...Rover Only a Half Mile from Lake Victoria!!!

jonathan wrote:

Next to the spheres, Victoria should easily be the highlight of the
rover missions.

They drove right past the rubble pile.

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/i...e=post&id=5895

That easily has to be the clincher that science management on this
mission has been grossly (terribly) mismanaged from the very start.

http://cosmic.lifeform.org

"Thomas Lee Elifritz" wrote in message
...
jonathan wrote:

Next to the spheres, Victoria should easily be the highlight of the
rover missions.

They drove right past the rubble pile.

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/i...e=post&id=5895


I didn't see that pic, kinda looks like a larger version of this
one early on.
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2285L7M1.HTML



That easily has to be the clincher that science management on this
mission has been grossly (terribly) mismanaged from the very start.


Ya, I just noticed they recently said the Meridiani dunes are not
being deposited but uncovered by erosion. Even though I barely
remember which side of a dune is the lee side, it was obvious
almost a year ago this was the case. I mean when you see
the cross stratification of ...all...of the Meridiani dunes what
other conclusion is there?

When you see this, the only explanation is the sand dunes were
buried and later exposed by dunes forming from an entirely different
direction. I would think this means the wind dunes were covered
by a shallow sea and covered by a new sea floor. Then later
modified by wind again. Alternating periods of dry and wet.
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2407R2M1.HTML

Cross stratification in dunes
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/lin...sed_dunes.html
http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/zion/html/3d154.html

But the horizontal racing stripes on ...all.. the slip faces at Meridiani
is a good mystery. I can only guess the stratified dunes were soaked
when part of the sea floor.
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2434R2M1.HTML

Maybe the stripes formed like this?
http://www.nps.gov/yell/slidefile/th...ages/05337.jpg


Nasa keeps saying the rocks are billions of years old at
Meridiani, fine. But that implies it's been geologic time since
water was there. I don't think so.
To guage how long ago water might have bubbled up
from below, look at the distinctive and delicate erosion pattern
shown in the ....shadows.... cast by these two pics.
Certainly not geological time scales, but maybe as ice ages
wax and wane. Or less.

Yellowstone mudpot
http://www.nps.gov/yell/slidefile/th...ts/midwaylower...
Endurance mudpot
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opp...4-07-16/1P1431...



And These sinkholes near Endurance appear to be from underground
ice melting out

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P1829L0M1.HTML
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2416R7M1.HTML
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...GP2591R3M1.JPG

I think Nasa once called a couple small versions of the first pic the
'smallest impact craters ever found'~

Let's see what happens at Victoria, it should be quite the show.


s



http://cosmic.lifeform.org

Nasa keeps saying the rocks are billions of years old at
Meridiani, fine. But that implies it's been geologic time since
water was there. I don't think so.
To guage how long ago water might have bubbled up
from below, look at the distinctive and delicate ...erosion pattern...
shown in the ....shadows.... cast by these two pics.
Certainly not geological time scales, but maybe as ice ages
wax and wane. Or less.


Yellowstone mudpot
http://www.nps.gov/yell/slidefile/th...ages/05402.jpg
Endurance mudpot
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opp...1P2397R1M1.JPG

jonathan wrote:

Next to the spheres, Victoria should easily be the highlight of the
rover missions.
They drove right past the rubble pile.

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/i...e=post&id=5895


I didn't see that pic, kinda looks like a larger version of this
one early on.
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2285L7M1.HTML

No, that's a run of the mill paleocrater, the rubble pile is a
relatively recent ejecta splat field on the top of the dunes.

Here's another view :

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne...2295085&size=o

Since it hasn't eroded away, one can presume, actually one can easily
see, that the ejecta splat fragments are harder and from a deeper layer
of crust. It was a spectacular opportunity to take a closer look at some
fresh material from a much deeper statigraphy and they breezed right by,
not even an acknowledgment from the science team. That's just nasty.

We are talking butt ****ing dumb geologists here. They don't give a ****
about this mission anymore, they just want panorama's for the dumb****s.

That easily has to be the clincher that science management on this
mission has been grossly (terribly) mismanaged from the very start.

Ya, I just noticed they recently said the Meridiani dunes are not
being deposited but uncovered by erosion.

Actually, they appear to be forming in place, sculpted by the wind as
the regolith outgasses and decomposes on the spot, in situ.

Let's see what happens at Victoria, it should be quite the show.

And that's all it will be, a show. They given up on the science.

http://cosmic.lifeform.org

I personally want to see the lower reaches of Hellas Basin
It is very deep and I have not as yet been able to determine
the atmospheric conditions there - temp, pressure, water
vapor etc.

IMHO Hellas is THE primo site for human exploitation.
But thats just a bald assed opinion, not based on facts,
cos I can't get the facts...

It is so deep it could act as an atmosphere trap....

Next to the spheres, Victoria should easily be the highlight of the
rover missions.

Download the large image of Victoria Lake (not crater) at the
very bottom of this page. The first thing I wish to see up close
is the 'dark streak' flowing from the rim wall at the very bottom
of the picture. The result of recent water flow perhaps???
http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/gallery/p...20060505a.html


And what is causing the unual erosion of the rim of Victoria?
And why are the dunes on the floor off-center at both Endurance
and Victoria?

Could this pic explain both questions?
http://www.picturesofplaces.com/pict...n-spring/large




And just in case anyone has forgotten about those spheres....


Paleoenvironmental Interpretation of the Dakota Sandstone
as a Mars Analog, focusing on Concretions
http://chapters.marssociety.org/cana...ssaBattler.pdf


Concretions

Concretions usually form during the early stages of diagenesis under
the influence of bacteria, soon after deposition of sediments, and at
shallow burial depths (Irwin and Curtis, 1977); (Mozley and Burns,
1992), ...Concretions commonly form around a nucleus composed
of a dead organism, and grow due to bacterial decay of organic matter
(Fairbridge and Bourgeois, 1978). The current understanding
(based on isotopic data) is that many concretions form biogenically, as
exemplified in papers by Coniglio and Cameron (1990), Mozley and Burns
(1993), Klein et al. (1999), and Coniglio et al. (2000).

If the acidic lake or a hot spring environments indicated by jarosite
existed at one time, they could have supported life. The discovery
of bromine is significant because it indicates that a large body of water
existed on the surface of Mars for a long time, and thus surface
temperatures were once warmer than they are today, possibly
enabling life to flourish (Britt, 2004b). The discovery of concretions
on Mars is profound because many concretions on Earth form biogenically.
Thus the Martian concretions might be a strong indication of the past
existence of life on another planet.


Mars Analog Conclusions

Given recent discoveries on Mars, the Dakota Sandstone has turned out to be
a better analog for Mars than anyone could have predicted. The Dakota
Sandstone provides many pieces of evidence for past water and life.
The concretions, in particular, strongly indicate past microbial activity.


The Mars Exploration Rovers found additional clues that indicate past water
on the surface of Mars. The mineral jarosite - a hydrated iron sulfate
which forms through the interaction of iron, sulfur and water - was
discovered, indicating the past presence of water, possibly in the form
of an acidic lake or a hot springs environment
(Malik, 2004).


Can't Wait!


Jonathan


s