Curiosity update: ‘Drive-thru geology’

Posted on August 13, 2015 by rburnham

NLB_492664625EDR_F0490294NCAM00354M_-br2Sol 1073, August 12, 2015, update from USGS scientist Ryan Anderson: The drive on sol 1072 was successful, with a total distance travelled of about 35 meters. For sol 1073, Mastcam will be very busy taking pictures to document the geology in our new location. We are planning a 31×1 mosaic of the outcrop in Marias Pass, plus a 13×3 mosaic of “Mt. Shields” (not to be confused with Mt. Sharp!) and a 10×3 stereo mosaic of “Gunton”. Navcam also has 8 frames of atmospheric observations of the horizon to the… [More at link]

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THEMIS: Aureum Chaos – false color

Posted on August 13, 2015 by rburnham

Broken terrain in Aureum Chaos (THEMIS_IOTD_20150813)THEMIS Image of the Day, August 13, 2015. 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. Today’s false color image shows part of Aureum Chaos.

More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.

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Opportunity: Studying Pvt. Robert Frazer

Posted on August 12, 2015 by rburnham

Sol 411P492610541ESFCO03P2509L5M1_L2L5L5L7L705, August 12, 2015. The rover’s gaze is directed down toward Pvt. Robert Frazer, the flat outcrop exposed in front of the wheels. At right is a false-color Pancam view (by Holger Isenberg using filtered Pancam frames); below is a composite from two Navcam frames. Click either to enlarge.

4105-navcamOpportunity raw images, its latest mission status, a location map. and atmospheric opacity, known as tau.

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MARCI weather report, August 3-9, 2015

Posted on August 12, 2015 by rburnham

releaseimg_150803_150809For the past week on Mars, water-ice clouds and dust storms continued to propagate eastward along the seasonal north polar ice cap edge. The receding ice cap edge has now defrosted away to around 63°N latitude. In the equatorial latitudes, diffuse afternoon water-ice clouds were observed over the red planet’s highest volcanoes, ridges, and plateaus.  [More at link, including video]

 

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Curiosity: ChemCam at Missoula, part 3

Posted on August 12, 2015 by rburnham

1071-chemcam3Sol 1071, August 11, 2015. The third composite by ChemCam at the Missoula outcrop shows similar layering, but with different details. (Click to enlarge.)

Sol 1071 raw images (from all cameras), and Curiosity’s latest location map.

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Curiosity: ChemCam at Missoula, part 2

Posted on August 12, 2015 by rburnham

1071-chemcam2Sol 1071, August 11, 2015. More of the layered outcrop at Missoula; note the small spherules embedded in the rock. (Click to enlarge.)

Sol 1071 raw images (from all cameras), and Curiosity’s latest location map.

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Curiosity update: ‘What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate’

Posted on August 12, 2015 by rburnham

NLB_492570384EDR_S0490000NCAM00546M_-br2Sol 1071-1072, August 11, 2015, update from USGS scientist Ryan Anderson: Unfortunately over the weekend there was an outage at the Deep Space Network, which prevented the plan for the weekend from being sent to Curiosity. So, instead of a busy weekend, Curiosity was in “runout” mode, making routine environmental monitoring measurements and waiting patiently for more instructions. The sol 1071 and 1072 plans are focused primarily on recovering the observations that were lost in the weekend plan, before we drive away.

On sol 1071, ChemCam has a passive observation of “Coombs”, and active (laser-firing) observations of three locations on “Missoula”. Mastcam will take some supporting images, and Navcam has some atmospheric observations. [More at link]

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THEMIS: Tyrrhenus Mons – false color

Posted on August 12, 2015 by rburnham

Eroded volcanics of Tyrrhenus Mons (THEMIS_IOTD_20150812)THEMIS Image of the Day, August 12, 2015. 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. Today’s false color image shows the edge of the northwestern flank of Tyrrhenus Mons.

More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.

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Opportunity: North wall, Marathon Valley

Posted on August 11, 2015 by rburnham

4104-pancamSol 4104, August 11, 2015. As scientists prepare to examine Marathon Valley in detail, the Pancam is being used to profile the walls: here’s the north side of the upper valley wall in a four-frame composite in false-color by Holger Isenberg using filtered Pancam images. Click to enlarge.

1P492529930EFFCO00P2429L2M1Note one rock leaning against another in the right-hand part of the composite above; see close-up at right. Rolled there? Thrown there? Where did it come from?

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

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Curiosity: ChemCam at Missoula

Posted on August 11, 2015 by rburnham

1071-chemcamSol 1071, August 11, 2015. With Opportunity back at the Missoula outcrop, the ChemCam has been busy making closeups on various parts of the layered outcrop. (Click to enlarge.)

Sol 1071 raw images (from all cameras), and Curiosity’s latest location map.

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