Do you suppose that they will enable the next gen landers with MPEG4 movie capabilities? I know there's like a four or five year lag between design and launch, so we likely wouldn't see this until 2008 or so....
We should be at the rim of the Endurance crater by now.
Spirit's travels up until 4 days ago
The bi-weekly briefing is set to start at 2pm EST 04/28 on NASA TV.
Expect news on both Rover's health and systems now that both are officially "out of warranty" and on extended mission, potentially surviving into October.
Opportunity should have the best imagery to showcase, if Endurance crater is anything like the layering and stratigraphy of the small outcrop in Eagle crater. Possibly some discussion of the chances to get in and out of the crater.
Spirit has a somewhat rockier drive than Opportunity, but its views of the Columbia Hills hint at more.
a 26MB Large JPEG shows far more detail on Burns cliff on the far rim
Opportunity will spend a week or so circling the rim gathering data before decisions are made on the drivability of the crater. Squyres said that if it looks like the crater might be a rover-trap, they'd likely do more science on the plains, including driving south 200 metres or so and visiting the heat shield impact crater (freshest hole around) and photographing the heat shield itself. Once all of the plains surface science was exhausted, they'd drive into Endurance and risk not being able to drive out.
Spirit continues to approach the Columbia Hills... expected arrival mid-June
press conferences down to once every three weeks now, but the website is getting better with new content
Surface composition in "Endurance Crater" is mapped with color-coded interpretation of data from the miniature thermal emission spectrometer on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The information has been overlaid onto a view of the crater from Opportunity's panoramic camera. Green, such as on some slopes, indicates material rich in the mineral hematite. Blue and purple, such as on some cliffs of exposed rock, indicate the presence of basalt. Basaltic material is volcanic in origin, but the basalt may have been broken down into sand by weathering, then re-deposited by wind or water. Red indicates areas covered by martian dust.
This false-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rock dubbed "Pot of Gold" (upper left), located near the base of the "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater. Scientists are intrigued by this unusual-looking, nodule-covered rock and plan to investigate its detailed chemistry in coming sols. This picture was taken on sol 159 (June 14, 2004).
To the right is a set of rocks referred to as "Rotten Rocks" for their resemblance to rotting loaves of bread. The insides of these rocks appear to have been eroded, while their outer rinds remain more intact. These outer rinds are reminiscent of those found on rocks at Meridiani Planum's "Eagle Crater." This image was captured on sol 158 (June 13, 2004).
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Nodules != 'blueberries', at least so far.
Check out the stereo view of Spirit's arrival at Columbia Hills
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took the images that make up this 360-degree mosaic anaglyph with its navigation camera on sol 156 (June 11, 2004). The image, projected at a cylindrical perspective, highlights Spirit's arrival at the base of the Columbia Hills. Since landing at Gusev crater, Spirit has put more than 3.4 kilometers (2.1 miles) on its odometer. Much of this can be attributed to the long drives the rover had to undertake to reach these interesting landforms.
Today's briefing noted that Spirit's right front wheel is starting to require more and more power to spin. They're considering shutting it down and running on five wheels until it might be required for additional traction instead of risking its continuing degradation on slopes it could skip. The step down of the motor goes from 4500 rpm to 3 turns of the wheel, so it's got tons of torque and the rover was redundantly designed to 'lose' a wheel or two and still function. Decisions might depend on the slope traction Spirit finds on its ascent up the Hills.
Meanwhile, over at Meridiani, Opportunity is gingerly easing into Endurance Crater down a 20+ degree grade (rover rated to near 30 depending on soil traction).
Hazcam animation of the past few Sols creeping drive
'Tennessee' Clues
This false-color image shows the area within "Endurance Crater," currently being investigated by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The rover is inspecting a hole it drilled into a flat rock (center) dubbed "Tennessee," which scientists believe may be made up of the same evaporite-rich materials as those found in "Eagle Crater."
The overall geography inside Endurance is more complex than scientists anticipated, with at least three distinct bands of rock visible in front of the rover. Scientists hope to investigate the second and third layers of rock for more clues to Mars' history. This image was taken on sol 133 (June 8, 2004) with the rover's panoramic camera, using the 750-, 530- and 430-nanometer filters.
I thought the nodules reminded me of the hematite blueberrys seen by Opportunity. I'm sure we'll hear in a few days. I get the feeling they are always holding back to make double sure before they announce stuff, makes sense offcourse. So, if they are making a big deal about Pot of Gold, then my guess is that they have evidence already that this is something unique.
Winglee had an earlier proposal that I recall about plasma bubbles in the solar wind.
This seems an evolutionary mix of that, solar sail work, ion drive (DS1 and SMART-1), and some of the laser propulsion work that Lightcraft and Rensselaer have done.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity took this image with its panoramic camera when the rover was about 130 meters (427 feet) from its heat shield, during the rover's 322nd sol (Dec. 19, 2004). The protective device shielded the rover from intense frictional heat as it entered the martian atmosphere. The heat shield was shed during the descent and landing sequence, just before the rover (within its folded lander) was lowered on a bridle. Scientists and engineers are interested in seeing what effects the descent had on the heat shield and are directing Opportunity to examine it.
This image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a portion of the heat shield that the spacecraft jettisoned shortly before landing. This flank piece broke off from the main piece of the heat shield upon impact. The crater created by the impact of the heat shield can be seen in the upper right of the image. Rover tracks appear across the top of the image. Opportunity took this image with its navigation camera during the rover's 331st martian day, or sol (Dec. 28, 2005).
From several new images approaching the Heat Shield here
I'm looking forward to watching the NOVA episode on the rovers-it's taping as I write this. It has been a great year, let's see how much more we can get out of them.
Probably my favorite thread in AO in, like, forever.
I watched the new Mars NOVA and it was so awesome to see some of the team as they pondered the questions and problems that we fidgeted over during the trials and tribulations of the Spirit flash memory problem. Again, I'll hero-worship these scientists over movie stars ANY day of the week.
I could've watched another four hours of coverage. Wonder if there's a DVD available from JPL regarding a behind-the-scenes of the Spirit-Odyssey mission.
And don't think we didn't notice those Powerbooks all over the place!
Holy Smokes, we're almost on a year of the rovers' arrival on Mars!
This image from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity features the remains of the heat shield that protected the rover from temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit as it made its way through the martian atmosphere. This two-frame mosaic was taken on the rover's 335th martian day, or sol, (Jan. 2, 2004).
The view is of the main heat shield debris seen from approximately 10 meters (about 33 feet) away from it. Many rover-team engineers were taken aback when they realized the heat shield had inverted, or turned itself inside out. The height of the pictured debris is about 1.3 meters (about 4.3 feet). The original diameter was 2.65 meters (8.7 feet), though it has obviously been deformed. The Sun reflecting off of the aluminum structure accounts for the vertical blurs in the picture.
The fact that the heat shield is now inside out makes it more challenging to evaluate the state of the thermal protection system that is now on the inside. In coming sols, Opportunity will investigate the debris with its microscopic imager.
Engineers who designed and built the heat shield are thrilled to see the hardware on the surface of Mars. This provides a unique opportunity to look at how the thermal protection system material survived the actual Mars entry. Team members hope this information will allow them to compare their predictions to what really happened.
This is an approximately true-color rendering, generated using the panoramic camera's 600, 530 and 480 nanometer filters.
Comments
We should be at the rim of the Endurance crater by now.
Spirit's travels up until 4 days ago
The bi-weekly
Expect news on both Rover's health and systems now that both are officially "out of warranty" and on extended mission, potentially surviving into October.
Opportunity should have the best imagery to showcase, if Endurance crater is anything like the layering and stratigraphy of the small outcrop in Eagle crater. Possibly some discussion of the chances to get in and out of the crater.
Spirit has a somewhat rockier drive than Opportunity, but its views of the Columbia Hills hint at more.
updated links and new imagery after the briefing
click for Medium image (361 KB)
a 26MB Large JPEG shows far more detail on Burns cliff on the far rim
Opportunity will spend a week or so circling the rim gathering data before decisions are made on the drivability of the crater. Squyres said that if it looks like the crater might be a rover-trap, they'd likely do more science on the plains, including driving south 200 metres or so and visiting the heat shield impact crater (freshest hole around) and photographing the heat shield itself. Once all of the plains surface science was exhausted, they'd drive into Endurance and risk not being able to drive out.
Spirit continues to approach the Columbia Hills... expected arrival mid-June
press conferences down to once every three weeks now,
1.2MB version here
Surface composition in "Endurance Crater" is mapped with color-coded interpretation of data from the miniature thermal emission spectrometer on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The information has been overlaid onto a view of the crater from Opportunity's panoramic camera. Green, such as on some slopes, indicates material rich in the mineral hematite. Blue and purple, such as on some cliffs of exposed rock, indicate the presence of basalt. Basaltic material is volcanic in origin, but the basalt may have been broken down into sand by weathering, then re-deposited by wind or water. Red indicates areas covered by martian dust.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/ASU
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...s/opportunity/
First glance suggests it might be basaltic, but I'd have to see the other filters.
To my recollection, no 'blueberries' have been confirmed at Gusev, only at Meridiani.
There's a new Mars briefing tomorrow at 1pm which should provide content for fresh updates."
OK, I've only had one course in Geology so I bet your right, but I that rock just seems to look like it precipitated out of water.
Also, the sol 158 microscopic images look like a layer of salt on top of sand. Again, I'm playing armchair geologist here, but its fun!!
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...irit_m158.html
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...ose-A160R1.jpg
They are taking a closer look at it because of those nodules.
Pot of Gold' and 'Rotten Rocks'
This false-color image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rock dubbed "Pot of Gold" (upper left), located near the base of the "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater. Scientists are intrigued by this unusual-looking, nodule-covered rock and plan to investigate its detailed chemistry in coming sols. This picture was taken on sol 159 (June 14, 2004).
To the right is a set of rocks referred to as "Rotten Rocks" for their resemblance to rotting loaves of bread. The insides of these rocks appear to have been eroded, while their outer rinds remain more intact. These outer rinds are reminiscent of those found on rocks at Meridiani Planum's "Eagle Crater." This image was captured on sol 158 (June 13, 2004).
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Nodules != 'blueberries', at least so far.
Check out the stereo view of Spirit's arrival at Columbia Hills
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took the images that make up this 360-degree mosaic anaglyph with its navigation camera on sol 156 (June 11, 2004). The image, projected at a cylindrical perspective, highlights Spirit's arrival at the base of the Columbia Hills. Since landing at Gusev crater, Spirit has put more than 3.4 kilometers (2.1 miles) on its odometer. Much of this can be attributed to the long drives the rover had to undertake to reach these interesting landforms.
Image credit: NASA/JPL
Browse Image | Medium Image (433 kB) | Large (5 MB)
Today's briefing noted that Spirit's right front wheel is starting to require more and more power to spin. They're considering shutting it down and running on five wheels until it might be required for additional traction instead of risking its continuing degradation on slopes it could skip. The step down of the motor goes from 4500 rpm to 3 turns of the wheel, so it's got tons of torque and the rover was redundantly designed to 'lose' a wheel or two and still function. Decisions might depend on the slope traction Spirit finds on its ascent up the Hills.
Meanwhile, over at Meridiani, Opportunity is gingerly easing into Endurance Crater down a 20+ degree grade (rover rated to near 30 depending on soil traction).
'Tennessee' Clues
This false-color image shows the area within "Endurance Crater," currently being investigated by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The rover is inspecting a hole it drilled into a flat rock (center) dubbed "Tennessee," which scientists believe may be made up of the same evaporite-rich materials as those found in "Eagle Crater."
The overall geography inside Endurance is more complex than scientists anticipated, with at least three distinct bands of rock visible in front of the rover. Scientists hope to investigate the second and third layers of rock for more clues to Mars' history. This image was taken on sol 133 (June 8, 2004) with the rover's panoramic camera, using the 750-, 530- and 430-nanometer filters.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
Browse Image | Medium Image (243 kB) | Large (5.7 MB)
I thought the nodules reminded me of the hematite blueberrys seen by Opportunity. I'm sure we'll hear in a few days. I get the feeling they are always holding back to make double sure before they announce stuff, makes sense offcourse. So, if they are making a big deal about Pot of Gold, then my guess is that they have evidence already that this is something unique.
Missed the briefing this morning, but some details can be found here
http://www.uwnews.org/article.asp?articleID=5817
Magnetized-beam plasma propulsion has a nice ring to it wouldn't you say?
This seems an evolutionary mix of that, solar sail work, ion drive (DS1 and SMART-1), and some of the laser propulsion work that Lightcraft and Rensselaer have done.
Interesting concept.
One year soon. Its amazing
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity took this image with its panoramic camera when the rover was about 130 meters (427 feet) from its heat shield, during the rover's 322nd sol (Dec. 19, 2004). The protective device shielded the rover from intense frictional heat as it entered the martian atmosphere. The heat shield was shed during the descent and landing sequence, just before the rover (within its folded lander) was lowered on a bridle. Scientists and engineers are interested in seeing what effects the descent had on the heat shield and are directing Opportunity to examine it.
Heat Shield Flank
This image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a portion of the heat shield that the spacecraft jettisoned shortly before landing. This flank piece broke off from the main piece of the heat shield upon impact. The crater created by the impact of the heat shield can be seen in the upper right of the image. Rover tracks appear across the top of the image. Opportunity took this image with its navigation camera during the rover's 331st martian day, or sol (Dec. 28, 2005).
From several new images approaching the Heat Shield here
See also the MER team's picks for the Rover's Top 10 Colour images of 2004
I watched the new Mars NOVA and it was so awesome to see some of the team as they pondered the questions and problems that we fidgeted over during the trials and tribulations of the Spirit flash memory problem. Again, I'll hero-worship these scientists over movie stars ANY day of the week.
I could've watched another four hours of coverage. Wonder if there's a DVD available from JPL regarding a behind-the-scenes of the Spirit-Odyssey mission.
And don't think we didn't notice those Powerbooks all over the place!
Holy Smokes, we're almost on a year of the rovers' arrival on Mars!
This image from the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity features the remains of the heat shield that protected the rover from temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit as it made its way through the martian atmosphere. This two-frame mosaic was taken on the rover's 335th martian day, or sol, (Jan. 2, 2004).
The view is of the main heat shield debris seen from approximately 10 meters (about 33 feet) away from it. Many rover-team engineers were taken aback when they realized the heat shield had inverted, or turned itself inside out. The height of the pictured debris is about 1.3 meters (about 4.3 feet). The original diameter was 2.65 meters (8.7 feet), though it has obviously been deformed. The Sun reflecting off of the aluminum structure accounts for the vertical blurs in the picture.
The fact that the heat shield is now inside out makes it more challenging to evaluate the state of the thermal protection system that is now on the inside. In coming sols, Opportunity will investigate the debris with its microscopic imager.
Engineers who designed and built the heat shield are thrilled to see the hardware on the surface of Mars. This provides a unique opportunity to look at how the thermal protection system material survived the actual Mars entry. Team members hope this information will allow them to compare their predictions to what really happened.
This is an approximately true-color rendering, generated using the panoramic camera's 600, 530 and 480 nanometer filters.
Large Img(1.3Mb)
Vs the Dec 22 Picture
And if you think those are alien worms, your shiny foil heatshield is probably damaged too