Comanche Options

[alan]

Spirit has arrived at Comanche

[mhoward]

I wonder if we'll complete the approach this weekend. Anybody know yet?

[Bill Harris]

I'm looking at Comanche as being a preview of Homeplate/FirstBase. It seems to me that the light-colored pavement-forming unit is the same as Homeplate and the reddish Comanche is the same as the cap-forming unit of FirstBase. Remember that one of the maps of the Inner Basin early in the mission had zones of "layered deposits" identified.

We'll know soon.

--Bill

[dilo]

What a view!

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[john_s]

What a view!

Yes, that's maybe the most scenic vista I've seen from Spirit (Larry's Lookout came close). Ansel Adams would approve.

[Mizar]

Hi... a newbie here...
This is an another amazing image.
The Comanche outcrop rise up in front of us as a giant monument,
to show us via the great explorer Spirit what this terrain had to offer.
In the background, the inspiring El Dorado aka Ultreya.

[lyford]

Wait a minute... what's that over there between the outcrops?!?!?

Does this mean Spirit will be making gunpowder with the RAT?

Seriously, MOST awesome - I even like it better that the top of the hill shot in some ways. Can't wait to get home and try the 3D glasses!

edit- doh - meant to post this over here, sorry. Doesn't make as much sense in this thread.

NIX, dilo, mhoward, et alii - great work

[Nix]

What a great chunk of rock!


Comanche_crop of anaglyph mosaic -sol 693

Nico

[Bill Harris]

Wondrous! Thwack it with the IDD ASAP. I see fine laminations... sedimentary or clastic?

As I've mentioned I think we'll find that many of these "layered outcrops" are on the same page, stratigraphically.

I've taken the Sol 671-675 panorama by mhoward, leveled the horizon and drew what what I presume to be be horizontal lines between outcrops. It seems that these outcrops are at the same elevation. FWIW, I might be in left field or up the creek since it's difficult to eyeball "level".

--Bill

[SFJCody]

Wow! Look at the texture of this thing! Almost like a coarse sandstone or something.
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/pa...E1P2421L2M1.JPG

[Nix]

sol 694_Comanche L257 false-color

Spirit, show us what this basin is made of!

Nico

[edstrick]

Heh...Nix posted a version of the Comanche pic while I was assembling one, and two others....

I ran extra edge sharpening on that pic, so I brought out too much of the @#$@ CCD texture.

The other two pics are from two days ago.

2P187706697EFFAJ2EP2416L2M1_25.jpg is misc rocks in the vicinity of the last stop. It's a band 2 and 5 composite, band 7 was too much missing to fiddle with. Part of the band 5 frame <lower right> was missing, so I copied it from the band 2 frame and matched brightnesses. There's no color there, but it's cosmetically acceptible rather than a giant magenta or other colored patch.

2P187619161EFFAJY0P2575L2M1_257.jpg is the rat-brushed target on the last outcrop. *STRANGE* texture on that rock.

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[dilo]

Sol694 detail (3 PanCam R2 shots):

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[mars loon]

Spirit has arrived at Comanche 

WOW, that is beautiful all around. Great idea for a seperate thread

Marco, please add that frame to the right

Nico, can you please make an anaglyph from Alan/Dilo pan and a bit brighter please

These have a story to tell for presentations. Steve showed a slide of the approach to Comanche at the Hayden this week.

[Bill Harris]

These images will thrill and captivate you.

From the most recent Pancam imagery from Exploratorium, pair of x-eyed stereo pairs of Comanche. One is full-frame, the other is cropped.

--Bill

[mars loon]

These images will thrill and captivate you.

They are beautiful

This Sol 694 hazcam also inspires

[gpurcell]

Looks a bit like Pot-of-Gold.

[dilo]

Thanks Bill!

[Nix]

Marco, please add that frame to the right

Nico, can you please make an anaglyph from Alan/Dilo pan and a bit brighter please

These have a story to tell for presentations.  Steve showed a slide of the approach to Comanche at the Hayden this week.

Comanche, sol 694 Navcam anaglyph

Nico

[ustrax]

'Thank you very nice' Nico!
As with Doug's anaglyph we can see that behind Comanche the terrain descents abruptaly...If you compare the distance to Gusev's floor from the patch of terrain right aside Comanche and the one where the dark sand rules there's is a great difference over there...It looks like El Dorado is divided in three diferent areas, the dark sand unit, a more homogenous area with almost no boulders in it and, closer to Comanche a depression with more irregular terrain...

[edstrick]

These are from the approach to Comanche, not of Comanche itself, but check out the layering in one of these rockpiles!

Also.. the remarkably even sizes of rockchips in this soil area across one of those straight "cracks" (no shadows in this image so the automatic contrast stretch of the raws is pretty extreme).

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[edstrick]

There's some pretty wild layering in one of the loose rocks in one of these, while the boulderish outcrop in the other is pretty massive, except for some very coarse separation layers running across the image.

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[jvandriel]

Here is the complete 360 degree panoramic view at Comanche.( Great view )

Taken with the L0 navcam on Sol 694.

Jvandriel

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[Nix]

that IS a great view!

Nico

[Tesheiner]

I'm not a geologist, but imho the rock outcrop Spirit is located extends left and right through the whole basin.

(294k)

[ustrax]

In position...

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/fo...FFP1214L0M1.JPG

Impressive...Comanche...

[RNeuhaus]

Uhhh, what impressive climbing, the rover driver has already mastered in scaling rocks: Rock Crawler!!! I haven't tought that the rover driver will even do that!

As I have heard that the tip of Comanche is about 2:50 meters or not? If it is true, the Spirit has rocked up to 2.00 meters high?

Rodolfo

[Bill Harris]

I'm not a geologist, but imho the rock outcrop Spirit is located extends left and right through the whole basin.

I agree, that outcrop does seem to lay at the same elevation throughout the Inner Basin.

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=1854#


Whew, that _is_ some fancy driving!

--Bill

[Toma B]

Beautifull wiew of Comanche and ultreya...




Stiched in Autostich...

[Bob Shaw]

Beautifull wiew of Comanche and ultreya... 




Stiched in Autostich...

That looks like a big, dark dune ahead - look at the straight crest. Seems like it's a gathering place for sand in the lee of the hills...

Bob Shaw

[mhoward]

[mars loon]

Comanche, sol 694 Navcam anaglyph

Nico

That is beautiful

[odave]

Just before lunch, I was about to post a request for tips on viewing the cross-eyed images (which I have trouble with) but decided not to. Then I went out and finished up my Xmas shopping, one of the items being the "Barbie:Magic of Pegasus" DVD. Lo and behold, on the back of the DVD it announced that included were four pairs of 3D glasses! I hope my daughter doesn't mind that Santa nicked a pair for Mars viewing

That sure is some tasty stuff in front of Spirit, figure she'll spend the holidays parked here?

[mhoward]

I hope my daughter doesn't mind that Santa nicked a pair for Mars viewing 

If you need to explain the links between Santa and Mars, you could start here (that'd be sure to confuse things...)

Back on topic: I hope they stay here long enough to find out whatever they need to find out. I have no idea what we are looking at.

[Sacha Martinetti...]

About Nix's anaglyph

That is beautiful

Me too.

I'm a collector of astronomic anaglyphs, and practice myself (earth subjects ) with a standard NPC.
That's a beauty. Really great. Many thanks to you.

[odave]

Here's what I get for raiding my kid's Christmas present. The 3D glasses from the DVD are princess-pink with horsies on the side and a Barbie logo smack dab in the middle of the bridge:




The guys at the shop say I look faaaabulous in them

Hey, anything for my Mars fix!

[CosmicRocker]

Get youself a nice pair of Proview glasses here:
http://www.rainbowsymphony.com/

You may not look as fabulous, but you'll see fabulously. Hehe, to what extent we go to get our Mars fix. Their website is a mess, but I have been very pleased with my clip-ons.

[dilo]

A stitch of two Sol693 PanCam..

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[deglr6328]

Get youself a nice pair of Proview glasses here:
http://www.rainbowsymphony.com/

You may not look as fabulous, but you'll see fabulously.  Hehe, to what extent we go to get our Mars fix.  Their website is a mess, but I have been very pleased with my clip-ons.

Holy crap! I mean, the profit from stoners alone....! Why don't I think of these things?!

[dilo]

A stitch of two Sol693 PanCam..

And a complex NavCam panorama from Sol697 (note ElDorado in the background)

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[Gonzz]

I raided mine from the Spy Kids DVD! they look kind of cardboard high-techy.

But they don't look half as nice as the barbie ones

[MaxSt]

Mine are from Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.

Anyone have real 3D grasses, not anaglyph?

[Tesheiner]

Just playing around with those last deck navcams from sol 698...

(307k)

[AndyG]

Just playing around with those last deck navcams from sol 698...

May I be the first to coin the phrase: veneravision? ;-)

Andy G

[mhoward]

MMB doesn't do very well close to the rover, but here is a crude MMB perspective view anyway:

[ustrax]

MMB doesn't do very well close to the rover, but here is a crude MMB perspective view anyway:

I'm not capable of seing your images mhoward...Does someone have the same problem?...

First MI are up:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/mi...ger/2005-12-20/

[mars loon]

About Nix's anaglyph
Me too.

I'm a collector of astronomic anaglyphs, and practice myself (earth subjects ) with a standard NPC.
That's a beauty. Really great. Many thanks to you.

While updating my 3D Mars lecture, I just came across this 3D done earlier by Nico.
An overheard view of the landing site, very pertinent to the current discussion with excellent view of El Dorado, Home Plate etc

Try those Barbie and Sports Illustrated 3D glasses below

And compare it for context to Ustrax's/General's labeled map and the JPL labeled maps at these links

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...pe=post&id=2878
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v352/ustrax/eldmap.jpg
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/tm-...MERA_A688_2.jpg

[mhoward]

I'm not capable of seing your images mhoward...Does someone have the same problem?...

Ustrax: I put my images on Flickr. Can you get to the site? If this is a problem for other people I'll consider hosting them somewhere else.

[Tesheiner]

Here's what I get for raiding my kid's Christmas present.  The 3D glasses from the DVD are princess-pink with horsies on the side and a Barbie logo smack dab in the middle of the bridge:




The guys at the shop say I look faaaabulous in them 

Hey, anything for my Mars fix!

LOL!!!

You could post a photo of yourself with a blond wig and the glasses.

[ustrax]

Ustrax: I put my images on Flickr. Can you get to the site? If this is a problem for other people I'll consider hosting them somewhere else.

mhoward, I can access the site but the images don't show up in any size at all, but probably is just temporary, yesterday was working fine...

[odave]

You could post a photo of yourself with a blond wig and the glasses.     

...some things are best left to the imagination, trust me

[Marz]

If the rocks of the inner basin have a higher abundance of olivine, then this implies less water-modification. What, then, is the mineral filling the vein in Comanche?

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/na...FFP0223L0M1.JPG

I've never seen basalt shocket with quarz before. Any guesses?

[Airbag]

Quite an interesting item behind Spirit; looks like she drove right over it on the way to Commanche:

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/na...FFP1979R0M1.JPG

It appears to be somewhat shallow bowl shaped (especially in an anaglyph) with a darker rim and a lighter "filling", but that may be a trick of the light. Or is it just a loose piece of rock disturbed by Spirit's passage; either way, the darker rim seems different.

Airbag

[ustrax]

mhoward, I can access the site but the images don't show up in any size at all, but probably is just temporary, yesterday was working fine...

Working just fine now...Great images mhoward!
Let me return to that 3D Comanche!

[dilo]

Again on deck navcams from sol 697/8: polar and vertical projection...

[CosmicRocker]

Mine are from Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. 

Anyone have real 3D grasses, not anaglyph?

Hehe, I don't have "real" 3D glasses, but I'll never part with my X-ray vision glasses, purchased via an advertisement in the back of a 1950's era edition of Boy's Life magazine.

While updating my 3D Mars lecture, I just came across this 3D done earlier by Nico. 
An overheard view of the landing site, very pertinent to the current discussion with excellent view of El Dorado, Home Plate etc
...

Nico is an anaglyph wizard, and his anaglyph of the Columbia Hills is awesome. I found it several months ago while I was exploring his site and saved a copy to my reference library because it was so useful to me. It's a keeper.

[Nix]

Glad you like the anaglyph! If I find the time besides colorpans, I'll check some other orbital anaglyphs I have been meaning to do.

Meanwhile, don't forget this guy's site - wonderfully crisp & bright anaglyphs from Spirit, Oppy, MEX, MOC, ...

Mars Unearthed

Nico

[jvandriel]

Spirit working on Comanche.

A panoramic view taken on Sol 698 with the R0 navcam.

jvandriel

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[mars loon]

Glad you like the anaglyph! If I find the time besides colorpans, I'll check some other orbital anaglyphs I have been meaning to do.

Meanwhile, don't forget this guy's site - wonderfully crisp & bright anaglyphs from Spirit, Oppy, MEX, MOC, ...

Mars Unearthed

Nico

Hi Nico,

yes. I also visit the excellent marsunearthed site.

Mars Unearthed

lots of awesome stuff, also on Cassini

and, at least in the past, as I just now recall, he will even send you a pair of 3D glasses with his LOGO !! they look cool

check it out

My experience is that the audience really responds to 3D images. So I've created a seperate 3D presentation and its been relatively easy to entice the schools and clubs, etc to purchase the inexpensive paper anaglyph glasses for the audience.

when you see people reaching for the screen to touch spirit and oppy, it feels good

ken

[jvandriel]

How about this one.

Spirit working on Comanche. Taken on Sol 697- 698 with the R0 navcam.

jvandriel

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[Phil Stooke]

Dilo - nice polar and vertical views.

I'd like to suggest something. Will you make this pair of views for each panorama location on the descent down the hill, and then I will try to mosaic them into a map of the area, as an experiment? The projections might require a guess at the local slope to improve them.

Phil

[Reckless]

A Comanche MI stitch
Reckless

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[Nix]

A lot of small detail.

Thanks reckless, nice mosaic.

Nico

[Astro0]

Hi everyone.
First time posting for me.
Been reading UMSF for a while now and amazed by the work done by many of you.
Can't go without a daily dose of Mars Rovers.

Here's a small contribution from me.
Not sure on the correct scale, but a feel for how Spirit may look at Comanche.
Hope you enjoy.

Astro0

[dilo]

Very nice, Astro0!
Not so distant from official simulations...

[dilo]

Dilo - nice polar and vertical views.

I'd like to suggest something.  Will you make this pair of views for each panorama location on the descent down the hill, and then I will try to mosaic them into a map of the area, as an experiment?  The projections might require a guess at the local slope to improve them.

Phil

Phil, I guess you want to make an atlas like the one you'r building for Opportunity... it would be nice! I will try to make further projections going back (some of them are already published). About slope, this is a foundamental issue: usually, I change orientation of my projections in order to have acircular far horizon in Polar version ("absolute" orientation) and roughly local slope for Vertical version (based on Rover aspect and/or tracks).

[mhoward]

From Sol 695:

[CosmicRocker]

jvandriel: Nice work. That's a perspective we don't often get to see.

Astro0: Thanks for that. The colors look pretty good to me, and it's always nice to see work by new people.

[jvandriel]

Spirit looking back at Husband Hill and Haskin Ridge.

Taken with the L0 navcam on Sol 699.

jvandriel

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[alan]

panorama of Comanche from sol 698

[mhoward]

Nice mosaic. FWIW, here is the Navcam context, plus some L257 false-color of Ultreya/El Dorado:

[jvandriel]

Here are some pancam L2 panoramic views of Comanche.

The first one from Sol 695.

jvandriel

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[jvandriel]

and the second one from Sol 698.

jvandriel

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[Shaka]

Aloha!
I couldn't help noticing some 'reflection highlights' on the surface of Comanche where it has been brushed clear of dust. These white vertical line 'glints' appear in a number of the MI views released on Exploratorium on 21 and 22 December. I don't remember seeing them before on Mars rock surfaces, only on metallic parts of the MERs themselves. Does this suggest an unusual crystalline or metallic component of Comanche? Steverino didn't mention them in his latest epistle, though he did say the rock was "different". Has anyone seen them before? Can any geologists explain them?

[Bill Harris]

Yep, them be sparklies. They are unusual here since the rock surfaces are either dusty or "sandblasted". Usually a strong reflection occurs from a fresh crystal face. I'll note that the reflective areas in these two images are locaed on the lighter "salt deposit" part of the rock and not on the (apparently) dusty side.

FWIW; we'll look more later...

--Bill

[CosmicRocker]

I noticed them, too. I think Bill is correct. We've occasionally seen these things in previous MIs and even other cameras. My best guess is that these are specular reflections from shiny surfaces, quite possibly from some tiny crystal faces of the minerals comprising the rock.

If I had noticed such glints while inspecting a rock on earth with my hand-lens, I'd focus in on the spots to see if I could recognize the mineral.

[Shaka]

I noticed them, too. I think Bill is correct. We've occasionally seen these things in previous MIs and even other cameras. My best guess is that these are specular reflections from shiny surfaces, quite possibly from some tiny crystal faces of the minerals comprising the rock.

Would you see such "sparklies" in earth-bound basalts? Or are we seeing some kind of appended salt crystal?
Shame we can't 'rat' this sucker and get some fresh views. It could be a real Christmas decoration! I hope they TES it anyway, before we head for the "abyss"

[CosmicRocker]

If the light is right, you might expect to see specular reflections from almost any clean rock surface, since most are composed of the cemented grains of individual mineral crystals. I'd be surprized if this was a basalt, though.

It could be a salt crystal, but it could really be most any kind of crystal. There's no telling, and no way to know what it is with the instruments available on the rover. All we can know is that it is a flat, reflective surface that sent a ray of sunlight into lens of the camera.

[Bill Harris]

I doubt that the "crystal" is a salt. When I said "salt deposit" I meant more of an efflorescence, which I frequently see where mineralized phreatic water evaporating through a porous sandstone. I doubt that is happening here, but this was my first impression.

I've seen these strong mineral grain reflections many times, and this is puzzling to me since my mental image of Martian rocks is dusty and abraded and there _shouldn't _ be fresh surfaces. Nonetheless, they show up occasionally and I need to remove my blinders...

Once we know what the rock is we'll be able to make shrewd guesses as to what the crystal likely is.

--Bill

[abalone]

I doubt that the "crystal" is a salt.  .

I've seen these strong mineral grain reflections many times, and this is puzzling to me since my mental image of Martian rocks is dusty and abraded and there _shouldn't _  be fresh surfaces. 

Could be sapphires or rubies?, on Earth they are usually associated with basalts of some type. Unlikely but possible. More likely if not salts, to be rutile or ilmenite as some of the rocks are high in titanium and these are hard, weathering resistant minerals already identified in previous analysis I think??

[mhoward]

Pancam coverage to the northeast:



Happy Holidays!

[Phil Stooke]

I'm returning to this thread to add a few polar projections from the approach to Comanche. They are all derived from the always excellent panoramas of jvandriel. I especially like the large area of bright bedrock on sol 693.

This first one is sol 692, downhill from Miami.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

Here's sol 693. I really look forward to seeing detailed stratigraphic mapping of this area from stereo images. Hard to believe there's so much exposed bedrock.

Phil