RichforMars
Aug 13 2014, 07:48 PM
Hi there,
I read this on the NASA.gov site. Last month a tall boulder rolled five hundred meters, and tilted upright. There is no actual explanation as to why, seismic movement? Possibly the breeze of the wind.
I found the whole event interesting as the location is void and empty. Reminds me a little of the Rover and the peble.
Boulder rolls down hill
vikingmars
Aug 14 2014, 01:32 PM
QUOTE (RichforMars @ Aug 13 2014, 09:48 PM)
Hi there, I read this on the NASA.gov site. Last month a tall boulder rolled five hundred meters, and tilted upright. There is no actual explanation as to why, seismic movement? Possibly the breeze of the wind.
I found the whole event interesting as the location is void and empty. Reminds me a little of the Rover and the peble.
Thanks a lot RichforMars for your info. Apparently this big bouder made some vibrations that dislodged some smaller rocks too ! But with tracks less visible...
Click to view attachment
RichforMars
Aug 14 2014, 02:43 PM
Interesting find, who realised that?
There is no actual Mars quake mission. So it remains a mystery for now.
Explorer1
Aug 14 2014, 05:46 PM
There will be soon, Rich:
http://insight.jpl.nasa.gov/home.cfmIt's the next one to launch!
wildespace
Aug 17 2014, 07:29 AM
Are there images of this area prior to the rolling event?
nprev
Aug 17 2014, 07:54 AM
Might also be interesting to search for a nearby recent impact; that might've been what jarred it loose.
In fact, such a find would be incredibly informative since it could tell us a lot about subsurface properties that relate to conduction of motion. The energy from an impact could be calculated reasonably well as a function of crater diameter, so that would be a terrific 'calibrated' stimulus.
SpaceScout
Aug 26 2014, 12:46 PM
QUOTE (RichforMars @ Aug 13 2014, 09:48 PM)
I found the whole event interesting...
Sorry for this note, but boulders that moved downhill with tracks have been seen since the first very high resolution images of the moon. So I personally don't get why this image (surely a great HiRISE image, don't get me wrong) should get more attention than others.
Phil Stooke
Aug 26 2014, 01:43 PM
It's not getting more attention, it's just getting its turn in the limelight. Otherwise, I guess there is the 'monolith' appearance of the boulder with its shadow to draw a bit of extra attention. The thing is, if you want the privilege of frequent news releases (as we generally do) you have to accept quite a lot of repetition - another fresh crater, another skylight, etc. Keep 'em coming, I say.
Phil
SpaceScout
Aug 26 2014, 02:44 PM
Okay, I got the point. Perhaps I would have liked a more science-driven release. For example, I would have liked to learn about the science target of this image (I know many HiRISE images have one)
Cheers
djellison
Aug 26 2014, 02:56 PM
If you follow the links you'll get to the HiRISE team page for the observation
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_037190_1765Where it says
This image was targeted to cover part of a small “chaos” terrain, where there are lots of steep slopes.
SpaceScout
Aug 27 2014, 11:00 AM
Thank you for the link!
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please
click here.