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Welcome back My Dear Shoevians to The Other Shoe and 'The Mars Report' for September 2nd , 2015. Today I bring you some of the most panoramic and incredible images, from the Curiosity rover, I have ever seen. I know that each and every week I talk about the “incredible images” I have to share, and somehow I don't doubt that harms my credibility. However, after you see what I have to share, today, maybe just maybe my credibility will remain intact..We start with the image, above. This is a ‘selfie’ from the Curiosity rover while parked on the lower elevation of Mount Sharp. It was taken with the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on Aug. 5, 2015, during the 1,065th Martian day. . Now, My Dear Shoevians, there just are not a whole lot of images from Curiosity that I haven’t already shared with all of you right here in the pages of ‘The Mars Report’. However, I haven’t (yet) shared something. That is VIDEOS! That’s right, today I am going to share with all of you, My Dear Shoevians, several videos that have become available by NASA/JPL. I will post the images I do have to share, and then we will move right into the videos. So, stick around and keep on reading and viewing and shortly you will come to some great videos directly from the Martian surface and the Curiosity rover.
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Geological Contact Zone Near 'Marias Pass' on Mars
(Geological Contact Zone Near 'Marias Pass' on Mars)
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Our next image, above, was taken on lower Mount Sharp with the MAstCam camera on the Curiosity rover. The image was taken in July25th, 2015 just below ‘Marias Pass’ of Mount Sharp. What we see?Bedrock, this is an image of the bedrock at the base of Mount Sharp, and there are two different types of bedrock in this image. The darker, finely bedded bedrock higher in the image and overlying the mudstone stratigraphically is sandstone that the rover team calls the "Stimson" unit.
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Test Rover at JPL During Preparation for Mars Rover's Low-Angle Selfie[/caption]
(Test Rover at JPL During Preparation for Mars Rover's Low-Angle Selfie)
. The next image, above, shows a test rover back here on Earth. This rover is exactly the same as the Curiosity rover and is used as a test platform for running diagnostics for any problems they may encounter with the Curiosity rover while on the Martian surface. This practice version was taken at JPL's Mars Yard in July 2013, using the Vehicle System Test Bed (VSTB) rover, which has a test copy of MAHLI on its robotic arm. Again, this is a mosaic of images taken by Curiosity's arm-mounted Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera took 92 of component images.
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. This is another image taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) of the Curiosity rover. It was taken in the "Marias Pass" area of Mt. Sharp on July 11th, 2015. This shows a rock-face that is very high in silica. Silica is a rock-forming compound containing silicon and oxygen, commonly found on Earth as quartz. High levels of silica could indicate ideal conditions for preserving ancient organic material, if present, so the science team wants to take a closer look. The rock in this image was about four inches across and was noted had a very fine grain.
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Curiosity Poster from NASA/JPL
(Curiosity Poster from NASA/JPL)
. Above is a poster that I found for the Curiosity rover as issued by NASA/JPL. Now, I have tried and tried to find exactly where I downloaded this poster… to no avail. However, if you would like the PDF file that I have I would be happy to send it to you. Just message me via comments on any of the fourThe Other Shoe blog locations and I will email the PDF Curiosity poster directly to you. Now, for the part of the article that you all have been waiting for… the videos! .
FIFTY YEARS OF MARS EXPLORATION
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THREE YEARS ON MARS – Curiosity Report Video
. That, My Dear Shoevians brings us the end of this (abbreviated) edition of ‘The Mars Report’ for September 2nd, 2015. I would like to take this time to say “Thank you!” to all of you, My Dear Shoevians, for dropping by and reading and watching. As always, if You have enjoyed your stay and this article? Please remember to ‘Like’ and ‘Share’ this article (and my blog) via any/all of your social media outlets. This way more and more people get to enjoy what you have enjoyed, here today. . Adieu! . Thank you! .
Welcome back My Dear Shoevians to The Other Shoe. And, welcome to an abbreviated edition of‘The Mars Report’. This week, well, there just isn’t than many new images (yet) from the; Curiosity Rover, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and MARVEN. Our first image, at the top of the page, is an all new ‘Banner’ image I ‘borrowed’ from the NASA/JPL web site. Thought it might look nice, and add to the article as a whole. Let’s see if I get ‘sued’ for using it.
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The image is of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that currently obits the Martian surface. This orbiter has provided all of you, My Dear Shoevians, with some spectacular images, one of which will appear right here today. Since its landing the Curiosity rover is tracked by this orbiter, and on more than one occasion I have shared an image, taken by this orbiter, of the Curiosity rover on the Martian surface.
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Now, for our first image of this article, I mentioned that this is a shortened version of this article series, due to my commitments this week. As I promised this image was taken by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The orbiter, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), has detected deposits of glass within impact craters on Mars. The deposits are shown, in the image, as green colored.
(NASA Spacecraft Detects Impact Glass on Surface of Mars)
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Now the interesting fact about this glass, and the reason that I have shared this image here today, is what is found in this ice.
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“During the past few years, research has shown evidence about past life has been preserved in impact glass here on Earth. A 2014 study led by scientist Peter Schultz of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, found organic molecules and plant matter entombed in glass formed by an impact that occurred millions of years ago in Argentina. Schultz suggested that similar processes might preserve signs of life on Mars, if they were present at the time of an impact.”[2]
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Like the “dino-DNA.. trapped in amber” (a la ‘Jurassic Park #1) this ice on the Martian surface could (easily) have trapped life forms from the surface at the time of impact. This give scientists are real opportunity to find out ‘was there life forms on Mars, before…?’. I am sure that the scientists, at NASA/JPL, have already put in their requests that future Martian landers make one of these sites a‘Must Visit’ site. The possibilities are astounding and limitless.
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I have to tell you, My Dear Shoevians, this article may be short but images, like this one, are the reason that I write and publish this article series. The possibilities that come, when we explore our own solar system, are genuinely limitless. For as long as I breath air with these lungs, I will push my government and elected leaders to keep funding… advance funding for space exploration. With the challenge of ‘Climate Change’ becoming more and more evident every single day. Mankind must realize that the earth was our cradle, but it was never meant to be our grave.
Now, My Dear Shoevians, what we see before us (above) is large gullies of ice crystals on the Martian surface. Just like snow, here on Earth, ice forms during the winter months on the Martian surface. The biggest difference between the ice, here on Earth, to the ice formed on the Martian surface is composition. Here on Earth ice is formed by freezing H2O, whereas on the Martian surface it comes from frozen Co2(Carbon Dioxide). Creating Dry Ice. Now the temperature that Co2 freezes is at -80.5 C (-113F ). That is some seriously cold air. You can rule out taking a Christmas Ride to Grandma’s in an Open Sleigh during a Martian winter! The image, acquired on April 11, 2015, by theHigh Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows frost in gully alcoves in a crater on the Northern plains.
(NASA Mars Orbiter Preparing for Mars Lander's 2016 Arrival)
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There she is, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (well, an Artist’s Rendering). On July 29th, 2015 NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter successfully completed a maneuver to put the spacecraft in the right place on Sept. 28, 2016, for supporting arrival of the InSight Mars lander mission. This is the, previously featured here at The Other Shoe[5], ‘Insight Martian Lander’. ‘Insight’ is set to land, on the Martian surface, on September 28th, 2016 (right before our Presidential election, FYI).
Which brings us, My Dear Shoevians, to the final image of the day, for this edition of ‘The Mars Report’. For the very first time mankind has more orbiting objects circling Mars. The image, below, shows the flight paths of the five orbiters must be carefully monitored. Last year's addition of two new spacecraft orbiting Mars brought the census of active Mars orbiters to five, the most ever. They are; NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution(MAVEN) and India's Mars Orbiter Mission joined the 2003 Mars Express from ESA (the European Space Agency) and two from NASA: the 2001 Mars Odyssey and the 2006 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter(MRO).
“It's not just the total number that matters, but also the types of orbits missions use for achieving their science goals. MAVEN, which reached Mars on Sept. 21, 2014, studies the upper atmosphere. It flies an elongated orbit, sometimes farther from Mars than NASA's other orbiters and sometimes closer to Mars, so it crosses altitudes occupied by those orbiters. For safety, NASA also monitors positions of ESA's and India's orbiters, which both fly elongated orbits.[8]”
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That brings us, My Dear Shoevians, to the end of another edition of ‘The Mars Report’. As always, I hope that you have enjoyed your time spent here, today. If you have, Please be sure to ‘Like’ and‘Share’ this article with all your social media. That way all of your; family, friends, and Facebook friends can enjoy this work, too. I will be off, tomorrow (August 4th 2015) for a ‘Journey to L.A.’!
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Yes, it is that time again, where I make the 13 hour round trip to Rolling Hills Estates to see my primary/coordinating Care Physician. Once I have recovered from that adventure, I will be back right here providing you, My Dear Shoevians, with more and more articles to read and ENJOY!
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Adieu!
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Thank you!
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Danny Hanning, Writer, Research Staff, Editor and Publisher of The Other Shoe
(Veteran NASA Spacecraft Nears 60,000th Lap Around Mars, No Pit Stops)
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Welcome back MY Dear Shoevians to The Other Shoe. Unfortunately I got a bit of a late start, today, on this article. It is currently 2:15 PM PDST and that leaves me in a bit of a rush to publish ‘On Time’ for my Central Timer Zone readers. I found myself engaged in rather heated (one posted asking me to “surrender” in one thread… ROFLOL) exchanges where most ‘gun enthusiasts’ do not respect the rights of the unarmed, over their perceived) right to keep and bear any-and-all arms anywhere and everywhere they desire. Lacking a functional understanding of the English language, I was forced to make an appeal based on wording of the Preamble of the Constitution. .“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,…”.
Right there, the last three words; “insure domestic tranquility”. None of them, not a single one, ever showed a single regard for our right to domestic tranquility. Nor would they concede that an armed (an likely hopped up on methamphetamines) redneck with an Ak-47 might scare the bejeezeus out of an average American citizen. For all My Dear Shoevians that read from outside America, this is the quagmire that ‘gun enthusiasts’ have created around an inalienable right of the vast majority of the American population. Enough of that, now on with ‘The Mars Report’..
With the late start I, unfortunately, did not have time to put together another ‘Gargantuan’ edition of this series. Instead, today, you will have six images, one video and the accompanying explanation and content.
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Our first image appears at the top of the article. This is an artist’s representation of NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. This June the 23rd the Odyssey spacecraft made its 60,000th orbit over the Martian surface. Its orbiting began on October 23rd, 2001 and on December 15th, 2010 it became the longest orbiting spacecraft over Mars. My, notorious, last image of this edition was taken by Odyssey. An image will take your breath away.
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Now, for our next image of this edition, I give you a July 4th inspired image from the Curiosity rover. Taken September 19th, 2012… well I will just post it and talk on the other side.
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Yes, it is the American Flag! This is an image, taken by Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), of the American Flag Medallion. This flag medallion is riveted to the structure of the rover. Not many Americans have seen this medallion; you can now count yourselves among those few. For our next image I have a wonderful and incredible panoramic view taken by the Curiosity rover.
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This incredible image was taken on May 30th, 2015 with the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on Curiosity’s 1,000th day on the Martian surface! This one image is actually a composite of many dozen independent images taken by the Navcam starting on May 27th, 2015. My Dear Shoevians, I try my best to give you one of these incredible panoramic images every couple of months. Americans should be very proud of the hard work NASA scientists and support staff do to keep projects, like the Curiosity rover working and developing and producing science and imagery.
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This rock outcrop, dubbed "Missoula", by NASA scientists, was discovered near Marias Pass on Mars. Let me take a few moments to break down what appears in this image for you, My Dear Shoevians. This image was taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager of the Curiosity rover. This target, “Missoula” was unlike anything it had studied before. This rock face contained high amounts of silica. Silica is a combination of silicon and oxygen, commonly known on Earth as Quartz. This is called a ‘Geologic Contact Zone’ due to the meeting of; pale mudstone at the bottom of the outcrop and coarser sandstone at the top of the outcrop.
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“"We found an outcrop named Missoula where the two rock types came together, but it was quite small and close to the ground. We used the robotic arm to capture a dog's-eye view with the MAHLI camera, getting our nose right in there," said Ashwin Vasavada, the mission's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. MAHLI is short for Mars Hand Lens Imager.”[5]
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This incredible finding was one of the most recent findings by the Curiosity rover, but one of (what is certain to be) thousands upon thousands of discoveries Curiosity will make in its lifetime on the Martian surface. I am very happy that, while all too many Americans, are preoccupied with guns and wars that a majority of Americans revel in our scientific pursuits and accomplishments. All too often American media only carries the ‘Dark Side’ of America, and Americans. Here, at The Other Shoe, I diligently work to show the world a different and better side of America and Americans.
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The image, above, is a mosaic image made from many images taken by the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. This is ‘Gale Crater’ the home of the Martian Rover Curiosity. Gale Crater is ninety-six (96) miles in diameter. This image is oriented with ‘top-is-North’. I would try and explain the science behind this image, but I will leave it to a quote from the article accompanying this image.
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“The colors come from an image processing technique that identifies mineral differences in surface materials and displays them in false colors. For example, windblown dust appears pale pink and olivine-rich basalt looks purple. The bright pink on Gale's floor appears due to a mix of basaltic sand and windblown dust. The blue at the summit of Gale's central mound, Mount Sharp, probably comes from local materials exposed there. The typical average Martian surface soil looks grayish-green. Scientists use false-color images such as these to identify places of potential geologic interest.”
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Next, an homage to the beginnings of ‘The Mars Report’ and one of the very first rover subjects of this article series. More than four years ago, I started writing this article series, when it started I was following two brand new Martian Rovers; Spirit and Opportunity. Unfortunately, two winters ago, we lost Spirit due to a failure of communications. NASA sent commands for Spirit to move to a covered area and to power-down for the Martian Winter. Spirit did not receive the commands, and was left powered up and exposed during a harsh Martian winter season. We have not heard from Spirit again. However, Opportunity just keeps trucking. Operators of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity plan to drive the rover into a valley this month where Opportunity will be active through the long-lived rover's seventh Martian winter, examining outcrops that contain clay minerals. Recently NASA created, and shared, this video.
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(Opportunity Rover's 7th Mars Winter to Include New Study Area)
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As always, My Dear Shoevians, as is customary I have saved the very best image, for last. Now, I am not so sure just how each blog location will handle this next image. It is very large in size and scope. I will, likely, have to compress it for use on one or more blog locations. However, if you want to see this image in its original size and scope? Just go to the bottom of the page and click on the corresponding footnote link. That will take you to the NASA/JPL web site page that featured this image. I always do my best to LINK material so that I am not plagiarizing material and so that the real people behind these great images get their due credit. Now, without further adieu, I give you ‘Morning Clouds Atop Martian Mountain’. .
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Taken with the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter this image shows clouds gather in the summit pit, or caldera, of Pavonis Mons, a giant volcano on Mars. This image was taken shortly after the Martian dawn. The clouds are mostly made up of ice crystals. They appear blue, in the image, because the structure of the crystals reflect blue light more strongly than other colors. This image was made by THEMIS through three of its visual-light filters plus a near-infrared filter, and it is approximately true in color. In other words, this image is not ‘false color’ for our viewing. If you were in orbit, over the Martian surface, you could look out a window and this is exactly how it would appear to you, My Dear Shoevians..
That brings us to the end of this edition of ‘The Mars Report’. As always, My Dear Shoevians, it has been my pleasure to bring this article, these images, and the science and discoveries right to your browser. In hopes that many peoples, from all over the world, get a better and more informed view of America and Americans. We are not all about ‘guns’ and ‘war’. As a matter of fact, a majority of Americans seek a more peaceful nation and world in which to live and raise our children. That view, of America and Americans, is not always featured… even in our own journalism.
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Each and every week, that I am physically able and with less pain, I will work to bring you more and more; science, nature, space, Mars, news, and even some Young Adult Fiction. It is my hope, and dream, to be a small part of a broader understanding of America and Americans… and what we can do for the benefit of all mankind. . Adieu! . Thank you!.
Danny Hanning Writer, Editor, Research Staff and Publisher at The Other Shoe
Looking Up at Mars Rover Curiosity in 'Buckskin' Selfie
Geological Contact Zone Near 'Marias Pass' on Mars
Test Rover at JPL During Preparation for Mars Rover's Low-Angle Selfie[/caption]
High-Silica 'Lamoose' Rock
Curiosity Poster from NASA/JPL
