Traversing the Clay-Bearing Unit Along the Base of VRR, Site 73-79, sol 2297-2695, 22 Jan 2019-3 Mar 2020 Options

[vikingmars]

Actually, and based on MPF cloud images taken before sunrise, the color view should look like this.
Enjoy :

[atomoid]

These have to be some of the most stunning Martian clouds observed to date.
I dissembled jccwrt's original stitch animation and repurposed the first/last frames as a crosseye/anaglyph revealing a fairly weak though still interesting stereo effect (i dont have anaglyph glasses to test it out but posted one anyways since it might be enjoyable to those who do have glasses and the crosseye method can be eyestrain inducive it seems few bother to try it out)
EDIT: attached a very scaled down parellel version rightmost fwiw.

[PaulH51]

These have to be some of the most stunning Martian clouds observed to date.

Love all of these...
Any thoughts / estimates / wild guesses for the altitude of these wispy clouds?

What are the odds that they were captured by the Mars Webcam (VMC)? I've seen some clouds captured on the limb that appeared to be at an extremely high altitude

[ngunn]

These are truly magnificent cloudscapes, and the 3D version does appear to show features at different levels. In particular there are sheets of cirrocumulus that look lower than the streaks of cirrus proper, most evident at the upper left of the images. There is always the risk that wind shear makes time an unreliable proxy for horizontal image separation but I am tempted to believe there are at least two layers of cloud present here.

Use of the term noctilucent cloud also raises interesting questions about atmospheric opacity, thermal structure and so on. On Earth there is a clear bimodal distribution in height separating tropospheric from mesospheric clouds with the latter appearing in very much darker skies. Nevertheless ordinary cirrus clouds high in the troposphere can also be spectacularly highlighted during twilight. How all this works in other atmospheres (Mars/Venus/Titan) would make the subject of a very interesting Planetary Society-style article.

[PaulH51]

These are truly magnificent cloudscapes....

Could not agree more

I was also hoping InSight would have been pointing its IDC camera south at the same time, but we've not seen any images on the landers image server since those acquired on May 16, 2019. Fingers crossed it's just a comes or server issue that will be resolved soon

[jvandriel]

The Navcam L view on Sol 2413.

Jan van Driel

[Phil Stooke]

What a great view that is! Here is a circular version.

Phil

[PaulH51]

The next drill site? Reached after a short drive on sol 2414

[atomoid]

Brief but new NASA Mt Sharp flyover animation showing our current location and the prospective route ahead winding through the clay unit and on up Gediz Vallis Channel

[charborob]

Sol 2413 Lmastcam:

[Steve G]

Brief but new NASA Mt Sharp flyover animation showing our current location and the prospective route ahead winding through the clay unit and on up Gediz Vallis Channel

I'm pleased to see that going up Mount Sharp is still in the plans. It's taking a lot longer than what I thought it would originally and I think it will be well worth the wait. Amazing science so far.

[jvandriel]

The Navcam L view on Sol 2414.

Jan van Driel

[charborob]

Sol 2413 Lmastcam view of the top of VRR:

[serpens]

The attempt to find a drill friendly, high potassium outcrop seems to have failed with the potassium enrichment apparently localised. Curiosity has previously discovered a number of localities with potassium content well above the Martian average and this has been impressively researched and analysed in the following link:
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...02/2016JE005055

[Sean]

Woah... 64m drive reported. Is that a record?