the fracture fill. This means that the basal unit could be much deeper than suggested by Anderson and Bell in their outstanding landing site selection paper.
Yeah, I can see why they want more mineralogy and it will be interesting to get the take of the experts. I don't know if it is just my deranged imagination but there seems to be a couple of examples of sigmoidal fracture fill in your image at post #76 which could imply rotation of segments of mudstone. The thicker white fracture fill which I assume is the ubiquitous calcium sulphate could imply hydration of anhydrite to gypsum which gives a hefty increase in volume.
While following this thread, I saw this come by my news feed. Visually similar to my non-geologist eye.
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/3065032146/photos/52326/sunset-colors-death-valley?inalbum=death-valley
Some of our latest processing
sol 938 anaglyph
https://flic.kr/p/rY2taf
wheels sol 939
https://flic.kr/p/rRjCwP
Kanosh anaglyph sol 940
https://flic.kr/p/rRgMxL
and some more vivid MAHLI sol 942
https://flic.kr/p/rVSha3
https://flic.kr/p/r2n7kk
https://flic.kr/p/rVSgEL
@PaulH51 nice composition!
craigmcg, thank you for uploading that photo. Has helped me put it into a Terran context. Have similar geological processes produced what we're seeing at Garden City?
PaulH51, 'A Puzzle For The Geologists' wow pretty impressive mosaic, how long did it take you to do? Were the images literally taken from the raw images page on NASA's site here http://marsmobile.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=#/?slide=946 , and then stitched together by yourself? Loved it anyway!
Deep burial and exhumation could be due to filling of accommodation followed by landscape degradation via erosion, or growth and decay of a thick ice sheet.
(sorry for the additional post, but...I'm a Member!...finally!...100 posts!...it only took 11 years!)
One of the many ChemCam-RMI targets acquired in recent days. Shown here in context with its location at Garden City.
Roughly stacked and converted to a red/cyan anaglyph
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17060502471/sizes/l
Evidence of laser strikes observed on a ChemCam target on the last planned full day of science at Garden City (sol 948)
https://flic.kr/p/rXLMdd
The last images are down and here is the complete Navcam L Panorama
taken on Sol 944.
Jan van Driel
Another section of the Garden City mineral filled veins captured by Curiosity on sol 948.
EDIT : Added another 7 frames (total = 14) There is a lot of overlap with the first mosaic, but the additional frames finish it off well
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17073683535/sizes/k/ . . . .https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16875605777/sizes/o/
Scale bar added
Sol 949 NRB pano, after a drive, http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sol-949-leaving-garden-city:
http://imgur.com/rNNHssK
Here is my view of the Navcam L panoramic view on Sol 949.
Jan van Driel
Thanks, Jan and Gerald, for your panoramas. I made a composite of the two (to clean up the view of the valley behind us) and made a circular version. We get a good view along the valley from here.
Phil
Partial Navcam L Panoramic view on Sol 950.
The rest of the images will be added when they are down.
Jan van Driel
Welcome everyone
Looong time no panoramic stitching. I prefer to keep my own tempo on it
So, I feel like to made the stitching of the last Sol 949 Navcam pan, and maybe Sol 950 will come.
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2015/Sol949_pano.jpg
The close-up mosaic posted by PaullH1 reveals some fascinating details. The vein fills are complex, multi-generation features with evidence of several or repeated tensile fracturing events. There are anastomosing, en echelon, and hair-like network veins of several different mineral phases paired on either side of the center of the fracture. These are called stacked veins. The dark material seems to me to be mudstone country rock that was trapped between these sub-veins and subject to metasomatic alteration. When rocks are fractured in a tensile fashion, one possible result is the polygonal-to-crazed pattern we see at the exposure. The dominantly opening-mode dilation (with some evidence of slight shear) was filled by precipitation of minerals, presumably from the fluids that provided the hydraulic force that drove the crack tip propagation. Once rocks are fractured and veins emplaced, these discontinuities in the rock volume act as planes of weakness which localize subsequent brittle deformation. In general, the vein-host rock boundary is about half as strong (resistant to breakage when subject to the same stresses again) as the unfractured host rock. The relative strengths of the vein fill versus the altered and unaltered host rock controls the subsequent fracture morphology. If the vein material breaks first, a crack-seal pattern is the result, and there are mirrored pairs of older vein material split by the new fracture and filled with younger vein material. If the vein material is stronger than the host rock, the crack propagates in crazed fashion along the boundary, creating a crack-jump pattern, and the radiating/horse-tail hair-like fractures and veins. The crack can also deflect in and out of the host rock as it propagates along the interface, and the result are slices and slivers of host rock incorporated into the vein stack.
Although this http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2013JB010540/abstract (should be publicly available) concerns modeling of fractures and veins, it also has a nice summary and some illustrations of these concepts.
I'd also like to delicately point out that these fractures and veins show abundant evidence of formation and implacement at depth, in the subsurface. Although superficially similar to surficial features like mudcracks and polygonal fractures due to evaporite precipitation, the evidence points to a hydraulic fracturing origin and failure via overpressure or pressure differential.
Very pleased to see Ant103 back with us! For the 950 drive, here is the circular pan (from Jan's post, still missing a couple of frames) I used for locating the site on my map.
Phil
Hello again Damia,
I also took a long time without posting any new panorama and was thinking maybe post some.
I think it makes little sense to publish all the same scene three or four times.
Jan is doing a good job and fast, very fast.
Regarding the veins and the fractures, the thing Im trying to understand is this:
These vein outcrops occur near the lower elevations of this large crater, Mt Sharp and the Rims being anywhere form 2 to 3.5 miles higher in elevation. Its now widely accepted that where Curiosity is exploring was under water far longer than previously estimated, and then that water slowly evaporated, leaving behind layered sedimentary rock layers and other tell-tale signs of long periods of a "shallow sea".
So, if these veins are the result of minerals precipitating under high pressure, then this would mean these veins formed under Several Kilometers of overburden...and now they are been exposed due to "erosion" the questions are:
a) Being near the bottom of Gale crate, rather than the top, where did the KM's of rock and overburden erode to? Erosion goes downhill, there isnt anywhere for KM's to have eroded to, The crater prevents excavation of sediment outside of the rim (thus all erosion remains inside the crater) - and
There is clear evidence of surface water at this location, and that it was under water at different shallow depths for perhaps billions of years...so, that situation in effect negates the overburden hypothesis, because again, the surface water action evidence is side-by-side with the veins.
Is it more possible this is non-pressure related, and more ancient heat/hydrothermal in nature?
If we accept Mars has been pretty dry for the last Billion years, then we are seeing something that had been roughly the same for a billion years...those flaky paper-thin wafer of rock resting in position where they are well above the surface show the wind load isnt enough to move them...so certainly not KM of overburden were removed simply by wind.
Im thinking Non Terrestrial erosion and mineralization mechanisms need to be considered...Mars has no Techtonic plates, and less water no matter how long it existing, and 2/5th the gravity, meaning erosion forces far less than earth...
Id love to hear some thesis on how these veins are so near the surface - thx.
Superbe Damia ! Et cela fait plaisir.
On a little diff note:
Has anyone else noticed the lack of new full-res Raw images of late? Seems like they were putting up 20-40+ MAHLI and even more Pano full-res images until they hit Garden City...
I wonder if this because they are not taking as many pics, or something else?
Arizona Dave-
On Earth erosion is mostly by water and stuff goes down hill. On Mars erosion (the last 3 billion years or so) is mostly by wind. Over this time frame, rocks break down to dust and wind carries it off, sometimes even from the bottoms of craters.
KM's of Ice certainly could produce the pressure necessary, but the issue with that is that the veins and fractures are through old pre-existing mudstone etc...the waters that formed many of the features has been evaluated to have come from "shallow" sea/lake...that lake then evaporated (over many repeated wet/dry periods over millions of years), so once the lake dried up, where did the water come from to form KM's deep of ice? Mars never had enough water to cover the entire surface, and so if it caem from millions of years worth of snow, why did the snow pile up there KMs deep? The Snow could not have accumulated over the entire surface KM's because there wasnt enough water...especially after the lakes and seas started drying.
Im just trying to build a picture of how that process looks, without Plate tectonics, the original Oceans/seas and lower elevations of Mars have essentially stayed the same for billions of years..Earth meanwhile has drastically changed continents and oceans in just the past 500 million years.
Is it possible there was some other geothermal process that could have caused these, maybe they are not even that old...possibly they are new compared to the exposed mudstones and layered sedimentary rocks?
Just throwing out some ideas, outside the box a little.
Currently the environment on Mars is extremely benign but it would be a little silly to assess the formation of the current Mount Sharp topography based on current conditions. Gale is assessed to be between 3.6 to 4.1 billion years old and we know from Curiosity that when the areas she has traversed were laid down there was abundant surface water. Subaerial, not under ice. Looking at Mount Sharp we also know that the lower levels were water influenced and that following Mr Steno's wisdom, the layers should have covered the erosional end state explored by Curiosity to a significant depth. Lakes in Gale would possibly have been episodic but it would seem reasonable to assume that the formation of the lower layers of Mount Sharp occurred over a reasonably short geological timeframe. The increasing sulphates in the layers implies a change to an acidic, volcanic influenced environment and while as you say, Mars probably never developed tectonic plates, the formation of the Tharsis Bulge would have given the planet a real shakeup. If there was a northern ocean the effect on it would have been significant.
With respect to the veining, ice may or may not have provided a degree of compression and relaxation but given Tim Demko's indication that the fracturing and fill occurred at depth authigenic /mineralogic volume increases is probably the most likely cause of the veins, both here and also the larger examples higher up the mountain. Centsworth II gave a pretty fair indication of the cumulative effect of really minimal erosion over billions of year. Now extend that thinking to more rapid cycles of erosion and deposition in a reasonably high energy environment with the level of energy decreasing over billions of years until we get to the situation we see today. The upper, pretty much unconsolidated section of the mountain seems to reflect Kite's valley wind deposition concept but the lower levels, and Opportunity's observations, confirm lacustrine/fluvial deposition.
Where did all the eroded material go? Some contributed to the upper level of Mount Sharp. Since Gale is on the edge of the dichotomy much probably followed the gravitational gradient towards the northern lowlands.
Back to sol 942, I made a composite of two successive zooms on the surface of Kanosh rock by MAHLI camera (with scale):
https://flic.kr/p/r6YGST
My take on the sol 950 'drive direction' left mast camera mosaic (roughly stitched)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16909163468/sizes/k/
My return to UMSF.
Left Navcam Sol 950 Full Resolution.
http://bit.ly/1PrEYE7
Click image for full resolution.
http://bit.ly/1jvdOKg
Sol 950 Navcam panoramic.
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2015/Sol950_pano.jpg
USGS Curiosity Mission Update for http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sol-951-10k (today) "10k" by Ryan Anderson.
To do something different.
Left Navcam and Left Mastcam (M-34) in single panorama.
http://bit.ly/1DPA8xu
Click image for full resolution.
http://bit.ly/1jvdOKg
Ice Caps at the equator would indeed have extreme impacts on weather/climate...Thats a very interesting concept, and although I knew about its extreme changes in axism I never put 2 and 2 together...I wonder if the axis precession over the eons could also be a source of the "mass flooding" event that there is evidence of in so many of the different areas of Mars.
I just hope Curiosities wheels dont give out before it makes some more stunning discoveries like those veins...those things and the other features around them are awesome!
Thank you and everyone for patience...I really was trying to get a mental picture of the erosion processes, and now I do..maybe they are right, maybe something else, but definitely those ideas address the differences between terrestrial and martian erosion.
Also, someone else posted a link regarding Curiosities daily plan - THANK YOU! :-)
How about a colorized version of the Sol 950 panorama ?
Here we go
http://www.db-prods.net/blog/2015/04/10/artists-drive-a-sol-950-colorized-postcard/
Nobody does that as well as you, Damia!
Phil
Excellent, Damia!
Just a word to our panorama compilers here. I love you all! You might think the duplication is unnecessary, and I'm not trying to over-burden the server... but every one is different - maybe left versus right cameras, or slight variations in geometry (try overlaying two apparently identical pans... they vary much more than you might think). So I personally am very pleased to see more than one version of a panorama. Then, of course, there are other ways of adding value: the Mastcam color overlay is nice, the full colorization is nice, highlighting ChemCam RMI targets might be another interesting addition.
Phil
Sol 951 navcam anaglyph of the curved outcrop that Phil Stooke referred to in the route map thread:
The Navcam L partial panoramic view on Sol 951.
Jan van Driel
Great! Here's a quick circular view to match with the map.
Phil
So will de drive down the middle over the ripples, or take the right or left shoulder to avoid them?
Sol 950/951 Front HazCam anaglyph
still gobbling up delicious vertically-tensile-fractured beef ice-cream sandwiches from http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00948/0948MH0004910050304033C00_DXXX.html MAHLIs
Another take on the sol 951 NavCam, using a few extra images (roughly stitched)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16915778698/sizes/o/
Plus the sol 952 http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sol-952-longer-drive from Ken Herkenhoff :
ChemCam-RMI in telescopic mode captures "Joshua Tree" on Sol 951, April 10, 2015. Joe Knapp's 'Image Synth Page' suggests that Joshua Tree is in the upper right near the ridge line of this sol 950, April 09, 2015 NavCam image. I think I have located it, but I will await the mast camera images to be downlinked to be sure. Also included is a low resolution red/cyan anaglyph on the right side.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17081793436/sizes/l
Note that the sol 952 end-of-drive NavCam are now in, looks like a 75.6m WSW drive see http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/sol/00952.html
Looks like it was a wise choice to go around this potential sand trap... sol 951 left mast camera
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16490175873/sizes/h/
There was no plan to ever go to the summit, originally? From orbit the upper slopes are more or less mundane material seen elsewhere, so of lower scientific value.
I'm sure the REMS team would love the higher altitudes, but there's a rover-load of instruments to think about...
I think that they will be delighted if they can get past the hematite ridge and investigate the phyllosilicate trough and the fan.
Sol 952 Navcam pan The view toward Mount Sharp is lovely !
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2015/Sol952_pano.jpg
(Thank you for all your kind message next to my postcard :') )
The end of sol 952 drive direction left mast camera mosaic that features what could be the exit ramp out of the bowl shaped depression (image center)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16913329917/sizes/k/
~200 hundred sols ago when we first arrived at the Pahrump Hills, I created this for an exercise to see if I could better define the possible path through the valley systems towards the mountain. I used a section one of Fred's fine location maps in addition to the extended mission path http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/images/NASA-MSL-MRO-Curiosity-Rover-HIRISE-Planned-Route-Map-Pahrump-Hills-to-Mount-Sharp-pia18780-full.jpg, but even using that hi-resolution version, the thick yellow line indicating the path masked many of the underlying features. Basically I just avoided the sandy ripples and what appeared to be steep inclines. I used a contour map produced by Joe Knapp for the first few sections of what we now know as Artists Drive, but I cant seem to find Joe's great map.
Now we have the sol 952 end-of-drive mast camera images, we can see what maybe the exit ramp into the next system, looks like I picked the wrong spot on my old plan Going to be an interesting journey...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/15323669756/sizes/h
Posted here to keep the Maps section for actual maps https://flic.kr/p/pm6P9G
My take on MAHLI mosaic of Garden City veins on sol 946 in context with a MC34 mosaic taken on sol 929:
https://flic.kr/p/rPoekE
If you compare this sol 954 image:
http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00954/NRB_482186043EDR_F0460000NCAM00309M_.html
With this 952 image:
http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00952/NRB_482013202EDR_F0460000NCAM00353M_.html
you can see a little sample dump took place between them.
Phil
The lack of images lately is driving me crazy...need more than thumbnails!!! Looks like they found some new interesting rock formations based on thumbnails.
Looks like we're having a closer look at the sample dump that Phil noticed.
The last vein of Garden City imaged by MAHLI, its context with a MC34 mosaic and scale for both images:
https://flic.kr/p/raCb8c
Removed full in line quote of previous post - Mod
Awesome Mosaic!
Those veins remind me of exposed surface tree roots that grow on grassy areas, like my backyard.
Very cool!
Some really interesting rocks and small dunes from the NavCams on Sol 952.
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=NLB_482006748EDR_D0451768TRAV00319M_&s=952
Some of the larger pics show a wide variety of rock types and shapes...like a debris flow-field I see in deserts out here.
That Sand with the sun lighting from directly behind is looks like its glowing...like some types of silica-sand on Earth. It might be the wavelength of light the NavCam is set to see...but Mt Sharp is glowing also...really neat.
Based on Phil's latest update and using a crop from JPL's sol 951 location map, I have plotted a possible path from the current location into the next system.
The latest USGS Curiosity Mission Update shows a planned drive for sol 956 (~6 hours from now) Ryan indicates that the drive is scheduled for ~2 hours, so if all goes well, we may enter the next system. I am sure there are many other possible paths, this is just for fun only.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16965818470/sizes/h/
http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sol-956-mercury-transit
Thanks Paul. Nice to see the probable route on the detailed color map.
The first images of the drive on sol 956 are now available. I have used 4 L-NavCam images for this simple and roughly stitched mosaic, others will make far better versions which I look forward to seeing here....
We appear to be just in front of the entrance into the next system and it does looks inviting, ignoring the potential for sand traps
Maybe a short drive forward to better see what awaits us and to plan for the longer drives? Time will tell...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16969228620/sizes/h/
A quick circular view of this site to show a different perspective. I expect we can go quite a way into the valley ahead on the next drive.
Phil
Sol 956 NRB post-drive semipan:
http://imgur.com/IVYXjYn
Edit: Sol 956 NRB 3-image mid-drive mosaic:
http://imgur.com/M9YE5JZ
A moderately successful anaglyph version of the stitched Sol 956 Navcam mid-drive images:
http://imgur.com/KuXtlX9
My take on these two panoramic. What we can say about the view is "WOW !"
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2015/Sol956_pano1.jpg
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2015/Sol956_pano2.jpg
Nice Mosaics!
Looks like a lot of dust in air out a ways to the crater rim.
Also...new pics of rocks and soil today very interesting: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=0955MH0004960030304217C00_DXXX&s=955
Notice the "crack" in the soil...freeze/thaw of brine possibly? Its obviously fairly recent. Also, lots of rounded rocks...more evidence for fast flowing water in past.
Fairly recent is right - that's due to work with the turret. Notice that several pebbles have been pushed into the soil, leading to cracks.
The "before" view (lower right corner):
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00952/mcam/0952ML0041950010403452E01_DXXX.jpg
shows that these features weren't there a few sols earlier.
This is a circular version of Damia's sol 952 panorama, giving a nice view of the outcrops around this broad shallow depression. Mount St Mary appears to be the hilly area southeast of this rover location.
Phil
Sol 955 : 3-frame MC100 mosaic featuring the location where the rover stopped at the end of its sol 956 drive.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16541456953/sizes/k/
..or perhaps the http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/images/press/20080531.html uncovered beneath Phoenix, or in http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Evaporating_ice_on_Mars_Phoenix_lander_image.jpg. as well as cryoturbation http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Phoenix_mission_horizon_stitched_high_definition.jpg.
brings up the question that if there was indeed an epoch of permafrost, snowpack, or even glaciation during some Milankovitch cycle at these latitudes, could there still be any evidence visible or should have long since deflated away?
Would it be possible to create an anaglyph using the two sets of NavCam images (wide base-line)?
Updated MSL map, rotated 90 degrees to align with the NavCam view into the next section, hopefully this will makes it a little easier to identify some of the prominent features.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17164680151/sizes/h/
Latest USGS Mission Update from Ken Herkenhoff http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sol-957-limited-downlink
Sol 956 Navcam pan updated (see my previous post, instead of publish twice the same picture).
New images... we had a drive on sol 957. I'm not sure of the exact location yet but it looks like about 15 m roughly west, with the Navcam mini-pan looking northwest.
(Midnight planets reporting 60+ m west. I can't make that work. EDIT - ah - OK, now I'm making it work! OK, got it)
Phil
A try to stitch some of the Sol 957 NRBs:
http://imgur.com/iRtZG31
Sol 957 of Curiosity's mission : another gorgeous view in 3-D ! Enjoy
Nice MAHLI from sol 952
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16985646359/sizes/l/
JPL issued this http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?ImageID=7118 which gives us a new name for PHil's maps
Nice http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/latestImages.html (thumbnails?) have come down.
Sol 958 preliminary NRB pano:
http://imgur.com/7zMqJNy
Left mast camera, looking West after the drive on sol 957
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16994197328/sizes/h/
USGS Mission Update from Ryan Anderson http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sol-958-officially-10k-
MC100 picture and two successive MAHLI zoom on Telegraph Peak drill sample. Pictures taken on sol 954.
https://flic.kr/p/sbNDXZ
Sol 958 : drive-direction left mast camera.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17004579190/sizes/h/
My take on the MC100 panorama taken on sol 957:
https://flic.kr/p/rV6KnG
and MC34 mosaic of Libby outcrop:
https://flic.kr/p/rVg7ck
Sol 958 Navcam pan :
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2015/Sol958_pano.jpg
18 frames (complete?) version of the pre-drive right mast camera panorama looking WSW (some colour correction applied)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17207979421/sizes/h/
Sol 960 Drive direction left mast camera mosaic. Maybe considering going north of the butte and then dropping south into the pass to avoid driving through the sand on the south side of the butte? See Phil's latest map
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17218695942/sizes/h/
In this very interesting image, taken Sol 958, you can see two different sediments : a light-colored one (the most usual on which we roved for many Sols) and a dark-colored one, which seems to be fine-powdered (center) : maybe a preview of the dark-colored dunes to be seen later on the mission... Enjoy !
The Navcam L Panoramic view on Sol 960.
Jan van Driel
Edit. (Added 1 image)
Left Navcam Sol 960 Full Resolution.
http://bit.ly/1bpX4a9
Click image for full resolution.
http://bit.ly/1jvdOKg
it looks like http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00958/NLB_482545774EDR_F0461162NCAM00299M_.html was relatively overexposed in the Left pancam, is more equalized in the Right frame, nonetheless its bright enough to consider possibly sourced from erosion of (thanks Gerald) MgO=5.8% CaO=56.3% veins. dark sand ive always assumed basaltic but never read up on it.. (the stereo of this wasn't very satisfying so here just posting the R pano).
Another 4 sets of wheel check MAHLI images during sol 962
Animations of just one wheel (reduced to 1024 x 777) : http://i.imgur.com/Lhmks8F.gifv or https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17229539221/sizes/o/ All Images http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/sol/00962.html
USGS Curiosity Mission Update from Lauren Edgar http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sol-963-making-a-run-for-it checking out "Logan's Run"
This is a circular view of Dig's sol 960 panorama. I was pretty far off with my last map, as I mistook one or two nearby features for others. I will fix the map after the next drive.
Phil
Mars Orbiter Sees Curiosity Rover in 'Artist's Drive' during sol 949 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19392 - http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA19392.jpg - http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/figures/PIA19392_fig1.jpg
Simple merge/stack focus and red/cyan anaglyph using just 9 frames of the ChemCam-RMI target dubbed "Apple" acquired during Sol 963
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17213017356/sizes/l/
Click image or this https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17213017356/sizes/l/
USGS http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sols-964-965-logan-s-run-or-just-a-short-dash- : Sols 964-965: Logan’s Run? Or just a short dash, from Lauren Edgar
The complete Navcam NL B Panoramic view taken on Sol 963.
Jan van Driel
One of the post-drive L-MastCam mosaics from sol 963, this one looking south toward the entrance to Logan Pass (contrast stretched)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17045164357/sizes/h/
Lengthening Shadows - One hour before sunset on sol 964. Contrast stretched.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16630800014/sizes/o/
Left Navcam Sol 964 Full Resolution.
http://bit.ly/1OOrqj2
Click image for full resolution.
http://bit.ly/1jvdOKg
A very nice view! This is a circular version of it. You can see the big crater to the northwest - in HiRISE it shows up with dark drifts on its floor. Here we just see the northern and southern ridges which define it.
Phil
My take on MC34 panorama of sol 963. According to Phil's map, West Ridge is on the right and Logan Pass is between West Ridge and the background ridge.
https://flic.kr/p/shSbYF
Sol 964 MastCam Right thumbnails, Target "Blackrock", which stopped the Sol 963 drive:
Quick-and-dirty version of the Sol 964 post-drive Left Mastcam 5-image mosaic:
http://imgur.com/ib6aoH4
"According to Phil's map"
Yes... but unfortunately I don't know where that ridge actually is. I am waiting for a map with some names, or or other confrmation, to locate that and several other names.
Phil
The last Mastcam L images of Sol 938 are down, debayered and stitched.
Jan van Driel
My take on MC34 and MC100 mosaic of Logan's Run on sol 964. High difference of luminosity between individual pictures made difficult to obtain homogeneous mosaics.
https://flic.kr/p/siAvb9
https://flic.kr/p/siNcki
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105035663@N07/17266669675/sizes/o/
All the MASTcam L images of Sol 964 stitched together.
Jan van Driel
My take on the lovely view of sol 952:
https://flic.kr/p/s1w3eD
Stunning!
Phil
Sol 967 Right NavCam half-pan:
http://imgur.com/9Cz8BKq
Wow. What an amazingly photogenic area. And Oppy is in one too. A real feast for the Mars-scape aesthetes out there ATM.
P
The sand (or dust) "sea" looks a bit "choppy" there.
Sol 967 NRB update:
http://imgur.com/hiP1zm1
Thanks, Gerald - here is a circular reprojection of it. Presumably these outcrops in front of us are Logan's Run... I confess I can't quite see what is so special about the area, but what do I know?
Phil
From http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1803:
I get that... but why divert to Logan's Run rather than go straight to Logan Pass? It looks like it exposes less rather than more.
Phil
Just a wild guess: maybe they judged an outcrop to be more likely to be reachable by in-situ instruments?
Heres a crosseye for a section of those great http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00952/0952ML0041900030403409E01_DXXX.html pancam views. and a fun section of the recent http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00828/0828ML0036350660401240E01_DXXX.html downlinks as well
Yes... the new USGS blog gives us the details. I'm hoping for one of Fred Calef's nice maps annotated with placenames to give me some more certainty about other names.
Phil
"You may not have to wait too long, Fred has been tweeting....."
Excellent, thanks! Just using that I have been able to fix and add to my map, so there is an updated route map today.
Phil
Another Sol967 NavCam anaglyph, showing how stoney it is around here. Hopefully lots of soft sandy soil to push them into.
With reference to post #626, I noticed that the right 55% or so of the image is predominantly sand and the left mostly stoney.
I kind of assumed that it was to do with the prominance of the rocky outcrops catching wind blown grains, and therefore defining some sort of boundary, would this be correct?
..you probably mean http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=7988&view=findpost&p=219864? if so id assume the opposite cause, sand dunes likely indicating the prevailing wind patterns with the leeward side of the ridge where the sand collects atop the otherwise similar stony terrain sourced from the windy side where it is blown relatively quickly off of over to the leeward side. in any case the question remains how long has it taken for this to accumulate?
sol 969, 6x3 R-MastCam mosaic of a section of the "Mt. Shields" outcrop.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17319160472/sizes/h/
This mosaic is mentioned in the latest USGS Mission Update "Sol 969-970: Studying Mt. Shields" http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sol-969-970-studying-mt-shields
A http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_delta#Sedimentary_structure of a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_delta#Gilbert_deltas?
Possible, but there are several depositional environments that can have inclined bedding. This is just an isolated small outcrop. I'd probably want to see more of the package (e.g., a complete sandwich including horizontal topset beds on top and bottomset beds underneath) before arriving at such a hypothesis.
dburt
Pebble going for a ride:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00971/mhli/0971MH0002620000304268E01_DXXX.jpg
Partial left navcam pano of the arrival at the Mt Shields outcrop.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17329445545/sizes/l/
Reminds me of Spirit in Eagle Crater .
Fred,
it took me a couple of seconds, but that was pretty funny....
The way things are turning out, I think it would be more likely to see Opportunity in Gusev Crater.... where it could nudge Spirit back into life, and then they can travel to Eagle Crater together.
Who's on Home Plate?
Delicate layering at Mt Shields - sol 971 L-MastCam
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16716738643/sizes/l/
USGS Curiosity Mission Update from Ken Herkenhoff :http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sol-973-975-albert-bigfork-and-charity
Drive direction? mast camera mosaic looking SSE, sol 971. Maybe for when they finish up at Mt Shields?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17131740547/sizes/h/
A circular view of the current location on sol 971, from Jan's panorama.
Phil
Locations identified for 2 of the recent ChemCam-RMI targets at Mt Shields (R-MastCam 969, RMI's 970 & 971)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17339999801/sizes/l/
Here 2 last our anaphyphs
sol 964
https://flic.kr/p/sjToow
and sol 969
https://flic.kr/p/spDium
Those layers "look" extremely delicate.
Amateur Question: Would the arm or turret ever be used to try and break some of these rock layers (maybe by preloading the drill against it, for example)? Would there be any science gained from such an action (maybe to see the inside of a rock or measure shear strength)?
Just wondering, thanks.
Absolutely not the arm! It's full of delicate equipment. But the wheels sometimes break rocks as they drive over them (Curiosity in Yellowknife Bay at Snake, for instance, or Opportunity at Pinnacle Island) and sometimes it's even done deliberately to create a fresh surface for analysis.
Phil
ChemCam-RMI target from sol 973. I'm not sure if it is http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sol-973-975-albert-bigfork-and-charity
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/16729155623/sizes/l/
It must be Charity, because according to the USGS blog Albert will be the site of DRT brushing later... and they would never brush that flimsy thing.
Phil
Sol 953 R-MastCam, raw and stretched versions.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17352697931/sizes/h/
Full size https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17352697931/sizes/o/
Some of the crêpe-like laminae have also been beneath the rover on Sol 972, here a http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00972/mrdi/0972MD0003830000103699E01_DXXX.jpg image processed by "dust-decoating", color modification (applying color-correction for Mastcam images), and linearization (squaring raw color values) :
http://imgur.com/xLnVI95
Some MC34 and MC100 mosaics of Artist's Drive valley which were downloaded lately:
North side of Artist's Drive valley with MC100 and MC34 on sol 950:
https://flic.kr/p/s89YpL https://flic.kr/p/spLNAM
Southeast side of Artist's Drive valley with MC34 on sol 950:
https://flic.kr/p/rtTZP6
Northwest side of Artist's Drive valley with MC34 on sol 951:
https://flic.kr/p/sornNW
Tucki Mountain on southeast side of Artist's Valley with MC34 on sol 951:
https://flic.kr/p/sqQ6u4
Telescopic RMI imaging the distant target named 'Empire'
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17174273879/sizes/o/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17174273879/sizes/o/
Roughly stitched overlapping MAHLI's from sol 974 (Mt Shields)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17154611327/sizes/o/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/105796482@N04/17154611327/sizes/o/
This is the location of Empire on a Navcam frame - it is south east of the rover.
Phil
An anaglyph from two focus merged MAHLI images from Sol974
Panorama of the base of Mt Sharp and Grey Wolf Peak taken with MC100 on sol 952:
https://flic.kr/p/srHe2T
A close-up on the hills and canyons of Mt Sharp. I'm looking forward to see Curiosity driving in this region!
https://flic.kr/p/sqKq8C
Hopefully the wheels can make it
Dave
Martian sky color has be much discussed here in dozens if not hundreds of threads and you can find out a lot by searching and reading. Orange is usual--close to what we would see if there--blue shows up in color stretched images and some sunsets. Skies are only blue on Mars if you are in a spacecraft above a high percentage of the atmosphere...
USGS Curiosity Mission Update from Ken Herkenhoff http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sols-976-977-onward-to-jocko-butte
As fragile as the laminae look from a distance, they seem to be much more abrasion resistant than the soft rock at Pahrump: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00975/mhli/0975MH0004760010304378C00_DXXX.jpg.
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