Curiosity and the Exploration of Gale Crater
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SOL0050-MR0229011000E1_DXXX-2-GB-LXTT-IPF.jpgUnusually-looking bright Object near Curiosity - Sol 50 (Natural Colors; credits for the research and the additional process.: Dr Gianluigi Barca/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)132 visiteSi è parlato tanto, tantissimo (forse anche un tantino troppo ed anche un pò a sproposito - secondo noi) dell'oggetto "anomalo" ripreso dal Rover Curiosity nei suoi pressi durante i Soles andanti da 61 a 65, ma nulla è stato detto a proposito di quest'altro "oggetto anomalo" e ad "Albedo Elevata" che giace ad un 5/6 metri da Curiosity e che è stato immortalato durante il Sol 50 della Missione del nuovo Super-Rover a Gale Crater.
Si tratta dello stesso oggetto?
Diremmo proprio di no: questo è nettamente più grande e luccicante.
Si tratta di un pezzo del Rover o dei suoi rivestimenti? Può darsi, ma come potremmo mai esserne certi? Noi ricordiamo di un altro oggetto luccicante e dall'apparenza metallica che venne ripreso dal Rover Spirit durante i primi Soles della sua Missione a Gusev. Lo segnalammo alla NASA e, come ovvio, non ottenemmo risposte.
Ora, dopo la Scoperta fatta dai nostri Senior Partner, Elisabetta Bonora e Marco Faccin, della possibile Anomalia dei Soles 61-63, la NASA si è pronunciata ed ha detto: "Nulla di grave, nulla di preoccupante: la natura dell'oggetto è benigna. Si tratta, probabilmente, di un pezzo del rivestimento del Rover o del suo Robotic Arm".
Va bene. E di questo altro oggetto, che mi dite? Da dove si è staccato questo "frammento" di qualcosa? Viene dal Rover? Viene dallo Sky-Crane? Oppure è quelcosa che è sempre stata lì?
Purtroppo abbiamo un solo frame che lo riprende: questo. E non abbiamo risposte da darVi (solo la NASA sa rispondere sempre a tutto ed ha una risposta per tutto). Noi abbiamo solo domande. E dubbi.
Le Vostre opinioni su questa nuova Anomalia Marziana saranno apprezzate.MareKromium
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SOL0051-EB-MF-LXTT-IPF.jpgGale's Horizon - Sol 51 (an Image Mosaic in Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)88 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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SOL0052-PIA16204-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpg"Rocknest" Site - Sol 52 (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)101 visiteCaption NASA:"This patch of windblown Sand and Dust downhill from a cluster of Dark Rocks is the so-called "Rocknest" Site, which has been selected as the likely location for first use of the scoop on the Robotic Arm of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Curiosity. This view is a mosaic of images taken by the telephoto right-eye camera of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) during the 52nd Martian Day, or Sol, of the mission (such as September, 28, 2012). Just 4 (four) Soles before, the Rover arrived at Rocknest. The "Rocknest" patch is about 8 by 16 feet (such as approx. 1,5 by 5 meters)".MareKromium
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SOL0054-EB-MF-LXTT-IPF-1.jpg"Bathurst Inlet" Rock - Sol 54 (Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)92 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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SOL0054-PIA14762-NASA-JPL-Caltech-MSSS.jpg"Bathurst Inlet" Rock - Sol 54 (Natural Colors; credts: NASA/JPL-Caltech, Malin Space Science Systems)83 visiteNASA's Mars Rover Curiosity held its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera about 10,5" (---> inches, such as about 27 centimeters) away from the top of a Rock called "Bathurst Inlet" for a set of 8 images combined into this merged-focus view of the Rock. This context image covers an area that is roughly 6,5 by 5" (such as 16 by 12 centimeters). Resolution is about 105 microns per pixel.
MAHLI took the component images for this merged-focus view, plus closer-up images of Bathurst Inlet, during Curiosity's 54th Martian Day, or Sol (such as September 30, 2012). The instrument's principal investigator had invited Curiosity's science team to "MAHLI it up!" in the selection of Sol 54 targets for inspection with MAHLI and with the other instrument at the end of Curiosity's Arm: the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer.
The "Bathurst Inlet" Rock is dark gray and appears to be so fine-grained that MAHLI cannot resolve Grains or Crystals in it. This means that the Grains or Crystals, if there are any at all, are smaller than about 80 microns in size. Some windblown sand-sized Grains or Dust Aggregates have accumulated on the Surface of the Rock, but this Surface is clean (if compared, for example, to the pebbly substrate below the rock - upper left and lower right in this context image).
MAHLI can do focus merging onboard the MER and, in fact, the full-frame versions of the 8 separate images that were combined into this view were not even returned to Earth -- just the thumbnail versions. In other words, merging the images onboard reduces the volume of data that is supposed to be downlinked to Earth.MareKromium
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SOL0054-PIA14762-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpg"Bathurst Inlet" Rock - Sol 54 (Absolute Natural Colors; credts for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)104 visite...Solo per evidenziare agli Amici di Lunar Explorer Italia la differenza che esiste tra il color processing adottato dalla NASA/JPL-Caltech (in collaborazione con il Malin Space Science Systems) e quello adottato da noi. E attenzione: qui non si discute di "estetica", ma di "verosimiglianza"! Il color processing NASA (quello del frame che precede, tanto per intenderci), presuppone l'esistenza di una nebbia gialla FITTA E COSTANTE! Una nebbia che, laddove esistesse davvero, impedirebbe di vedere oltre i 5/8 metri! Ora, che su Marte esista una discreta Opacità Atmosferica nessuno ne dubita. E nessuno dubita che Marte abbia una Dominante Cromatica giallo/arancio.
Ma quello che le foto colorizzate "ufficiali" fanno vedere e vorrebbero rappresentare, secondo noi, è un Marte che - semplicemente - non esiste, se non a Pasadena e nella testa dei Signori del MSSS. Poi, giustamente, ognuno la può vedere come vuole. Ergo...Giudicate Voi!MareKromium
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SOL0058-EB-MF-LXTT-IPF-1.jpgDeep Rover Tracks - Sol 58 (an Image-Mosaic in Natural Colors - CTX Frame; credits for the additional process. and color.: Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)79 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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SOL0058-EB-MF-LXTT-IPF-2.jpgDeep Rover Tracks - Sol 58 (an Image-Mosaic in Natural Colors - EDM; credits for the additional process. and color.: Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)83 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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SOL0058-EB-MF-LXTT-IPF-3.jpgGale's Surface - Sol 58 (an Image-Mosaic in Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)86 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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SOL0058-EB-MF-LXTT-IPF-4.jpgGale's Surface - Sol 58 (an Image-Mosaic in High-Def-3D and Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Elisabetta Bonora and Marco Faccin/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)108 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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SOL0058-PIA16193-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgHigh-Resolution View of a Cross-Section through a Martian Ripple - Sol 58 (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunar Explorer Italia - Italian Planetary Foundation)86 visiteCaption NASA:"This image shows the wall of a "scuffmark" made by the NASA - MER Curiosity in a Windblown Ripple of Martian Sand, by using one of its wheels. The upper half of the image shows a small portion of the side wall of the scuff and a little bit of the floor of the scuff (bottom of this image). The prominent depression with raised rims at the bottom center of the image was formed by one of the treads on Curiosity's front right wheel.
The largest Grains of Sand in this image are about 0,04 to 0,08" (such as about 1 to 2 millimeters) in size. Those large Grains were on top of the Windblown Ripple and fell down to this location when the scuff was made. The bulk of the Sand in the Ripple is smaller, in the range below 0,002 to 0,008" (i.e.: 50 to 200 microns). The full scuffmark is about 20" (such as approx. 50 centimeters) wide which is, by the way, the same width of Curiosity's wheel.
This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) is the product of merging 8 (eight) images acquired at 8 (eight) slightly different focus settings to bring out details on the wall, slopes, and floor of the wheel scuff. The merge was performed onboard the MAHLI instrument to reduce downlinked data volume.
The image was acquired by MAHLI with the lens about 4,7" (approx. 12 centimeters) from the target. The pixel scale is about 0,002" (such as approx. 50 microns) per pixel. The image covers an area, roughly 3 by 2" (such as about 8 by 6 centimeters). The image was obtained on October, 4, 2012 - such as the 58th Sol, or Martian Day, of operations of the MER Curiosity on the Surface of Gale Crater".MareKromium
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SOL0059-NLA_400158041EDR_D0040000NCAM00508M-PCF-LXTT-IPF-01.jpgThe "Foggy" Inner Rim of Gale Crater - Sol 59 (Calibrated Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunar Explorer Italia - Italian Planetary Foundation)210 visiteFrame taken at 12:15:15 Mars Local Solar TimeMareKromium
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