Spirit Flexes Its Arm To Use Microscope On Mars' Soil

In comp.robotics.misc Sir Charles W. Shults III wrote:
Well,

While I agree with the "rule the world" nonsense being "plonked", Jan
did have one fairly astute comment...... Thirty years after the political
stunt of landing men on the moon THIS is the best that the richest country
in the world can do?! We get toy robots wandering around on Mars? What
happened to "real" space stations? Or colony outposts on the Moon where
REAL interplanetary projects can get a jump start? Thirty five years after
Neil Armstrong's immortalized quote we're STILL flying vehicles that cost
hundreds of millions a launch and throw away half the mass JUST to get into
NEO? I'm so disappointed with our track record I want to spit every time
I hear that misbegotten political entity's name mentioned.
NASA, hack ptui!

Let the robber barons loose and see how long it takes to spread through
the solar system and beyond. Not that I'm hip to robber barons, but even
I recognize that without commercialization Columbus would never have
bothered with the "new world."

Sigh, IMO of course,
DLC

: "Jan Panteltje" wrote in message
: ...

: vituperative rant snipped

: If we really wanted to rule the world, many places might already be
: radioactive glass parking lots.

: Plonk.

: Cheers!

: Chip Shults




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* Dennis Clark www.techtoystoday.com *
* "Programming and Customizing the OOPic Microcontroller" Mcgraw-Hill 2003 *
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What happened is simple- we signed the UN Space treaty and are not
allowed as a nation to develop space resources, and the general public is
pretty much shut out of space by regulations. There are trillions of
dollars to be pumped into the economy by developing even a small fraction of
the potential, but people have been convinced that it is too expensive or
that there is no profit to be made.
It is unbelievable that in over 30 years, no real advances have been
made. Solar power satellites alone would replace nearly all fossil fuel and
apparently, nobody cares to do that.

Cheers!

Chip Shults

In comp.robotics.misc Sir Charles W. Shults III wrote:

IMO, both NASA and that treaty need to be plonked. We are an expanding
race and unless we all want to adopt the Chinese population control ideas
we need someplace to _go_. Another issue that international economic
parity enthusiasts seem to conveniently ignore, if EVERYONE on the planet
aspires to the living standards of the "Western World", and I see no reason
why they shouldn't, where will all those resources come from that will be
needed to provide it? Will we simply strip the planet to the core? Then
what? Space isn't a silly fantasy, it is an economic necessity for
continued life on this orb. Let's go a step further, what will we do with
all the "second sons"? By this I mean, how to we deal with the youth
looking for meaning? In the past we "got rid of them" through exploration
of new lands and peoples. This satisfied the collective case of "foot
itch and horizon fever" and spurred new ideas and activities that
benefitted us all. Where do they go now? The planet will become one big
city in the next 100 years, then what? We need to get "out there" for
economic, cultural, societal and survival reasons. It ain't SF folks,
it is swiftly becoming a racial need.
It is time to stop forbidding, and start regulating space activities.
It is time to get space exploration OUT of the hands of all these old
women in hats and into the hands of the risk takers.

IMO of course,
DLC

: What happened is simple- we signed the UN Space treaty and are not
: allowed as a nation to develop space resources, and the general public is
: pretty much shut out of space by regulations. There are trillions of
: dollars to be pumped into the economy by developing even a small fraction of
: the potential, but people have been convinced that it is too expensive or
: that there is no profit to be made.
: It is unbelievable that in over 30 years, no real advances have been
: made. Solar power satellites alone would replace nearly all fossil fuel and
: apparently, nobody cares to do that.

: Cheers!

: Chip Shults




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================================================== ==========================
* Dennis Clark www.techtoystoday.com *
* "Programming and Customizing the OOPic Microcontroller" Mcgraw-Hill 2003 *
================================================== ==========================

Dennis, I agree wholeheartedly.
Now, I have been looking at those images. Pretty neat. Check this one
out:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...EFF0327P2367R1
M1.JPG

Note the matter of how well the soil takes the prints. This indicates
fine sediment particles, but also note that it fractures and breaks up
pretty easily, not exactly like talcum or cocoa, but more like something
with a mixture of other particles. Seems to be that the material takes
prints very nicely but does not stick together that well overall, like a
mixture of extremely fine dust and some fine sand in the mix as well.
It is also pretty compressible from the look of it. Also note that the
larger flat granules in the upper right of the image seem embedded in the
finer silt- I have seen similar structures where pebbles had the soil under
them eroded away by wind.
This stuff doesn't seem to see much action. But also, very interesting
(at least to me is the extremely abraded, worn smooth surfaces of the rocks.
This indicates that those dust storms indeed do scour the daylights out of
things, and that this is something we may want to pay close attention to for
future missions, manned and otherwise. I also agree with the general
sentiment about static electric effects being substantial there.
Note that in the nearly vacuum conditions (typically 8 millibars or so)
and with those extremely tiny silt particles, static attraction is probably
a major controlling factor in how the dust and wind interact.
Now, let's have a look at this one:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...EFF0327P2370L7
M1.JPG

This shot is a gem- it says a lot in one image. Note many of the rocks
have a definite, "faceted" look to them. It might be that these particular
rocks are plutonic intrusions that have crystallized slowly in a manner
similar to basalt columns, but then I have to dismiss this idea because they
have that "caramel" look like they have fractured along amorphous planes.
This is pretty good material to test the brain with- you can see a
texture almost like melonstone, sandblasted smooth and revealing the
fracture planes. I think of something like obsidian but not as hard. It
would be interesting to dig down the side of one of those larger rocks to
see how far down the weathered surfaces extend.
We might also learn something about the age of the dust- how long it has
been there, for instance. It also looks from the surface of the soil here
and also in this pictu

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...EFF0327P2371R2
M1.JPG

...that the coarser grains are moved about separately from the finer
dust grains. Apparently a segregating mechanism is operating, and probably
happens once again during the onset of dust storms. I saw a fascinating
demonstration of how dust storms start in near vacuum conditions, that
explained that larger particles can move about pretty well in the high winds
without the dust being picked up. But- once the larger particles are in
motion, they can strike and break free small quantities of the dust, thus
setting a cascade of effects in motion that starts a real dust storm.
That seems to be important in the layering look that the larger
particles have. Note that the larger sand seems to be blown in drifts along
the rock "shadows" but that the silty looking stuff stays behind.
Finally, look at any of the microscopic images from sol 17- this is a
good one:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...EFF0327P2931M2
M1.JPG

Here it appears that the silt has been laid down like mud, then some
bubbles might have emerged from the wet layer as it dried. Note the
distinct holes in the material! Looks like those clams on the beach have
been at it.
Seriously though, this would be a fascinating experiment- a slurry of
clay and a partial vacuum, wait for it to dry, and see if it duplicates the
look of this microscope view.
Well, just my 2 cents' worth.

Cheers!

Chip Shults