Mars Exploration 1: Unmanned Missions (Probes; Rovers; etc.)

[Kondoru]

Not a sexy rover with go faster stripes...

...But probably a lot cheaper...

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

The latest full-colour photos are magnificent.

This one caught my eye, due to the darker colouring at the top of the mound.
May well just be shadow but, given that dribbles of briny water have been observed dribbling down crater walls (as discussed in another Mars thread), could the dark patches be indicative of moisture?

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mult...0667217530_000FDR_N0010052AUT_04096_034085J01

 

[Souleater]

The latest full-colour photos are magnificent.

This one caught my eye, due to the darker colouring at the top of the mound.
May well just be shadow but, given that dribbles of briny water have been observed dribbling down crater walls (as discussed in another Mars thread), could the dark patches be indicative of moisture?

View attachment 35875

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mult...0667217530_000FDR_N0010052AUT_04096_034085J01

You can tell Mars is old, it still in sepia

 

[EnolaGaia]

... This one caught my eye, due to the darker colouring at the top of the mound.
May well just be shadow but, given that dribbles of briny water have been observed dribbling down crater walls (as discussed in another Mars thread), could the dark patches be indicative of moisture? ...

I'm not sure which elevated bit you're calling the 'mound'. If it's the ridge line in the middle distance I'm confident the dark patches are shadow. If it's the taller mass in the far distance I don't see anything that suggests something other than shadows.

I wouldn't think upwelling of subsurface brine would extend upward through elevated landforms.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

I'm not sure which elevated bit you're calling the 'mound'. If it's the ridge line in the middle distance I'm confident the dark patches are shadow. If it's the taller mass in the far distance I don't see anything that suggests something other than shadows.

I wouldn't think upwelling of subsurface brine would extend upward through elevated landforms.

I suspect you're right about that.
It was specifically the dark patch here that caught my eye:



and made me recall several photos taken from orbit, showing dark streaks that appear when the temperature rises.

 

[madmath]

Based on the angle of shadows on the part of the rover, those are only shadows on Mars' surface due to the rough top of that mound.

Looking forward to learning how well the helicopter works; such would be an invaluable resource for future rover missions. Perhaps someday a helo could even scoop up samples from sites where a rover cannot safely go.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Looking to the right of the image I annotated above (snipped from the large panorama), there is another dark patch at the top of a ridge, with what appears to be a vertical dark streak beneath it. Hope Perseverance will head in that direction for a closer look:

 

[Souleater]

Based on the angle of shadows on the part of the rover, those are only shadows on Mars' surface due to the rough top of that mound.

Looking forward to learning how well the helicopter works; such would be an invaluable resource for future rover missions. Perhaps someday a helo could even scoop up samples from sites where a rover cannot safely go.

Will a helicopter work on Mars? I know they struggle a high altitude with low atmospheric pressure, i know when they started developing the Mars helo they theorised it was possible but it couldnt be tested practically on Earth

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Will a helicopter work on Mars? I know they struggle a high altitude with low atmospheric pressure, i know when they started developing the Mars helo they theorised it was possible but it couldnt be tested practically on Earth

The parachute clearly worked extremely well, so the atmosphere, although thin, should be ample to generate lift from the rotor blades.
I'm sure the drone was thoroughly tested under low pressure conditions.

 

[Hexmaster]

Based on the angle of shadows on the part of the rover, those are only shadows on Mars' surface due to the rough top of that mound.

There will soon be (or perhaps are already) images taken with sunlight in other angles. Will be easy to tell what's shadows then.

 

[ramonmercado]

The latest full-colour photos are magnificent.

This one caught my eye, due to the darker colouring at the top of the mound.
May well just be shadow but, given that dribbles of briny water have been observed dribbling down crater walls (as discussed in another Mars thread), could the dark patches be indicative of moisture?

View attachment 35875

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mult...0667217530_000FDR_N0010052AUT_04096_034085J01

Looks just like Cromer beach, even the overflowing old barrel.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Looks just like Cromer beach, even the overflowing old barrel.

Overflowing with what, I wonder?

 

[Xanatic*]

It's not a barrel, it's one of those metal cylinders the martians fired at Earth.

 

[Bigphoot2]

It's not a barrel, it's one of those metal cylinders the martians fired at Earth.

Maybe they've finally found Jimmy Hoffa

 

[ramonmercado]

Maybe they've finally found Jimmy Hoffa

The Cromer Mafia: they make you an offer you can't understand.

 

[kamalktk]

Will a helicopter work on Mars? I know they struggle a high altitude with low atmospheric pressure, i know when they started developing the Mars helo they theorised it was possible but it couldnt be tested practically on Earth

Perseverance includes a helo probe strapped to it. The helo has reported back successfully and it scheduled for more testing before launch. It looks drone sized.

 

[hunck]

Some great photos here

eg

 

[madmath]

Perseverance includes a helo probe strapped to it. The helo has reported back successfully and it scheduled for more testing before launch. It looks drone sized.

Small, very light, solar powered, with wide blades one above the other rotating in opposite directions. It was tested in a pressure chamber here on Earth in similar conditions to those on Mars. It is mounted under the rover, to be lowered to the ground and then launched after the rover starts moving. Completely autonomous, of course, one cannot fly an aircraft with a multi-minute lag between input and response.
PBS in the US had a great show on the engineering and testing of the rover and helicopter, including unexpected problems caused by the especially-intense cleansing of the sample tubes; it is possible to make something too clean to work.

 

[ramonmercado]

Some great photos here

eg

That looks like a dead donkey, centre left, definitely Cromer Beach.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

That looks like a dead donkey, centre left, definitely Cromer Beach.

Nah! Can't be.
There's no smug, fat Irishman sitting on it.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Any ideas as to what this strange dark object can be?



https://www.theconfessionalspodcast...es-image-of-a-strange-black-object-in-the-sky

 

[Mythopoeika]

Any ideas as to what this strange dark object can be?

View attachment 36285

https://www.theconfessionalspodcast...es-image-of-a-strange-black-object-in-the-sky

A dark blob like that is in all of the recent photos from Mars.
It may be a grain of sand on the lens, or a dead pixel on the camera's CCD, or something may actually be flying around in Mars's atmosphere.

 

[ramonmercado]

Any ideas as to what this strange dark object can be?

View attachment 36285

https://www.theconfessionalspodcast...es-image-of-a-strange-black-object-in-the-sky

Martian Bat Signal.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

A dark blob like that is in all of the recent photos from Mars.
It may be a grain of sand on the lens, or a dead pixel on the camera's CCD, or something may actually be flying around in Mars's atmosphere.

Something stuck on the lens would be the obvious answer, but the website claims that, of 4 photos taken almost simultaneously at that location, only one featured the mystery object.

 

[charliebrown]

There be aliens !

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Martian Bat Signal.

So that's why China sent a probe to Mars - to look for a new food source.

 

[Mythopoeika]

So that's why China sent a probe to Mars - to look for a new food source.

They can buy all the rock they want here in Brighton or Edinburgh. No need to go to Mars.

 

[Naughty_Felid]

The latest full-colour photos are magnificent.

This one caught my eye, due to the darker colouring at the top of the mound.
May well just be shadow but, given that dribbles of briny water have been observed dribbling down crater walls (as discussed in another Mars thread), could the dark patches be indicative of moisture?

View attachment 35875

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mult...0667217530_000FDR_N0010052AUT_04096_034085J01

There you go proof someone has visited Mars before. That is clearly an oil drum. I can't believe NASA hasn't airbrushed this one.

 

[feinman]

That's where the new Trump Tower will go!

 

[Naughty_Felid]

Any ideas as to what this strange dark object can be?

View attachment 36285

https://www.theconfessionalspodcast...es-image-of-a-strange-black-object-in-the-sky

A twiglet.