Martian Crop Circles? What is THIS on Mars?

[zorgon]

Martian Crop Circles? What is THIS on Mars?

Opportunity :: Panoramic Camera :: Sol 003




1P128454121EFF0200P2214L2M1


1P128457706EFF0200P2216L2M1

This is the best one


1P128449364EFF0200P2213L2M1

Opportunity :: Panoramic Camera :: Sol 003

[rdunk]

zorgon, those "Mars crop circles" are very interesting! Some seem to pretty much be near perfect circles. and the fact that there are several similar certainly would question their being natural. They don't look natural! And, on the basis of the fact that I have never seen anything like this in all of the Rover photos I have look at, I would assume the circles are not Rover generated.

Maybe some others have some thoughts on these!

Here is another from Sol day 002, that is dark.

[Amaterasu]

Wow!  I mean...  Wow.

Those surely don't look "natural."  Too symmetrical!  Too sentient-created looking.

Thanks for yet more weird planetary anomalies!

[The Seeker]

I checked out the rest of the pics in that set, and whatever that deflated beachball looking thing is appears to have some patterning that makes the artifacts;  going to attempt to embed the pics in question, but my computer skills are sadly lacking.

needless to say, look at all the pics in that set...http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/003/1P128454462EFF0200P2214R2M1-BR.JPG
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/003/1P128455643EFF0200P2214R2M1-BR.JPG


seeker

[Amaterasu]

I checked out the rest of the pics in that set, and whatever that deflated beachball looking thing is appears to have some patterning that makes the artifacts;  going to attempt to embed the pics in question, but my computer skills are sadly lacking.

needless to say, look at all the pics in that set...http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/003/1P128454462EFF0200P2214R2M1-BR.JPG
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/003/1P128455643EFF0200P2214R2M1-BR.JPG


seeker

Well - the "crop circles" do resemble the balloons, but...  What laid them perfectly flat and round, if that is what they are.  Probability of them deflating so perfectly (unless they have some special design element), pretty slim.

[The Seeker]

Question: wasn't the lander designed to bounce and roll as it impacted the surface? I seem to recall seeing a test video of it bouncing in the desert... not trying to be a schmuck 


seeker

[Amaterasu]

Agreed it could be an imprint - hard to tell the scale.  If the scale matches the balloon, then perhaps it IS an impact impression...

Well, if it isn't an impact impression, then it's really weird.

[rdunk]

Question: wasn't the lander designed to bounce and roll as it impacted the surface? I seem to recall seeing a test video of it bouncing in the desert... not trying to be a schmuck 


seeker

Well, on the basis of the seekers comments, I did a little more look'in, and the "case" is "closing.

Seeker is right about the lander airbags, and I guess we should have suspected that was it. Was zorgon pulling our legs?? 

I will post the info, and notice, the airbags do have the circle and straight-lines to make the imprints.

Here is a link to the complete article I used for the info. My post will only have the first part of the article, because it is pretty long

http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/49870/mars_exploration_rovers_make_the_big_bounce/

................................................ Astrobiology Magazine Article

JPL's Tom Rivellini led the team that worked on engineering the successful airbag landing on Mars. His first person account of test and design iterations gives insight into how a complex challenge evolved into a fully-functioning lander on the surface of another planet.

Astrobiology Magazine — Here I was: 26 years old, I had never worked on a flight project before, and all eyes were on me. Every time I walked by the Pathfinder project office, Tony Spear, the project manager, would throw his arm around me and announce, "Hey everybody, the whole mission is riding on this guy right here."

Our task was to design and build airbags for Pathfinder's landing on Mars an approach that had never been used on any mission. Airbags may seem like a simple, low-tech product, but it was eye-opening to discover just how little we knew about them. We knew that the only way to find out what we needed to learn was to build prototypes and test them. We just didn't know how ignorant we were going to be.

Airbags seemed like a crazy idea to a lot of people. Nobody ever said that, mind you, but there seemed to be a widespread feeling that the airbags weren't going to work. "We'll let you guys go off and fool around until you fall flat on your faces." That was the unspoken message I received day after day.

Everyone's main fear about using these giant airbags was that the lander would be buried in an ocean of fabric when the airbags deflated. I began the search for a solution by building scale models of the airbags and lander, and I played with them in my office for a couple of months.

I built the models out of cardboard and plastic, and taped them up with packing tape I got from the hardware store and ribbon from the fabric store. I used a small raft inflator that I had at home to pump up my model airbags. Over and over again, I filled the miniature airbags and then let them deflate, watching what happened.

I fooled around with a dozen or more approaches before I finally came up with something that I thought worked. Slowly but surely, I came up with the idea of using cords that zigzag through belt loops inside the airbags. Pull the cords a certain way, and the cords would draw in all of the fabric and contain it. Wait to open the lander until after all of the airbags had retracted, and the fabric would be tucked neatly underneath.

[Amaterasu]

Was zorgon pulling our legs?? 

I suspect so.  [grin]  He's like that.  [wink to z]

[The Seeker]

I suspect so.  [grin]  He's like that.  [wink to z]

Friends, perhaps our noble Z was simply testing us to see who would actually research and investigate instead of just speculate?  That was a good one, Z.


seeker

[Amaterasu]

I'm a speculator.  I admit it.  I have too much to do to promote My petition.  Looking now for 1,000,000 signatures!

So I peek in and will speculate based on what I see.  [shrug]

But hey.  That's what I have You awesome folks to help Me with.

[Littleenki]

Wow!  I mean...  Wow.

Those surely don't look "natural."  Too symmetrical!  Too sentient-created looking.

Thanks for yet more weird planetary anomalies!

Yes, Amaterasu, sentient was the word that came to me!
What the hell caused that, anyway, it seems like it might be organic, or living in nature, and the fact that it exists at all is proof of sentience, or life at least.
Wonder what John thinks about this?
I really want to think of Cymatic formation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics ) as the cause, and sound waves have made a similar shape on my metal plate before. If there are ELF sounds on mars, then the surface features could line up in such a way. Or if there was a base below, that was causing anomalous sound stimulus, and therefore causing the shapes, it could be proof of underground life on Mars!
Just a theory, but i like it, so what do you think Amaterasu?
Cheers!
Littleenki

[Amaterasu]

I think We decided it's bound imprints from the vehicle that had balloons to bounce-land...

[Littleenki]

I think We decided it's bound imprints from the vehicle that had balloons to bounce-land...

It does look like a footprint of a ball landing in an elliptical manner!
Great find Amaterasu!
Real cool nevertheless!
Cheers!
Littleenki

[Amaterasu]

Actually...  It was seeker who first mentioned it...