I've used too strong of a wording when trying to express discontent over the fact that the image processing pipeline itself when it comes to rover images is not open source, which i guess is too big of an ask, considering how they have it set up, understandably it'd be unreasonable to ask for plans for the automated infrastructure that builds the finish product. I wasnt aware of the complexity of this infrastructure before seeing the diagram for it.

With other instruments like MRO HiRISE and others, the USGS maintains the ISIS3 that provides means for reproducable data processing, meaning the end user does not have to depend on the USGS to release a processed product, or allows the user to inspect the data or the process at a lower level and tweak the process for their own needs; and the lack of that freedom somewhat bothered me. (and also the lack of access to finish products, but that is probably going to get resolved at some point, so only a temporary concern)

I am thankful that the VICAR format is open - projecting my complaint to the entire MIPL was a bad idea, as this specifically applies to the rover images.

I'm not sure what product you're trying to make that isn't put into the PDS with a large code base and expansive documentation in a few months time, just like HiRISE etc.

It's definitely doable with the data available. There's good enough maps to orient using features, plus preliminary metadata, and camera properties are mostly known.
Whether the panorama is suitable to be gridded depends on why & how the panorama is being made (i.e. if proportions/projection are being preserved vs trying for best visual appearance), and doing it depends on their toolset and how much effort the maker wants to put into annotation.

I'm working on a proof-of-concept but not quite there.

Hello everybody,
I'm joining this group again with Perseverance to share our first NavCam (selfie style!) sol 2

Fantastic image, Eli!

Zooming in to the rover deck reveals a family picture

"Schmutz" was the technical term i think..

New raw images just trickling in.

Looks like the Ingenuity helicopter made it in there as well! And it's flying.

I made two KMZ image overlays for Google Earth/Mars. Result is pretty precise I think.
I used topo map here: https://maps.planet.fu-berlin.de/jezero/#
...and JPL "Figure 1" image here: https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24333
So with that I measured distance from rover to EDL components.
Looking that now I wonder is there any chance to Perseverance visit skycrane and parachute crash site(?)

Attention UMSF imagewizards!!! At the suggestion of long-time member fredk (he of the Mystery Men) there is a new thread specifically to discuss processing Perseverance imagery. Some posts in this the landing thread will be moved over there in the near future, but please start using this new thread.

Thanks!

Maybe someone has already derived and posted this, but I was curious about just how far Perseverance is now from the delta, and I'm computing the point-to-point distance to be close to 1980 meters.

I'm sure there won't be a drive following that straight path, but this gives an idea of how big the delta will appear at various closer distances, and is also an interesting benchmark for future precision in landing. That will be of interest when the next step in MSR occurs.

One more announcement: There is now a thread dedicated to the geology of Jezero as the mission unfolds. I'm told that it rocks.

I don't think they will try to approach the parachute site due to the risk of getting tangled up in cords. A gust of wind can spell disaster.

As with the skycrane crash site, the chemicals laying around there may pose a risk to the onboard instruments.

But I'm sure they will put the new zoom cameras to good use imaging both sites from a safe distance.

I don't know if they will move NW across the "Fractured Unit". If they drive the rover NE, they could also examine the heat shield to possibly see how well it performed.

The first Mastcam-Z panorama of the landing site is available and it's fantastic!!!

https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25640/mastc...egree-panorama/

I can tell you for a fact that the geologists must be salivating at the chance to study this cliff up close, located on the isolated delta remnant directly to the west of the rover. Cliffs that tall and clean-cut are rare on Mars, it's probably a very young feature and so might be a high priority target to sample for biosignatures (the fresher the rocks the higher the chance the organic molecules have yet to degrade)

Click to view attachment

OMG this is absolutely a-ma-zing, breathtaking...

What a gorgeous planet....

Again, thanks JPL for all of this!

So, it's the backshell then?

Click to view attachment

Wow, just downloaded the TIFF file of the first pano. Spectacular! Here's a clearer shot of that bright object.

Click to view attachment

Seems to be too far to the west and too distant to be the backshell, which should be more to the northwest. And distances are tough to estimate in this image, but there are clues.

The large isolated section of delta material that is to the right of this mystery object (in the panorama) has two smaller "lumps" just to its south. Our mystery object might be on one of those. (Time to start giving these landmark features names?)

Let's hope so...

https://xkcd.com/1504/

No - the backshell isn't in that direction.

Here is the basemap ( https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/where-is-the-rover/ ) with hardware image ( https://www.uahirise.org/releases/persevera...ware-labels.jpg ) reprojected on to it. There is no hardware south of that distant mesa.

Here is the Mastcam-z image from the RAW page with that feature in it

Left:
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/p...6_034085J01.png

Right https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/p...6_034085J01.png

Then we've got a very interesting puzzle....

How does the rover determine orientation? Dead reckoning?

Anaglyph showing the shiny rock:
Click to view attachment
And cross-eyed:
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Perhaps its this feature??

Apologies for the sloppy work here, (quick break from work!) but my best guess for the direction of the shiny rock.

Click to view attachment

IMHO, orientation of rover is correct to think that is actually back shell, flipped.
Parachute isn't visible. Distance ~1100 meters.

I think likely it's just an extra reflective rock, but it is interesting, and hopefully we'll get a closer look. If you cover up the shiny bit, the rest looks like the other surrounding rocks.

On the 3D image it looks like a shiny rock to me.

I think you have this correct, Walfy. If that smaller lump, that our "mystery" is atop, is delta material it's especially interesting. This feature is not only reflective, or very light colored, but also flat on top.

Perhaps the "zoomable"cameras on the mast will give us a better look.

My first Panorama from Mars 2020.

"Then we've got a very interesting puzzle....

How does the rover determine orientation? Dead reckoning?"

We are determining orientation by comparing the panorama with a map.

Phil

In some cases we could use the solar azimuth to help with the panoramas.

Full horizon panorama.

https://flic.kr/p/2kEHkGW

I prefer xflare's identification to the interpretation that the bright feature is out on a distant small hilltop, as shown on walfy's image. I think the rock is much closer than the bigger hill and those two little hills are below the intermediate horizon. The intermediate horizon has lots of rocks all over it, but the larger hill is so far away that we can barely make out any rocks on it at all (I'm assuming the rock size distribution is the same everywhere, a simplifying assumption but a good start). When we have a pan from a different spot, fairly soon, we will see if there is any parallax between the bright object and surrounding features on the rocky ridge. That will tie down its location for sure.

Phil

I make the FOV of these MCZ images to be around 19.5 degrees, which is basically at the widest end of the zoom. At the narrow end the FOV would be around 1/4 this, so we'd see 16 times as much detail.

I agree. Looking closely at my cross-eyed anaglyph, you can see a small hill clearly behind and immediately to the right of the shiny rock. That hill looks about the same distance as the large hill to the right, and so could be one of the small hills walfy identified.

I'm going with an identification closer to the black arrow:
Click to view attachment

There are what i assume to be quaternions (?) regarding attitude in the search/query api. see https://mars.nasa.gov/rss/api/?feed=raw_ima...04096_034085J01 for example. There are altazimuth compass bearings and elevation for the regular people as well, which could be used to project the images to a compass ball according to the metadata, rather than manually overlapping and tie-pointing the images. I do not know of software or libraries that can help with this, if you do please tell.

I gave a quick response to erentar in this thread.

This is the new Mastcam-Z panorama in circular format. North is at the top (estimated by eye from a map and might be off by a degree or two). The horizon shows up much better here than in the Navcam version.

Phil

Click to view attachment

"The camera team will discuss the new panorama during a question and answer session at 4 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 25"

That shiny rock is actually much closer to us than you think.

Here it is. It's only 492m (1615 feet) away from the rover.

Look at the size of the overhang on the top of this hill:

Click to view attachment

I fiddled with the contrast. Also, closer to the rover is a boulder with a shiny flat top, though not as extreme as the mystery object.

Thanks, Pando, that looks good!

Phil

Are these rocks being polished somehow and then giving a specular reflection of the sun, that is about at that azimuth?

To put it into perspective, the shiny rock is only about ~2 meters (5-6 feet) across, 492 m away. It's on top of a ridge very close to the rover that limits our view.

That massive overhang on top of the distant hill is ~200 meters (500 feet) across, 2.3 km away!

One of the papers linked in the geology page indicates some silicate signatures, so it could simply be a vein of quarts or a phyllo-silicate like mica.

https://wgnhs.wisc.edu/minerals/muscovite/

I hesitate to disagree with the experienced members of this forum, but I think I think there is a discrepancy between the 3D image of the mystery shiny rock and the identifications of fredk and Pando.

I will use Pando’s labelling and call the left hand group of rocks in the Mastcam image containing the shiny rock Group1 and the right hand group Group2. To my eyes fredk’s anaglyph image clearly shows Group1 to be further away than Group2 (I would say quite some distance). However Pando’s map shows Group1 to be closer to the rover than Group2. If I have interpreted fredk’s post #337 correctly, he has the black arrow pointing to Group1 and the white arrow to Group2. If so, then they are much the same distance from the rover and this again conflicts with my depth perception of the anaglyph image.

The key question seems to be what are the relative distances from the rover of Group1 and Group2. Are my eyes misinterpreting the image? Also relevant would be how much the closer terrain is likely to hide the two small hills. If they are invisible then my following suggestion is obviously wrong.

If my perception of the relative distances are correct, then I agree with walfy and think the shiny rock is on the eastern end of the eastern (closer) small hill with a vague suggestion of correspondence of elements as follows:

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

I think it's just a rock

edit: 2x Phil-o-vision applied

Whether the Rover descent cam captured the backshell before it landed?

The last right bottom one is from HiRise whereas others are from Rover descent cam at different times..