Robot Arm - Observations and Excavations |
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Robot Arm - Observations and Excavations |
 May 30 2008, 05:15 AM
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#1
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 Member  Group: Members Posts: 290 Joined: 29-December 05 From: Ottawa, ON Member No.: 624  |
Tricky to line up the two RAC images but here is my attempt.
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May 30 2008, 06:26 AM
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#2
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 4 Joined: 7-July 04 Member No.: 92 |
Any idea what the long spiral looking object (lower left) next to the landing pad is?
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May 30 2008, 06:48 AM
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#3
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Member Group: Members Posts: 290 Joined: 29-December 05 From: Ottawa, ON Member No.: 624 |
I was wondering that when I stitched the images together, and the first thing that came to mind was Khan's pet ear wig . . .
It is out of sight from the SOL 1 footpad image and nearly beneath the lander, but by the surrounding soil, it looks like it fell from the lander. The resoltion of the RAC is only 256 X 512 so we need to creep lower for a better look. |
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May 30 2008, 07:51 AM
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#4
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
EGD had a go at this in the Sol 3+ thread, I'm kicking of an RAC lander-imaging thread with my own attemt.
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May 30 2008, 07:54 AM
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#5
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
If I had to guess what it was - I'd say something to do with...
-Biobarrier deployment -SSI deployment -Helium vent valve -RA deployment -Met deployment If I had to pick one - Helium vent valve. |
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May 31 2008, 03:47 AM
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#6
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 345 Joined: 2-May 05 Member No.: 372 |
Sure looks like ice to me: http://fawkes3.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?...1018&cID=26
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May 31 2008, 04:18 AM
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#7
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 Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 39 Joined: 26-May 08 From: Ottawa, Canada Member No.: 4139 |
QUOTE (um3k @ May 30 2008, 11:47 PM)  Sure looks like ice to me: http://fawkes3.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?...1018&cID=26 Looks more like a ice hockey pond !  
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May 31 2008, 04:57 AM
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#8
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Could be ancient duricrust, buried under a more recent dust/soil layer.
Could be pavement-flattened rocks of the type we see in Meridiani, again underlying a more recent dust/soil layer. No. What am I thinking? It's ice. It just looks *obviously* like ice. Maybe not a perfect layer of water ice, but at the very least a good, solid permafrost layer. Looks like we'll need to burr some of that out, doesn't it? Looks really, really hard to me. BTW -- is there a danger of significant sublimation of exposed water ice at these pressures and temperatures? I'd hate to see the cleared permafrost layer under the lander sublimate out into a nice little Phoenix-gobbling sinkhole...  -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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May 31 2008, 05:35 AM
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#9
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 Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
QUOTE (um3k @ May 30 2008, 07:47 PM) Sure looks like ice to me: http://fawkes3.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?...1018&cID=26 Holy cow, where's that swear jar? This is the mission that keeps on giving. -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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May 31 2008, 05:40 AM
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#10
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
QUOTE (dvandorn @ May 30 2008, 08:57 PM) BTW -- is there a danger of significant sublimation of exposed water ice at these pressures and temperatures? I'd hate to see the cleared permafrost layer under the lander sublimate out into a nice little Phoenix-gobbling sinkhole... Dang I was thinking that same thing just as I read your post. Probably not, since the blanket of dust and sand that has been keeping it all in place for eons would soon be replaced. If the patches under the lander started to slump they would gather nearby sand and dust. It would be covered before any significant slumping reached as far as the foot pads - I suspect. But it's a darn interesting thought to ponder. -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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May 31 2008, 05:51 AM
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#11
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2173 Joined: 28-December 04 From: Florida, USA Member No.: 132 |
QUOTE (ElkGroveDan @ May 31 2008, 12:40 AM) But it's a darn interesting thought to ponder. If that is exposed ice, what a time lapse movie that could make, watching its evolution over several months. |
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May 31 2008, 06:24 AM
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#12
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 691 Joined: 21-December 07 From: Clatskanie, Oregon Member No.: 3988 |
OMFG Im gonna need that swear jar now
 .It looks like the phoenix website was hacked. EDIT: Now its back to normal, it said that it was hacked by vital. |
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May 31 2008, 08:36 AM
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#13
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
The arm can't get to THAT Ice, the 'upper arm' is probably longer than the height from where the arm meets the deck to ground. But - you can see that where the dust blew away - it's everywhere. 5cm of soil, then ice. As they predicted (maybe
 )Doug |
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May 31 2008, 08:59 AM
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#14
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Member Group: Members Posts: 290 Joined: 26-March 04 From: Edam, The Netherlands Member No.: 65 |
QUOTE (dvandorn @ May 31 2008, 05:57 AM) BTW -- is there a danger of significant sublimation of exposed water ice at these pressures and temperatures? I'd hate to see the cleared permafrost layer under the lander sublimate out into a nice little Phoenix-gobbling sinkhole... -the other Doug Could be a danger. Another one. If it's ice: could the heat that the lander collects from sun radiation during daytime melt the ice under it's footpads ? ....slowly sinking in ? For rocks it doesn't seem to happen, the exposed surface of the whole lander (and the energy it collects) concentrates on quite small footpads though  |
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May 31 2008, 11:15 AM
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#15
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
Couple of RAC obs.
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