NASA spacecraft barrells towards Mars.

[simon_alex0327]

  ENJOY!!

[ArMaP]

Not funny. 

(and bad scale)

[zorgon]

:)Ok so when do we see color pictures of the sky ?

Several years ago

Twilight on a Cloudy Day - Pathfinder


Image Credit NASA - This true color image was taken in the twilight by the rover Pathfinder on Mars in August 1997. The clouds are of the same type as those discovered by SPICAM at a much higher altitude.

I have a feeling we will never see color pics of the sky

A Bright Clear and Sunny Day
Spirit :: Panorama Camera :: Sol 1508



A Bright Clear and Sunny Day
Spirit :: Panorama Camera :: Sol 1515



A Bright Clear and Sunny Day
Spirit :: Panorama Camera :: Sol 1526




The bright sunshine reflecting off the Rover



Sulfur rich soil dragged up by Spirits broken wheel....


This image shows the strikingly bright tone and large extent of the materials uncovered by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell)

Sulphur-rich soil on Mars puzzles scientists

The discovery of Martian soil containing high quantities of sulphur and traces of water has sparked new questions about activity beneath the planet's surface.

Scientists are puzzling over the contents of the bright white and yellow soil, first discovered after Mars rover Spirit churned it up while struggling to cross a soft patch of soil in the Columbia Hills region nearly a year ago.

The material consists of sulphate salts associated with iron and likely calcium, substances not expected to be found on the planet's surface.

Some scientists have speculated the materials might have been deposited in ancient times by liquid water on what is now thought to be a dry planet. However, Ray Arvidson, the deputy principal investigator for NASA's twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, said that is only one possible explanation.

[zorgon]

Originally posted image from Viking PIA00571



Same image posted in Wikipedia Article



This high-resolution color photo of the surface of Mars was taken by Viking 2 Lander at its Utopia Planitia. It shows a thin coating of water ice on the rocks and soil. Scientists believe dust particles in the atmosphere pick up bits of solid water and frozen carbon dioxide, which causes the dust particles to sink. Warmed by the Sun, the carbon dioxide evaporates and returns to the atmosphere, leaving behind the water and dust. The ice is extremely thin, perhaps no more than one-thousandth of an inch thick.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mars/Selected_picture/December_2008

So which is real?

Well NASA recently published more Viking images in a publication... here is one of those with the NASA credits and description straight copied...

[zorgon]

Dust or mist?   or something else? Plasma perhaps, either way doesnt that mean a sustantial atmosphere?

Who said Mars has no atmosphere?



Springtime on Mars


Credit: Philip James (University of Toledo), Steven Lee (University of Colorado), NASA

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope view of the planet Mars is the clearest picture ever taken from Earth, surpassed only by close-up shots sent back by visiting space probes. The picture was taken on February 25, 1995, when Mars was at a distance of approximately 65 million miles (103 million km) from Earth.

Recent Mars and Earth Dust Storms Compared

In this figure, we compare a recent dust storm on Mars with one that occurred earlier this year on Earth. The top image shows a martian north polar dust storm observed on 29 August 2000. This image is part of the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global map--a low resolution, two-color view of Mars acquired from pole to pole every orbit. The storm is moving as a front, outward from a central "jet," and marginal "vortices" can be seen. In this image it extends about 900 km (560 mi) out from the north polar seasonal frost cap. The region on the right side of the Mars picture includes the north pole. The bottom image shows a terrestrial dust storm, seen in a SeaWiFS image, acquired on 26 February 2000. This storm exends about 1800 km (1100 mi) off the coast of northwest Africa near the Earth's equator. Both images are shown at the same scale; 4 km (2.5 mi) per pixel.

Image Source: MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-249, 12 September 2000


Hmmm I think I will do a Martian Weather thread

[hoss58]

  ooops , well let me see if I can get my foot out the way so I can type!! I was talking about the Curiosity's  camera's . I didn't mean that there were not any at all "Z" . I am just skeptical of Nasa . It took me a long time to accept that the moon landings that I saw as a kid were maybe not what I thought they were . I was a big fan of space travel and the moon in particular.

[Littleenki]

Zorgon, thats fascinating, and a thread for Martian Weather would be excellent as Im quite fond of following Earth weather patterns, so hey, why not add a planet in there!

Cheers!

[COSMO]

The conspiracy theories begin: What was the mystery blotch that appears on Mars rover photo - but disappears two hours later?

Conspiracy theorists have worked themselves up into a lather over a mysterious blotch visible in the first black and white photographs taken from NASA's new Curiosity rover as it landed on Mars.

The faint but distinctive dot which can be seen on the horizon of the Red Planet was taken by a device on the $2.5 billion robot called its Hazcam and relayed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter back to Earth.

However, two hours later when the satellite made another pass over Curiosity, the rover sent another batch of images that revealed that the blotch had eerily disappeared.






http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2185737/Internet-conspiracy-theories-begin-mystery-blotch-appears-Mars-rover-photo--disappears-hours-later.html

Is it just me or is the horizon flatter where the anomaly used to be? 

[Littleenki]

100 percent right, Cosmo, I noticed the flatter appearance too...and the hanky panky hokey pokey begins!LOL!
Dave

[hoss58]

ooops , well let me see if I can get my foot out the way so I can type!! I was talking about the Curiosity's  camera's . I didn't mean that there were not any at all "Z" . I am just skeptical of Nasa . It took me a long time to accept that the moon landings that I saw as a kid were maybe not what I thought they were . I am a big fan of space travel and the moon in particular.

    Upon reading new information from a reliable source  , I take it all back . Mars pictures are cool. I loved Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles as a kid. I grew up in the next town  from his "Green Town".

So bring on the color photos

[hoss58]

100 percent right, Cosmo, I noticed the flatter appearance too...and the hanky panky hokey pokey begins!LOL!
Dave

OMG!! I just posted a retraction now I have to retract that ,jeeez! !!   I guess I have to stay glued to the computer to keep up , sigh!!      Nasa........... (shakes head)

[robomont]

2.5billion really not alot of money.that would pay for 2500 heart transplants?maybe.but if you layoff a million battleweary soldiers.instant civil war.in afganistan and in the usa.plus unemployment goes up.then layoff the private military contract employees.great depression.even tesla dug ditches when times got hard.the last thing this country needs is a bunch of brainwashed gungho tards with pthd running lose and mad at the gov.

[zorgon]

Updates:
Where Will Curiosity Go First?

This article mentions the high res Mast cam..

The mast also sports a high-resolution camera called Mastcam, which has already begun observing and photographing the rover's surroundings.

So... its already taking pictures but we can't see them yet...

Hmmm interesting... must be 'editing delay'  in case that critter sees something it shouldn't

Curiosity Zaps First Martian Rock

Well here is the first miserable picture of a zapped rock



How EXCITING!!!! They zapped a pebble  LMAO

[robomont]

i got a chance to see an undoctored video on abc last night.they showed it right before comercial.when they came back,they didnt show it again.nasa said the shiny dots all over the ground were bad pixels.these dots didnt move when the camera moved.it was video of entry and landing.them shiny dots were all over the place.

[zorgon]

Congratulations NASA

You found the most BORING spot you possibly could have on Mars



Not even an interesting rock larger than a pebble to look at..



At least they got rid of that Red Sky they been trying to sell



But those hills look just like home here in Nevada

NASA says.... MARS



Zorgon says... Nevada