HiRISE: Crater floor in Arabia Terra

Posted on March 14, 2017 by rburnham

tumblr_omblarJ2Hm1rlz4gso1_1280Crater floor in Arabia Terra. Beautiful Mars series.

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THEMIS: Elorza Crater’s rugged floor

Posted on March 14, 2017 by rburnham

Elorza Crater's rugged floor (THEMIS_IOTD_20170314)THEMIS Image of the Day, March 14, 2017. Today’s false color image shows part of Elorza Crater located in Ophir Planum. (See also here.)

The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image.

More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.

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Curiosity update: Another early morning

Posted on March 14, 2017 by rburnham

NLB_542644430EDR_F0612148NCAM00281M_-br2Sol 1636, March 13, 2017, update by USGS scientist Ryan Anderson: Thankfully I wasn’t actually on duty today, because with daylight savings time Arizona is now on West-coast time, and planning started at 6:30am! In any case, the weekend plan was successful, and put us close to the third stop of the current campaign to study the Bagnold Dunes.

The Sol 1636 plan starts off with a ChemCam passive observation of Vera Rubin Ridge, with a supporting Mastcam mosaic. ChemCam will also analyze the bedrock targets “Buck Cove Mountain” and “Smyrna Mills”. After that, we will do a short “bump” to Stop 3 of the dune campaign, with… [More at link]

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HiRISE: Bedrock outcrops in Kaiser Crater

Posted on March 13, 2017 by rburnham

ESP_012239_1330This enhanced-color image shows a patch of well-exposed bedrock on the floor of Kaiser Crater.

The wind has stripped off the overlying soil, and created grooves and scallops in the bedrock. The narrow linear ridges are fractures that have been indurated, probably by precipitation of cementing minerals from groundwater flow. The rippled dark blue patches consist of sand. [More at link]

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Opportunity: View to the south in false color

Posted on March 13, 2017 by rburnham

4668-pancamFC1P542596769EFFCWJ7P2550L5M1_L2L5L5L7L7Sol 4668, March 12, 2017. Still on the downslope from the summit of the Cape Tribulation rim segment, the rover’s Pancam shot the view to the south in multi-band color.

At right is a look at the nearby surface showing scattered small broken rocks. (Both images are Holger Isenberg reconstructions; click for larger versions.)

Opportunity raw images, its latest mission status, a location map, and atmospheric opacity, known as tau.

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Curiosity: Narrow path through the sands

Posted on March 13, 2017 by rburnham

1635-navcamSol 1635, March 13, 2017. Another 27-meter (88-foot) drive to the south has placed Curiosity adjacent to a large stretch of sand (right). But ahead lies a route where it can get across the Bagnold sands by rolling over rocks placed like lilypads on a pond. Click the above Navcam composite image to enlarge it.

Sol 1635 raw images (from all cameras), and Curiosity’s latest location.

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HiRISE: West Coprates Chasma

Posted on March 13, 2017 by rburnham

tumblr_ombkz8EeK51rlz4gso1_1280West Coprates Chasma. Beautiful Mars series.

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THEMIS: Cracks across Margaritifer Terra plains

Posted on March 13, 2017 by rburnham

Cracks in Margaritifer Terra plains (THEMIS_IOTD_20170313)THEMIS Image of the Day, March 13, 2017. Today’s false color image shows part of the plains of Margaritifer Terra, cracked by geological faulting.

The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image.

More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.

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Curiosity update: Back to nominal MAHLI planning

Posted on March 10, 2017 by rburnham

1632MH0006910010602685C00_DXXXSol 1634-35, March 10, 2017, update by USGS scientist Ken Herkenhoff: MSL drove about 29 meters toward the south on Sol 1632, and is in a good position for weekend activities.  The MAHLI images taken on Sol 1632 look good, and the dust cover is working properly, so MAHLI is ready to return to nominal operations!  The tactical planning team therefore selected contact science targets on a block right in front of the rover that shows interesting color variations.  This bedrock block is too close to the rover to allow ChemCam data to be safely acquired, so a nearby exposure was selected for an analogous measurement and named “Hurricane Mountain.”  I helped plan ChemCam observations today, and picked a nearly-vertical layered bedrock target that we called “Hardwood Mountain.”  Right Mastcam… [More at link]

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Curiosity: Swirling sands

Posted on March 10, 2017 by rburnham

1632-navcamSol 1632, March 10, 2017. Following a 27-meter (88-foot) drive, Curiosity paused amid the sea of rocks and sand. The nearby sand surface has been shaped by wind-blown particles into complex patterns as they swirl around the rocks. In places, small beds of gravel-size pebbles have collected. Mount Sharp lies toward the upper left. Click image to enlarge it.

Sol 1632 raw images (from all cameras), and Curiosity’s latest location.

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