...Some Favorite Mars Opportunity Pics.....just for the fun of it!

All time favorite Opportunity pics.

Or maybe the unspoken reason, in picture format, for spending $2 billion
on what the administrator calls a "Flagship Mission", the Mars Science
Laboratory. A mission dedicated to finding /microbial life/ on Mars.

I mean, water alone isn't enough for life, or to justify such a mission.
And they haven't even hinted that any results, pics or data suggest
evidence of life. So what is the justification for this mission?

A "Flagship Mission" means NASA is staking their reputation on it.
They must have more then just.....signs of water. I mean, come on folks, think
clearly for a moment. This kind of mission won't fly without sufficient
justification.
And that kind of justification hasn't been made public.

Hunches and intuition...the 'need' to explore....is crapola.

What did they find on Mars intriguing enough for this mission???



Wide angle images of Spheres

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/012...5L5L6.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/533...5L5L6.jpg.html


Micro Images of Spheres

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2933M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...nity_m014.html




"This is a profound discovery. It has profound implications for astrobiology,"
said Edward Weiler, NASA chief of space science, at a Washington, D.C., news
conference. "If you have any interest in searching for fossils on Mars, this is
the first place you'd want to go."

"I was astonished," he said.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...P&type=science


The very day after the above quote was made, NASA ceased the weekly
press conferences on Opportunity. Few if any comments about the spheres
followed to this day. Maybe the justification, the evidence, is found with
what NASA ...won't... talk about.



"Twenty words or less."


The following pdf could be considered the defining paper so far on the
findings of the Mars Opportunity rover. After some two years on the
surface a detailed overview of the discoveries are presented.
The authors of this paper read like a who's-who of the astrobiology
and geological community.

An astrobiological perspective on Meridiani Planum
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~kaufman/ppt...y/Knoll_05.pdf

In the above extensive paper the sum total of references to the much
discussed and mysterious spheres, or blueberries as Nasa termed
them, follows:


"The remaining 10% is comprised of hematite, most
conspicuously as 2-6 mm spheroidal concretions that
occur throughout the outcrop"


That's it! Discussion over! They have nothing more to say about
the spheres except to acknowledge their existence. Oh, and also
the subtle change from the original identification of hematite concretions.
A very specific and abiotic identification. To 'spheroidal concretions'
which of course means no more than ....some round thing.
Which, of course, isn't any kind of identification at all.



Various Wide Angle Images of Spheres



http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/389...5L7L7.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/505...5L6L6.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/180...5L5L6.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/123...5L6L6.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/530...5L5L6.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/183...5L7L7.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/131...5L7L7.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/020...4L5L6.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/569...5L7L7.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/013...5L7L7.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/389...5L7L7.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/440...5L5L6.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/152...5L7L7.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/162...5L7L7.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/164...5L7L7.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/164...5L7L7.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/170...5L5L6.jpg.html

http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/136...5L7L7.jpg.html








Various Micro Images of Spheres



http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2956M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2956M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2933M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...nity_m182.html

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2953M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2953M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2959M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2957M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2933M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2957M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2956M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2956M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2936M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2956M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2907M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2977M2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2977M2M1.HTML




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