[X] My Assistant

[JRehling]

Ondaweb, the Upper Mound seems to be less interesting, meter per meter, than the other 9 or so major units of Mt. Sharp in two respects. One, it appears to be more homogeneous. And two, as you allude to, it was formed in a later era relative to most of the mound (almost all or all), so it probably skips past the early pH-neutral era that MSL is really intended to probe.

Of course, some amazing surprise might wait near the top that we'll never know about, but that's always possible. So much to do, so little time.

[RoverDriver]

I felt some slight jtters about the software update, irrationally thinking back on the Spirit flash memory issue, but the excellent Sol 5 presser laid any doubts to rest. It will just be a couple of days with less observations, by which time I think we'll all be itching to go explore!

You know that the Spirit Sol 18 anomaly did not have anything to do with software update, right?

Paolo

[RoverDriver]

Think of it more like a change on user applications and libraries than of OS.

Actually it is more like wiping your hard drive clean and load a complete disk image, similar to what most large companies do when they provide a new workstation to employees. It is teh OS and all the applications, completely installed and configured.

Paolo

[dvandorn]

...the Upper Mound seems to be less interesting, meter per meter, than the other 9 or so major units of Mt. Sharp in two respects. One, it appears to be more homogeneous. And two, as you allude to, it was formed in a later era relative to most of the mound (almost all or all), so it probably skips past the early pH-neutral era that MSL is really intended to probe.

Very true, but a study of the Upper Mound may shed some light on how it was formed, which will give us a much better understanding of the formation of such features on Mars.

Granted, not as sexy as finding potential habitable conditions in the distant past, but still of great interest when it comes to understanding how Mars came to be the way it is today.

-the other Doug

[Errol Coder]

As long as Curiosity isn't attacked by feisty sandworms we'll be fine hehe

[CosmicRocker]

NASA is holding a media teleconference tomorrow (Tuesday) about Curiosity rover progress.

[Pete B.]

[quote name='Gladstoner' date='Aug 14 2012, 01:21 AM' post='188474']
I knew some of these landforms looked familiar....

I was at Delicate Arch a couple of months ago - saw it from the other side. Don't see this view too often.

[Tesheiner]

Actually it is more like wiping your hard drive clean and load a complete disk image, similar to what most large companies do when they provide a new workstation to employees. It is teh OS and all the applications, completely installed and configured.

Paolo

I stand corrected. I though that the vxWorks kernel was not affected.

[RoverDriver]

I stand corrected. I though that the vxWorks kernel was not affected.

You are correct, but vxWorks is modular and you can select which modules to include. You also can integrate your application with the OS and have a single image that is loaded at boot time.

Paolo

[Guest_Oersted_*]

You know that the Spirit Sol 18 anomaly did not have anything to do with software update, right?

Yes! - I was talking about a more diffuse fear... - In most accidents and disasters nowadays, software & human error are the cause rather than purely mechanical failures. Disaster was only narrowly avoided with Spirit, a physically 100% healthy rover that just needed to flush the flash...

In a way you can say that the problem was related to a software update problem, in that a software update was needed. But of course it had nothing to do with the actual process of updating. I am very confident in the robustness of the MSL update, as I wrote before, but I also think that I am not the only one feeling a bit queasy whenever something akin to "format C:/" is mentioned... Just an emotional reaction!

[Chmee]

Here is my take on the 'erosion' vs 'deformation' debate on the geologic history of Gale Crater. Without an outlet channel for water (i.e. northern crater walls are 2km high) I can't see how water could have eroded down crater bed. Wind could cause erosion, but I find it hard to believe that it could erode hundreds of cubic kilometers of material and does not explain the central peak.

Therefore I think 'deformation' is the more likely culprit. Here is my speculation:

1. Gale Crater Forms - Impact and bedrock underneath crater floor becomes fractured and full of voids (perhaps in a similar way that voids are found under the Yucatan peninsula from the Chicxulub crater), except for the central peak, because of rebound.
2. Water enters the voids (from northern ocean or sub-surface water) and helps 'support' overlaying crater floor.
3. Over time other material is deposited into crater bed, filling it up the rim.
4. Mars then 'dries up' and the water leaves the voids under the crater, removing the support and the crater bed then collapses/subsides. Except for the central peak, which did not have any voids underneath it and so it remains.
5. Later, some smaller amount of material is carried into the crater bed by sporadic water outflows and wind, thus 'smoothing' the crater floor.

As input for the discussion about the geology of Gale, (mods: Maybe a seperate thread for that discussion?) I've prepared a layman's graphic about the history of the crater as I understand it. I'm definitely no geologist, this is just my interpretation of what I've read uptill now. (mostly the Anderson and Bell paper) It is a necessary simplification and highly based on speculation and I definitely would welcome the (probably well-deserved) critique on it or any questions that might pop-up. What I find mind-boggling in any geological context is the sheer duration of the processes: 3.5 Billion years since the crater formed!

In the graphic, north is to the left, south to the right. The rover landed on the left side of the mount.

Grz,
Ludo.

[Edit: All the usual disclaimers: no, the graphic is not to scale, don't base any conclusions on it, etc., etc.]

[attachment=27494:Gale_Geology.png]

[Drkskywxlt]

Obviously Curiosity will be able to determine the role of water in Gale's history, but could any realistic result shed any light on the existence of the northern ocean (therefore as the source of Gale's water)? Large amounts of aqueous alteration in the "right" stratagraphic sequence? A deep layer of sedimentary rock that was likely driven by precipitation-forced erosion? I'd think any statement on the ocean from MSL will be fairly qualitative...thoughts?

[Ondaweb]

The Anderson article states "The rim of Gale Crater is dissected by fluvial channels, all of which flow into the crater with no obvious outlet." Upon reflection, this is an amazing statement. I can understand why water would have flown in from the north as part of the flow that creates all the channels to the northern basin. But for water to flow into Gale from the SOUTHERN rim would seem to imply that the putative northern ocean filled high enough to breach the southern wall and flow into Gale. But my memory of the putative "contacts" of the northern ocean doubts it reached s southern a latitude. If it did, then what we find in Gale could say a lot about the northern ocean.

Edit: Parker is the scientist who describes the "contacts" i.e., shorelines of the ancient oceans. I haven't found a map yet that shows whether Gale was at one of theses shorelines or not.

Edit2: at 4 degrees south, there is no way any northern ocean reached Gale.

[Phil Stooke]

"But for water to flow into Gale from the SOUTHERN rim would seem to imply that the putative northern ocean filled high enough to breach the southern wall and flow into Gale."

You're looking at it the wrong way. Try this version:

Water or ice in the subsurface was mixed up with ejecta as Gale formed, so its rim and ejecta were water-rich from the moment of formation. Right from that first moment, and probably for quite a while after, mud flows and slumps of various kinds (varying amounts of water) flowed down the walls and onto the floor. Any aquifers cut by the crater wall would also provide water. Heating from impact melt or even small-scale volcanism (like in the Columbia Hills) would allow that to continue for quite a long time - if volcanism, then maybe for a billion years, on and off.

If an ocean breached the wall of Gale, the erosion would have been catastrophic and no wall would remain in that sector. That scenario couldn't be correct.

Phil

[Paolo]

I am one week late but I have to congratulate with JPL for the successful landing of Curiosity! I was on Mars itself (the Mongolian side of the Gobi desert) when the landing took place, and I was away from the internet until yesterday. I received confirmation of the success with a few hours delay on the 6th when I was able to receive an sms from my brother, being near one rare desert village