THEMIS: Ares Vallis

Posted on August 28, 2014 by rburnham

Ares Valles flood channel (THEMIS_IOTD_20140828)THEMIS Image of the Day, August 28, 2014. This VIS image shows a portion of Ares Vallis.

More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Possible landing site for ExoMars rover

Posted on August 27, 2014 by rburnham

ESP_037030_1880One of the important roles of HiRISE is to take high resolution images of potential landing sites for future landing missions. This image is of an area called Aram Dorsum (also known by its old name, Oxia Palus) that has been suggested for the 2018/2020 ExoMars Rover, because it contains an ancient, exhumed alluvial system. Imaging is needed both to check for boulder fields and other obstacles, as well as checking the scientific justification for choosing a site… [More at link]

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

MARCI weather report: August 18-24, 2014

Posted on August 27, 2014 by rburnham

releaseimg_140818_140824This past week brought the arrival of the Martian northern autumn and southern spring seasons. Along with the autumnal equinox came extensive dust lifting was across northern mid-to-high latitudes, leading to regional storm activity that spanned from Acidalia to Utopia. Suspended dust haze… [More at link, including video]

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Seasonal sublimation site

Posted on August 27, 2014 by rburnham

tumblr_naveyn3PRu1rlz4gso1_1280Seasonal sublimation site. Beautiful Mars series.

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity: Glassy-textured rock

Posted on August 27, 2014 by rburnham

0730MR0031270000402981E01_DXXXSol 730, August 26, 2014. Both the Mastcam and ChemCam imaged a large, grayish rock with a rounded, relatively smooth, and glassy surface. Mastcam used its 100mm lens to image the rock and its surroundings (right).

ChemCam shot a mosaic of images across the rock (below). A visual link is provided by the flat, angular rock (yellow arrow) resting on the sand in the center of the Mastcam image; this rock also appears, out of focus, at right in the ChemCam mosaic, which combines five images.

730-chemcam-mosaicSol 730 raw images (from all cameras), and Curiosity’s latest location map.

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

THEMIS: Ravi Vallis

Posted on August 27, 2014 by rburnham

Ravi Vallis channels (THEMIS_IOTD_20140827)THEMIS Image of the Day, August 27, 2014. This VIS image shows a portion of Ravi Vallis.

More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Eroded scarps in Cerberus Fossae

Posted on August 26, 2014 by rburnham

tumblr_nave6emkuA1rlz4gso1_1280Eroded scarps in Cerberus Fossae. Beautiful Mars series.

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity images Phobos crossing the Sun

Posted on August 26, 2014 by rburnham

20140825_0713MR0030220000402580L01_DXXX_phobos_transitFrom Emily Lakdawalla’s blog at The Planetary Society: “Shooting video of a lumpy moon crossing the Sun and turning it into a giant googly eye is not a new activity for Curiosity, but I get a fresh thrill each time I see one of these sequences downlinked from the rover. A big pile of data from the most recent Phobos transit just landed on Earth, and I had to assemble them into an animation and share it with you…” [More at link]

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Dust ridges in Tharsis

Posted on August 26, 2014 by rburnham

tumblr_navdsskEsU1rlz4gso2_1280Dust ridges in Tharsis; the length of the top ridge in the full-resolution closeup is about 293 meters (961 feet).

Beautiful Mars series.

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity: Large crater to southwest

Posted on August 26, 2014 by rburnham

729-west-crater-pan1Sol 729, August 24, 2014. The Mastcam’s wide-angle imager shoots a portrait of a shallow crater approximately 50 meters (160 feet) wide lying to the southwest of Curiosity. As noted below, this will be the rover’s next waypoint (four-frame Mastcam composite).

Sol 729 raw images (from all cameras), and Curiosity’s latest location map.

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off