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unusual pebble shape
In the "mission success" panorama
http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/gal...B009R1_br2.jpg there is visible a pebble or small stone that has a very unusual shape: it appears to have two "stalks" that protrude upwards (rather like the stalks or antennae of a snail). One can see the pebble by scrolling about 3/5 of the way to the right, and about 3/5 of the way down, in the panorama. In the high resolution view, one of the stalks can be seen to be casting a shadow. Any idea how a stone with this unusual shape could be formed? Or could it be some part of the rover airbag that fell off while it was rolling? PM -- Email: lastname at best dot com. No spam please. All spam will be complained to sender's ISP. |
#2
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The Little Critter at Meridiani
On 2004-02-02 23:57:38 -0600, (Paul Morris) said:
there is visible a pebble or small stone that has a very unusual shape: it appears to have two "stalks" that protrude upwards (rather like the stalks or antennae of a snail). I noticed that too, yesterday. It is visible more clearly in the full-resolution TIFF image available from this page: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05199 I don't see how that could be a rock, it really doesn't look like one at all. I expect it's either some piece of debris that came off the spacecraft, or else it could be what it looks like: a little critter wandering across the sand, waving its antennae at us. Somebody should ask JPL for an opinion of whether they can identify it as anything they sent on the spacecraft. Taking another picture to see if it has moved might be a good idea too. Tony Belding, Hamilton Texas |
#3
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unusual pebble shape
Paul Morris wrote:
In the "mission success" panorama http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/gal...B009R1_br2.jpg there is visible a pebble or small stone that has a very unusual shape: it appears to have two "stalks" that protrude upwards (rather like the stalks or antennae of a snail). One can see the pebble by scrolling about 3/5 of the way to the right, and about 3/5 of the way down, in the panorama. In the high resolution view, one of the stalks can be seen to be casting a shadow. Any idea how a stone with this unusual shape could be formed? Or could it be some part of the rover airbag that fell off while it was rolling? Interestingly though, it doesn't appear in this image: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...1P1528L0M1.JPG Some hacker messing about, perhaps? |
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The Little Critter at Meridiani
Tony Belding wrote:
On 2004-02-02 23:57:38 -0600, (Paul Morris) said: there is visible a pebble or small stone that has a very unusual shape: it appears to have two "stalks" that protrude upwards (rather like the stalks or antennae of a snail). I noticed that too, yesterday. It is visible more clearly in the full-resolution TIFF image available from this page: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05199 I don't see how that could be a rock, it really doesn't look like one at all. I expect it's either some piece of debris that came off the spacecraft, or else it could be what it looks like: a little critter wandering across the sand, waving its antennae at us. Somebody should ask JPL for an opinion of whether they can identify it as anything they sent on the spacecraft. Taking another picture to see if it has moved might be a good idea too. The panorama pics were taken on Sol 002 and the navigation camera pics that don't show the object were taken on Sol 005... so whatever it was, it looks like it went sometime between those two days. Is there anything that could have fallen off the spacecraft and be light enough to be blown away by the thin Martian air, I wonder? Incidentally, the close-up pics of the exposed rock where the rover has driven to are now available on the JPL website: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...nity_n013.html |
#5
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The Little Critter at Meridiani
Tony Belding wrote in message news:2004020507303924084%zobeid@techiecom...
Taking another picture to see if it has moved might be a good idea too. Tony Belding, Hamilton Texas There is a navcam image and the object is not the http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marslife/ |
#6
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The Little Critter at Meridiani
I suspect that this will be seen as proof by by Hogland (sp?) that
there is life on mars, and he will be on the Art Bell show tonight . Mike Swift In article , "Icarus" wrote: Tony Belding wrote: On 2004-02-02 23:57:38 -0600, (Paul Morris) said: there is visible a pebble or small stone that has a very unusual shape: it appears to have two "stalks" that protrude upwards (rather like the stalks or antennae of a snail). I noticed that too, yesterday. It is visible more clearly in the full-resolution TIFF image available from this page: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05199 I don't see how that could be a rock, it really doesn't look like one at all. I expect it's either some piece of debris that came off the spacecraft, or else it could be what it looks like: a little critter wandering across the sand, waving its antennae at us. Somebody should ask JPL for an opinion of whether they can identify it as anything they sent on the spacecraft. Taking another picture to see if it has moved might be a good idea too. The panorama pics were taken on Sol 002 and the navigation camera pics that don't show the object were taken on Sol 005... so whatever it was, it looks like it went sometime between those two days. Is there anything that could have fallen off the spacecraft and be light enough to be blown away by the thin Martian air, I wonder? Incidentally, the close-up pics of the exposed rock where the rover has driven to are now available on the JPL website: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...nity_n013.html |
#7
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unusual pebble shape
In article , "Icarus"
wrote: Paul Morris wrote: In the "mission success" panorama http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/gal...B009R1_br2.jpg there is visible a pebble or small stone that has a very unusual shape: it appears to have two "stalks" that protrude upwards (rather like the stalks or antennae of a snail). snip In the high resolution view, one of the stalks can be seen to be casting a shadow. Any idea how a stone with this unusual shape could be formed? Or could it be some part of the rover airbag that fell off while it was rolling? Interestingly though, it doesn't appear in this image: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...1P1528L0M1.JPG Some hacker messing about, perhaps? That is one of the early images, with a resolution too low to show any pebbles. No, this is a real feature. I guess it is now thought likely to be some debris from the airbag. PM -- Email: lastname at best dot com. No spam please. All spam will be complained to sender's ISP. |
#8
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The Little Critter at Meridiani
In article 2004020507303924084%zobeid@techiecom, Tony Belding wrote:
On 2004-02-02 23:57:38 -0600, (Paul Morris) said: there is visible a pebble or small stone that has a very unusual shape: it appears to have two "stalks" that protrude upwards (rather like the stalks or antennae of a snail). I noticed that too, yesterday. It is visible more clearly in the full-resolution TIFF image available from this page: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05199 I don't see how that could be a rock, it really doesn't look like one at all. I expect it's either some piece of debris that came off the spacecraft, or else it could be what it looks like: a little critter wandering across the sand, waving its antennae at us. Ofcourse... Then again similar stones I've seen here were actually stones. |
#9
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unusual pebble shape
Paul Morris wrote:
In the "mission success" panorama http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/gal...ity/20040202a/ MSPan_B1_2x-B009R1_br2.jpg there is visible a pebble or small stone that has a very unusual shape: it appears to have two "stalks" that protrude upwards (rather like the stalks or antennae of a snail). snip In the high resolution view, one of the stalks can be seen to be casting a shadow. Any idea how a stone with this unusual shape could be formed? Or could it be some part of the rover airbag that fell off while it was rolling? Interestingly though, it doesn't appear in this image: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...636065EFF0211P 1528L0M1.JPG Some hacker messing about, perhaps? That is one of the early images, with a resolution too low to show any pebbles. No, this is a real feature. I guess it is now thought likely to be some debris from the airbag. I viewed the area from the two images at the same scale side by side, and the resolution looks very similar to me. Very small pebbles visible in the panorama shot are also visible in the navigation camera shot (especially if you tweak the contrast and brightness), so I can't really see how something as obvious as the object in the panorama shot could be present at the time the second picture was taken and not be visible at all. |
#10
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unusual pebble shape
Icarus wrote:
I viewed the area from the two images at the same scale side by side, and the resolution looks very similar to me.**Very*small*pebbles visible in the panorama shot are also visible in the navigation camera shot (especially if you tweak the contrast and brightness), so I can't really see how something as obvious as the object in the panorama shot could be present at the time the second picture was taken and not be visible at all. looks like the field is different in the two pictures and the nav pictures does not go far enough "south" (if you see what I mean) to get the object into view ... |
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