(Yes, I know MER's not designed to look for microscopic fossils, etc, etc...)
Full Version: Santa Maria!
"The hills were alive, now let's go and proooove it!"
(Yes, I know MER's not designed to look for microscopic fossils, etc, etc...)
(Yes, I know MER's not designed to look for microscopic fossils, etc, etc...)
Getting back to Ruiz. The more I look at these features the more I think of slow, dripping water.
What it makes me think of is Libyan desert glass: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http...t:429,r:2,s:112
I think of Jane Russell, may she rest in peace.
Farewell, Ruiz...
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Probably heading now for a "last viewpoint" for a final batch of pics, then time to move on...
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Probably heading now for a "last viewpoint" for a final batch of pics, then time to move on...
Looking back across Yuma and the south rim of Santa Maria:
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The HiRISE team have released another WOW! pic of Oppy taken on the edge of Santa Maria crater...
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/releases/oppy-sm-color.php
Slightly less migraine-inducing b/w version here...
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http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/releases/oppy-sm-color.php
Slightly less migraine-inducing b/w version here...
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When are results of mossbaauer due? 
QUOTE (Stu @ Mar 9 2011, 07:11 PM) 
The HiRISE team have released another WOW! pic of Oppy taken on the edge of Santa Maria crater...
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/releases/oppy-sm-color.php
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/releases/oppy-sm-color.php
I know they probably wanted to release the image fast so processing was quick, but wow, they really kicked up the contrast all the way to eleven on that one.
I know what you mean; when I clicked on the link and the image appeared my first reaction was a horror film cry of "My eyes! My eyes!!!!"...
But there's a lot of detail in there, hidden away. That's why I thought I'd try to tame it a little, and make a b/w version. That and I'd run out of Nurofen...
But there's a lot of detail in there, hidden away. That's why I thought I'd try to tame it a little, and make a b/w version. That and I'd run out of Nurofen...
I was using the fantastic MER image decoder ( http://www.greuti.ch/oppy/html/filenames_ltst.htm ) to check when a pancam image was actually taken, and found that sunrise occurs for Oppy right now at around 114 degrees azimuth... that sounded familiar.. so I checked using Google Earth and, yep, if I've worked it out right (and if I haven't I'll be happy to be set straight), the sun comes up for Oppy right behind the tallest hills on the farside of Endeavour, right behind that STILL unnamed crater dug out of the hillside... Here, a fanciful view...
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As ever, just a bit of fun.
Interestingly, if I've got my Google Earth alignments right, Cape York lies approx one quarter of the way between that sun and the right hand side of the picture, so when she sets off for Endeavour late next week Oppy will be heading for the sunrise... kind of fitting...
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As ever, just a bit of fun.
Interestingly, if I've got my Google Earth alignments right, Cape York lies approx one quarter of the way between that sun and the right hand side of the picture, so when she sets off for Endeavour late next week Oppy will be heading for the sunrise... kind of fitting...
While Spirit has likely headed off into the sunset. 
QUOTE (Stu @ Mar 11 2011, 01:05 AM)
... so when she sets off for Endeavour late next week Oppy will be heading for the sunrise...
Dream on, on to the heart of the sunrise
Sharp distance
How can the wind with its arms all around me
Is that an obscure Yes lyric? Wow. I haven't heard that in at least 25 years! Might have to break out the old vinyl when I get home tonight.
Latest panorama here...
http://twitpic.com/48psuf/full
Lovely view. (Oppy got pretty close to the edge there, didn't she...!)
This crater really did surprise us all with its dramatic appearance, didn't it? I mean, I know it looked "interesting" from the HiRISE images taken from orbit, but I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in thinking our stopover at Santa Maria has been one of the highlights of Oppy's trek.
http://twitpic.com/48psuf/full
Lovely view.
(Oppy got pretty close to the edge there, didn't she...!) This crater really did surprise us all with its dramatic appearance, didn't it? I mean, I know it looked "interesting" from the HiRISE images taken from orbit, but I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in thinking our stopover at Santa Maria has been one of the highlights of Oppy's trek.
...and a big 3D version...
http://twitpic.com/48qw84/full
Others will do better, I'm sure - it's not a perfectly-aligned mosaic by any stretch of the imagination! - but I like the view...
http://twitpic.com/48qw84/full
Others will do better, I'm sure - it's not a perfectly-aligned mosaic by any stretch of the imagination! - but I like the view...
QUOTE (Stu @ Mar 12 2011, 12:55 PM)
Others will do better, I'm sure
Stu, that mosaic of yours is no disgrace.
Thanks for posting.
QUOTE (Stu @ Mar 12 2011, 12:46 AM)
(Oppy got pretty close to the edge there, didn't she...!)
Close to the edge, down by a river.
Down at the end, round by the corner.
Seasons will pass you by
(Poolio, while you've got the old vinyl out...)
EDIT: oooh, Fred, good one.
After all these years, I have two noobie questions:
If Meridiani Planum was once an ocean floor, did the interesting craters get made after the water was gone, or were they the last puddles?
What happens to the blueberries when a rover rolls over them?
If Meridiani Planum was once an ocean floor, did the interesting craters get made after the water was gone, or were they the last puddles?
What happens to the blueberries when a rover rolls over them?
Eagle, Endurance, Victoria and Santa Maria are all more recent than any free-standing water that may have existed on Meridiani. Endeavour however was around during that time.
I don't believe there is any visual evidence from back-tracking images that berries were compromised by the weight of the rovers.
I don't believe there is any visual evidence from back-tracking images that berries were compromised by the weight of the rovers.
While we're at it, can I suggest some Oppy thoughts to her sister rover?
Wait - take your time, see it through and hope sunshine shine on you?
Andy
Wait - take your time, see it through and hope sunshine shine on you?
Andy
The blueberries as so small, there may be nothing there there. Still, it'd be interesting to take a close look, eh?
There have been blueberries poking up from rock. Maybe we'll see some on the 'pavement' on the way to Endeavour.
There have been blueberries poking up from rock. Maybe we'll see some on the 'pavement' on the way to Endeavour.
QUOTE (brellis @ Mar 12 2011, 04:28 PM)
What happens to the blueberries when a rover rolls over them?
When a rover rolls over blueberies then I would expect them to be pushed into the sand.
This is because in Eagle crater when the Mossbauer Spectrometer was placed on the ground then the blueberries were pushed into the sand:
http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/m...22P2953M2M1.JPG
QUOTE (PaulM @ Mar 12 2011, 05:34 PM)
When a rover rolls over blueberies then I would expect them to be pushed into the sand....
That's in sand, but what about on rock?
"If Meridiani Planum was once an ocean floor, did the interesting craters get made after the water was gone, or were they the last puddles?"
No, it was not an ocean floor. It was an area of thick sand dune deposits over a cratered area, and the sand became soaked in water, either percolating up from underground or from melting of a snow cover on top. There might have been many cycles of that. Just occasionally there might have been patches of water, just possibly exposed to the atmosphere if it was salty enough not to freeze, otherwise under a snow or ice cover. If there were oceans on Mars they never got up this high. Since then there has been about 2 billion years of erosion of those sandy rocks.
Phil
No, it was not an ocean floor. It was an area of thick sand dune deposits over a cratered area, and the sand became soaked in water, either percolating up from underground or from melting of a snow cover on top. There might have been many cycles of that. Just occasionally there might have been patches of water, just possibly exposed to the atmosphere if it was salty enough not to freeze, otherwise under a snow or ice cover. If there were oceans on Mars they never got up this high. Since then there has been about 2 billion years of erosion of those sandy rocks.
Phil
I vaguely recall a discussion on images showing "scratches" on the bedrock where the wheels had been...
Can't remember the sols/area in question though, nor the thread...
Anyone remember if these were the result of ran-over-spherules ?
Can't remember the sols/area in question though, nor the thread...
Anyone remember if these were the result of ran-over-spherules ?
Didn't they say that there was a shallow, salty sea way back near the start of the mission? I remember those 'festoons' thought to be the product of wave actions; does some newer discovery contradict them?
"Didn't they say that there was a shallow, salty sea way back near the start of the mission?"
Some people did say that, though not necessarily people on the mission. But Meridiani Planum is not a depression, there's no low area to hold a sea. It's been clear from day one that this couldn't have been a sea. Local puddles or lakes might allow ripples to create festoons (might... the idea they are caused by ripples is only a hypothesis), and I allowed for that in my comment. But check out ripples on a beach caused by sheet flow of water down the beach as the tide goes out and water in the sand leaks out. Linear flow of water under a snow or ice cover might also form ripples in places. There's no unambiguous evidence for bodies of open water, that I am aware of. But even if local ponds could form, there was no ocean here.
Phil
Some people did say that, though not necessarily people on the mission. But Meridiani Planum is not a depression, there's no low area to hold a sea. It's been clear from day one that this couldn't have been a sea. Local puddles or lakes might allow ripples to create festoons (might... the idea they are caused by ripples is only a hypothesis), and I allowed for that in my comment. But check out ripples on a beach caused by sheet flow of water down the beach as the tide goes out and water in the sand leaks out. Linear flow of water under a snow or ice cover might also form ripples in places. There's no unambiguous evidence for bodies of open water, that I am aware of. But even if local ponds could form, there was no ocean here.
Phil
Thanks for clearing it up, I wasn't up to date on the current theories.
Endeavour crater has some low-lying areas. Interesting how precise one's wording needs to be when addressing an issue like this.
From a recent SDC article: "The Endeavour crater on Mars is a vast depression about 14 miles (22 km) wide. Opportunity has been heading for it since August 2008 because it will give scientists their deepest look yet into the surface of Mars.
The goal is to study any clay deposits — a sign of Martian water activity in the ancient past — that may be present on Endeavour's rim, researchers have said."
That's gonna be so fascinating!
Interesting how precise one's wording needs to be when addressing an issue like this.From a recent SDC article: "The Endeavour crater on Mars is a vast depression about 14 miles (22 km) wide. Opportunity has been heading for it since August 2008 because it will give scientists their deepest look yet into the surface of Mars.
The goal is to study any clay deposits — a sign of Martian water activity in the ancient past — that may be present on Endeavour's rim, researchers have said."
That's gonna be so fascinating!
Side note: as of this writing, this thread has had 100,035 views.
Seems to be a slight bit of interest here...
Seems to be a slight bit of interest here...
In March of 2004, flush with the discoveries in Eagle Crater, Steve Squyres explored the idea of a Meridiani sea, even explaining away the lack of a depression to hold it.
"Even though it's flat and doesn't have a clear rim around it, things can erode away and the topography can change over time," Squyres responded.... "Now with respect to whether we are talking about water that was up to your neck ,or your ankles with briny pools or a deep sea, we'll have a better handle on that once we've explored this region over a larger area."
A.J.S. Rayl: How, then, do they theorize, then, that Opportunity is parked on the shoreline?
"The reason I feel good saying that is, in a situation like this, where you have evaporation taking place, all you have to do is sit in one place long enough and the water will come through," Squyres maintained. "In other words, the shoreline might be there and you're in deep water, but then it gets shallower and shallower and whoosh it goes by and you're sitting on dry stuff. And then it builds up with more water and the process repeats. We're talking about water that comes and goes and so the location of the shoreline will move with time." Therefore, he rationalizes, "at some point in time, it is likely that there was a shoreline here."
http://www.planetary.org/news/2004/0323_Ma...ers_Update.html
An abstract in the December 3, 2004 issue of Science is much more restrained in its wording: "We interpret the rocks to be a mixture of chemical and siliciclastic sediments formed by episodic inundation by shallow surface water, followed by evaporation, exposure, and desiccation."
And the 'sea' has been reduced, in a December 17 Science article by Richard Kerr, to "...perhaps a vast puddle."
Of course the press latched onto the romantic idea of Opportunity exploring an ancient shoreline, so it's perfectly understandable that that the idea of a shallow sea at Meridiani should remain in the public perception.
It doesn't help that the NASA Science site still has at the end of its Opportunity page, "The evidence suggests that Opportunity’s landing site was once the shoreline of a salty sea."
"Even though it's flat and doesn't have a clear rim around it, things can erode away and the topography can change over time," Squyres responded.... "Now with respect to whether we are talking about water that was up to your neck ,or your ankles with briny pools or a deep sea, we'll have a better handle on that once we've explored this region over a larger area."
A.J.S. Rayl: How, then, do they theorize, then, that Opportunity is parked on the shoreline?
"The reason I feel good saying that is, in a situation like this, where you have evaporation taking place, all you have to do is sit in one place long enough and the water will come through," Squyres maintained. "In other words, the shoreline might be there and you're in deep water, but then it gets shallower and shallower and whoosh it goes by and you're sitting on dry stuff. And then it builds up with more water and the process repeats. We're talking about water that comes and goes and so the location of the shoreline will move with time." Therefore, he rationalizes, "at some point in time, it is likely that there was a shoreline here."
http://www.planetary.org/news/2004/0323_Ma...ers_Update.html
An abstract in the December 3, 2004 issue of Science is much more restrained in its wording: "We interpret the rocks to be a mixture of chemical and siliciclastic sediments formed by episodic inundation by shallow surface water, followed by evaporation, exposure, and desiccation."
And the 'sea' has been reduced, in a December 17 Science article by Richard Kerr, to "...perhaps a vast puddle."
Of course the press latched onto the romantic idea of Opportunity exploring an ancient shoreline, so it's perfectly understandable that that the idea of a shallow sea at Meridiani should remain in the public perception.
It doesn't help that the NASA Science site still has at the end of its Opportunity page, "The evidence suggests that Opportunity’s landing site was once the shoreline of a salty sea."
A lot can happen in 4.5 billion years, even on a world without plate tectonics. But I agree, if for no other reason than having looked at the wonderful MOLA maps, that it seems unlikely that Meridiani was a sea. But the sight of endless waves of sand rolling off into the distance still makes me want it to have been one. I remember seeing the first glimpse of the light rocks inside the rim of Endurance in the distance those years ago, thinking they were whitecaps, and Oppy's discarded parachute a wayward sail. Having sailed the ocean of space, it seemed only fit that Oppy land in a sea of sand that was once a sea of water, and that we would sail that dual sea with her, however briefly.
"The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. On this shore, we've learned most of what we know. Recently, we've waded a little way out, maybe ankle-deep, and the water seems inviting."
- Carl Sagan
"The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. On this shore, we've learned most of what we know. Recently, we've waded a little way out, maybe ankle-deep, and the water seems inviting."
- Carl Sagan
The last L0 image is complete down and
here is the complete L0 Navcam view taken on Sol 2525.
Jan van Driel
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here is the complete L0 Navcam view taken on Sol 2525.
Jan van Driel
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Very nice, that's a heck of a view isn't it?
Going to miss Santa Maria, but looking forward to the journey ahead.
Going to miss Santa Maria, but looking forward to the journey ahead.
Very nice, lovely. Can we go now?
We moved on 2538 to what I guess is the 2nd of the long-baseline imaging locations. If that's right, this'll be our last move before we hit the road again...
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M2.JPG?sol2538
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M2.JPG?sol2538
Here are a couple of reprojected versions of jvandriel's most recent panoramas.
Phil
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Phil
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Truly got to admire the patience of the MER team even though Endeavour beckons....
Great science, marvelous views and a healthy rover... thanks everyone for your (UMSF) Santa Maria memories.
Southeast!
Great science, marvelous views and a healthy rover... thanks everyone for your (UMSF) Santa Maria memories.
Southeast!
onward! 
how many treks before the next surprise, I wonder
blueberries perhaps?
how many treks before the next surprise, I wonder
blueberries perhaps?
Oppy looks back at Yuma...
http://twitpic.com/4aeapo/full
(3D pic, red/blue glasses needed, not the shades younicked forgot to give back after watching AVATAR)
http://twitpic.com/4aeapo/full
(3D pic, red/blue glasses needed, not the shades you
Used the HiRISE IAS Viewer to zoom in on this image http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_020758_1780 and then messed about © a bit with the resulting crops to make a portrait of Oppy at Santa Maria on New Year's Eve...
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Unashamedly artistic view of Santa Maria...
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A whole load more "new" images on my blog, here... http://roadtoendeavour.wordpress.com/2011/...-at-santa-maria if anyone wants a look. (Not looking for extra traffic, just not very fair to hog UMSF's bandwidth by posting them all here )
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A whole load more "new" images on my blog, here... http://roadtoendeavour.wordpress.com/2011/...-at-santa-maria if anyone wants a look. (Not looking for extra traffic, just not very fair to hog UMSF's bandwidth by posting them all here
)
To steal a phrase, "magnificent desolation", Stu.
If I had the space outside, a karesansui based on this would be awesome.
Andy
If I had the space outside, a karesansui based on this would be awesome.
Andy
Visitors would definitely flock to this rock garden!- the imaging team has supplied us with enough geography to build this...
Could we dig it next to Meteor Crater, Arizona please? (like Stu's crater comparison shots)
Could we dig it next to Meteor Crater, Arizona please? (like Stu's crater comparison shots)
phantastic Stu ! another one for the best-of gallery
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