Home Plate Speculations, Get it in now, before we know the truth! Options

[RNeuhaus]

It might well have been, but that is completely irrelevant to whether Gusev has been filled with mud or not. Any water in the impactor is instantly turned into (very) superheated steam on impact and most of it is dispersed at hypersonic speed. Any mud in the crater would be due to either (1) melting of permafrost by the impact, (2) groundwater, (3) discharge from the Ma'adim valley or (4) rain.

tty

I appreciate your comments since they are good ones! This topic is becoming very interesting since nobody are VERY sure about the origin of HP.



Rodolfo

[Guest_Richard Trigaux_*]

What do you think, you all, that Homeplate is a fosilized cricket ground? or a former Commonwealth colony? Please tell it aloud, not by allusion!

It is since permitted, so long that we don't know what Homeplate really is... a french petanque ground.

PRRRT

Hahahaha


By the way, this is only a friendly joke, I have nothing against english people. I live in a little integrated town, with all kind of people, French, English, and we have no racial problems

[Shaka]

What do you think, you all, that Homeplate is a fosilized cricket ground? or a former Commonwealth colony? Please tell it aloud, not by allusion!

It is since permitted, so long that we don't know what Homeplate really is... a french petanque ground.

hehehehehe.....my lips are sealed...
O.K. Reeshard, I assume this is your final official guess for the HP Sweepstakes: "a petanque ground" (whatever in God's green earth that might be)
By the way, I've heard a rumor that the Grand Prize is a trip for two to France .
Not bad, eh?

[Bill Harris]

This is wild... I was reviewing recent imagery, and saw a rind (exfoliation?) in one of the Spirit images. Near the lower side.

--Bill

[CosmicRocker]

OMG! That whole thing went right over my head. Thank goodness "/english humour" was posted with a leading slash. Otherwise my head might not be here today to enjoy the aftermath. I'll never cease to be amazed by the interplay of languages here.

[Bob Shaw]

This is wild... I was reviewing recent imagery, and saw a rind (exfoliation?) in one of the Spirit images.  Near the lower side.

--Bill

Bill:

Oh, for a brush...

Bob Shaw

[alan]

The of edge Homeplate is visible. Speculations anyone?

[aldo12xu]

Well, it looks too rough textured to be, say, a lacustrine sediment. In my opinion, the majority of the exposure has a volcanic appearance to it. But there is some hint of layering, so maybe there's a volcanic ash airfall component to the unit.

[Guest_Richard Trigaux_*]

The of edge Homeplate is visible.  Speculations anyone?

hmmmmm... it looks like anything else here. Maybe it's just a volcanic ash layer. Pity, I think everybody expected something more exotic.

But wait for analysis of rock.

Maybe also this image is not in the same wavelength than the orbital image, so it appears here the same colour than other rocks, when on orbital images it appears white.

[atomoid]

yup, that picture uses the "R1" 739nm filter, so the white doesnt show up.

Here's the unfiltered navcam image of the same area, the above R1 image is the area right below and to the left of the white mound, and shows the same isolated rock at its left side (topmost large rock), and you can see how white the dust pan above it is in the unfiltered image but the layer in question doesnt show up as white, so i dont think that line of strata is really part of the white part of the homeplate, its probably an older layer below it.

Are we actually seeing into the bowels of homeplate or are we looking up onto its slope? (i dont have my anaglyphs)

In any event you can compare the unfiltered white chalky mound to the same "R1" filter's lifeless rendition of it.

[Bob Shaw]

As ever, the closer we get to something the less we see the structures and only the surface rocks!

Try these images for orientation - we're looking *up* one of the slopes in the Pancam image above. There's bedding, there's textural changes, there's also much more of a cohesive feel now to the whole area, right from HP through Baby Mound and up to Pitcher's Mound. We really need to get a bit closer, and see some outcrops...

...the good news is, sandtraps excepted, it all looks as though it could be driven over!

Bob Shaw

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[Marz]

Well, it looks too rough textured to be, say, a lacustrine sediment.  In my opinion, the majority of the exposure has a volcanic appearance to it.  But there is some hint of layering, so maybe there's a volcanic ash airfall component to the unit.

The ashfall layer is very likely, but it's still strange that it's so contained in a restricted area. There are outcrops that may be the same unit on Ramon, but maybe the ash has been modified.

Just one crackpot idea before reality clonks me on the head (again): since it almost resembled an exhumed crater and a layer of ash, maybe it's a little of both? Perhaps something like a small comet fragment hit a layer of sultate-rich ash. The ice and energy from the comet was just enough to fuse it into a wind-resistant layer that we now see?

I guess 100m will take a few more Sols to reach, but I'm already holding my breath.

[Shaka]

Dam' How can something look so prominent from orbit, and so underwhelming close up? The guys over in the yellow forum don't even see it; they're looking off in the wrong direction.
Where's our big white Plate? Big Black Rock Redux There is a white layer - not very thick - 10cm? Hey Dilo, Caro, How thick is the white layer and the whole structure?

[Bill Harris]

There is a simple explanation for the lack of tonal contrasts in these initial Homeplate Pancam images: They are taken with L7 and R1, which are at 430 microns (UV-ish). I'd expect a reddish feature like Homeplate to look a bit bland.

I'd suspect that a proper L257 or L456 will look better.

--Bill

[dvandorn]

Guys -- if you compare the pancam image in which alan declares that the edge of Home Plate is visible, to the navcam locator image linked by atomoid, you'll see that the white ring structure is not at all visible in the pancam image.

The flat sand patch with the bent rock that points to the left is identifiable in both images. When you then compare the two images, you see that the entire field of view of the pancam image lies below the visible portion of Home Plate's white ring. We're looking up the outer slope of the "inner rim" around the white ring. This inner rim obscures the white ring from Spirit's present vantage point.

So, there's your answer -- the white ring isn't visible in the frame!

-the other Doug