The Other Shoe: The Mars Report

Full-Circle Panorama Beside 'Namib Dune' on Mars (Full-Circle Panorama Beside 'Namib Dune' on Mars)[1]
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Welcome back to The Other Shoe, My Dear Shoevians! I have decided to take a step away from all things ‘politics’ and ‘political’ heading into this weekend. With that in mind I am happy to bring you the very first edition of ‘The Mars Report’ in many months. Honestly, if feels good to put my head back into subject matter that has always made me smile… and think. Since I was a small boy of seven or eight, I dreamed of walking on the surface of another planetary body. I read the works of Clark, Asimov, and Heinlein while, in my head, turning their words into foreign lands. . This is, as I have said, the very first edition of ‘The Mars Report’ in many months. Having said, I am a bit out of ‘shape’ when it comes to writing this genera of works, this will end up being a bit of an abbreviated edition. I have four different images to share, and most of them are from months ago. Right now Curiosity is in a dormant mode. Hibernating through the Martian Winter where it is currently located. Below is a map showing the journey of Curiosity since it first landed at ‘Bradbury Landing’ back on August 22^nd, 2012. Funny, that, My Dear Shoevians… I have covered the adventures and discoveries of Curiosity since it landed. I am glad that I made this project a priority for my writing and my blog(s).
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Curiosity Rover's Traverse, First 1,163 Sols on Mars.

(Curiosity Rover's Traverse, First 1,163 Sols on Mars)[2]

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The map shown above highlights the route of the Curiosity rover. As it makes it way slowly from the beginning (at the top of the image, just to the left of ‘Yellowknife Bay’, to where it is halted just below ‘Marias Pass’. Curiosity is now located in the "Bagnold Dunes" dune field. The rover is making its way to higher elevations of Mount Sharp. The image, below, is of Curiosity at its stop in the ‘Bagnold Dunes in front of "Namib Dune".
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Curiosity Self-Portrait at Martian Sand Dune.

(Curiosity Self-Portrait at Martian Sand Dune)[3]

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This ‘Self Portrait’ is a combination of 57 images taken on Jan. 19, 2016, during the 1,228th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars. All of the 57 images were taken by the (not pictured) Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) at the end of the rover's robotic arm. Rather interesting, My Dear Shoevians, but as I was just writing this explanation of the image, above, I found a much better and far more recent map of Curiosity’s journey. I am including it, below.
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Curiosity's Traverse Map Through Sol 1221.

(Curiosity's Traverse Map Through Sol 1221)[4]

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Now, My Dear Shoevians, you should be able to just left click on this image and you will be taken to the full sized rending. In the larger image you will be able to read all of the different locations Curiosity has visited in its more than 1,000 day adventure, so far. At the bottom right corner, of this image, you will see the blue overlay. In this overlay you can see the ‘Namib Dune’ location, where self portrait (show above) was taken. It is marked, in the overlay, with a yellow diamond. That was the current location for the Curiosity rover of Sol 1221 (or the 1,221^st day on the Martian Surface).
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Full-Circle Panorama Beside 'Namib Dune' on Mars.

(Full-Circle Panorama Beside 'Namib Dune' on Mars)[5]

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The image, above, appeared at the top of this article. However, I decided to include it in the body, too. This is the ‘360 Full Circle’ version of the ‘Self Portrait’ captioned three images above. Now, My Dear Shoevians, as I have mentioned before you can left-click on any of these images and it will transfer your browser to another page that is just the full sized version of any given image. As well, there are footnotes at the bottom of the article. The number at the end of the caption, of any/all, images corresponds to the link at the bottom of the page. Click on a link to go to the credited page for each and every image. There you can, if you wish, download the High Definition version of any/all of the images included in my articles. . These high definition images make for great desktop wallpapers, or for any other image needs you may have, like sharing on Facebook or any of the other social media that you enjoy. Having said, I would like to ask all of you, My Dear Shoevians, to SHARE my articles (that you enjoy) via any/all the social media outlets that you enjoy. I am sure that all your; family, friends, and co-workers would enjoy seeing these images and learning of all our (hard earned) tax dollars at work!
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'Garden City' Site

('Garden City' Site)[6]

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That brings us to the image, above, our final image of this edition of “The Mars Report’ for April 22^nd, 2016. This image was taken back in March of 2015 and shows a ridge at the bottom of Mount Sharp. The site’s name is ‘Garden City’ as shows a prominent network of mineral veins below a cap rock ridge. This rock ridge is located in the Pahrump section of the Lower Murray Formation of Mount Sharp. The mineral veins, pictured in this image are formed where fluids move through fractured rocks, depositing minerals in the fractures and affecting chemistry of the surrounding rock. In this case, the veins have been more resistant to erosion than the surrounding host rock. . The images that make up this mosaic view were taken by the left-eye camera of Mastcam (Mast Camera) on March 27, 2015, during the 938th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars. The image has been improved with white balancing so that the formation is seen as it would appear in natural light here on earth. Further image enhancement was accomplished by using Curiosity's laser-firing Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument. It was used to record the spectra of sparks generated by zapping 17 Garden City targets with the laser. Prior to taking this mosaic the ChemCam team had completed the most extensive upgrade to the data-analysis toolkit (which the ChemCam is part) since Curiosity reached Mars in August 2012. The cap rock scarp, pictured here, is about three feet in height.
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That brings us to the end of this edition of ‘The Mars Report’ for April 22^nd, 2016. I would like to take a moment to “Thank you!” all., My Dear Shoevians, for dropping by and reading this newest edition of ‘The Mars Report’. As I mentioned earlier in this article, I hope to have another edition of this series later next week. I have already located the images I would like to showcase, and many of them are very striking! They have been taken by the Mars Orbiting Observatory and display the harsh nature of a Martian winter. . Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. In closing, I would like to ask your indulgence. We all use social media of many types; Facebook, Pintrest, Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram just to name a few. Now that you have read and (hopefully) enjoyed this article, today? Don’t you think that others (family, friends, co-workers) would enjoy it, too? Why not be the one that shares an informative article filled with eye-candy? I think that most people would be grateful to find enjoyable content on the web that isn’t all about politics and all things political. Be that person and share this article, and all my works, and bask in the light of their thanks.
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Thank you!

Be Good To One Another!