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[Partial Gamification]

I saw this pop-up the day-after the announcement. Maybe the rover is just marking its territory.

Looking up at Mars every few nights and thinking about MSL, I really hope we can find evidence to support life elsewhere. Disappointment be damned!

 

[Ether_Snake]

That's mud?

 

[Partial Gamification]

That's mud?

No idea, I haven't seen any story/news associated with the image (from JPL).

 

[Insane Metal]

Remember they said they had found some bright particles in the martian dust? They said they'd investigate that further to try and understand what it was, and they have been quiet since. Maybe it could be some form of organism? Or fossils of some kind?

EDIT

The image above, I was going to say it's probably just martian soil that was removed by Curiosity's wheels, but the large image doesn't make it seem like that. That's weird.

EDIT 2

Oh that surely IS just the dust from one of the scoopfuls. Just a close up from the dirt dug up.

 

[Partial Gamification]

Oh that surely IS just the dust from one of the scoopfuls. Just a close up from the dirt dug up.

It very well could be. I will say it looks "soggy " to me but here is another image for consideration:

I think you are right but I hope you are not

 

[Leeroy3101]

Is curiosity the first rover to be digging as deep as it is into the soil?

 

[Nuklear]

It very well could be. I will say it looks "soggy " to me but here is another image for consideration:

I think you are right but I hope you are not

It looks like what my cats litter box looks like because he's too lazy to cover it up.

 

[Ether_Snake]

It looks like what my cats litter box looks like because he's too lazy to cover it up.

Yes! That's what it reminded me of, I couldn't quite figure it out.

edit: Why is the color different under the surface only now? And that dark color under the bright surface reminds me of digging deep under sand close to a beach, so that eventually you'd start digging into wet sand. Doesn't seem wet though.

 

[speculawyer]

Is curiosity the first rover to be digging as deep as it is into the soil?

Viking scoop in 1971:

Phoenix dug this in 2008:

What is with the color difference between the surface and below the surface? Amazing.
MSL in 2012:

 

[Insane Metal]

The difference in color is simply due to exposure to the atmosphere. The upper layer of soil gets a different color from exposure to the sun, just like it happens on Earth.

 

[Orrichio]

Since it's geophysical... I bet they found a rock indicative of a low-lying stream bed which then by natural deduction would lead to maybe aquatic life. you heard it here first, folks.

They find rock.

Say was in stream.

Amazing!

 

[Insane Metal]

Since it's geophysical... I bet they found a rock indicative of a low-lying stream bed which then by natural deduction would lead to maybe aquatic life. you heard it here first, folks.

They find rock.

Say was in stream.

Amazing!

Damn, that would be Amazing.

I can't wait for December 3!

 

[Partial Gamification]

Since it's geophysical... I bet they found a rock indicative of a low-lying stream bed which then by natural deduction would lead to maybe aquatic life. you heard it here first, folks.

They find rock.

Say was in stream.

Amazing!

They already found a stream bed.

Remnants of Ancient Streambed on Mars
NASA's Curiosity rover found evidence for an ancient, flowing stream on Mars at a few sites, including the rock outcrop pictured here, which the science team has named "Hottah" after Hottah Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories. It may look like a broken sidewalk, but this geological feature on Mars is actually exposed bedrock made up of smaller fragments cemented together, or what geologists call a sedimentary conglomerate. Scientists theorize that the bedrock was disrupted in the past, giving it the titled angle, most likely via impacts from meteorites.

Rocks, socks for Christmas... com'on visible fossils! Announcement in One Week!

Spoiler

probably rocks...

 

[Insane Metal]

Yeah they found streambed indications, but those were not clear enough

 

[Insane Metal]

Damn, a nice new picture from the MSL website today, an awesome panoramic view!

HUGE IMAGE! 13726 x 3008 - http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/708550main_PIA16453-FigA_sol6_from_Rocknest_raw.jpg

The above image is close to what the human eye would see without Mars' atmosphere. The huge image is real color.

EDIT


Damn if you look at this panoramic shot you can CLEARLY see the patterns on the rocks, looks like the patterns here on Earth, made by wind or water erosion. Also, I can't look at this view and not think of it with flowing water all over. Amazing.

 

[fierrotlepou]

Damn, a nice new picture from the MSL website today, an awesome panoramic view!

HUGE IMAGE! 13726 x 3008 - http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/708550main_PIA16453-FigA_sol6_from_Rocknest_raw.jpg

The above image is close to what the human eye would see without Mars' atmosphere. The huge image is real color.

EDIT


Damn if you look at this panoramic shot you can CLEARLY see the patterns on the rocks, looks like the patterns here on Earth, made by wind or water erosion. Also, I can't look at this view and not think of it with flowing water all over. Amazing.

The upper right actually looks like flowing water. Maybe one day...

 

[Partial Gamification]

Bricks...

Source (image above from lower right of original)

Well, its nice to imagine. MSL launched one year ago today!

PASADENA, Calif. - The NASA Mars rover Curiosity began its flight to Mars on Nov. 26, 2011, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., tucked inside the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft. One year after launch and 16 weeks since its dramatic landing on target inside Gale Crater, Curiosity has returned more than 23,000 raw images, driven 1,696 feet (517 meters) and begun helping researchers better understand the area's environmental history.

The car-size rover is at a site called "Point Lake" overlooking lower ground to the east, where the rover team intends to find a target for first use of Curiosity's rock-sampling drill.

During a two-year prime mission, researchers are using Curiosity's 10 science instruments to assess whether the study area in Gale Crater ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.

 

[Gorgon]

Yes! That's what it reminded me of, I couldn't quite figure it out.

edit: Why is the color different under the surface only now? And that dark color under the bright surface reminds me of digging deep under sand close to a beach, so that eventually you'd start digging into wet sand. Doesn't seem wet though.

Looks like only a strech of basaltic surface under the dust to me.

PS:

The difference in color is simply due to exposure to the atmosphere. The upper layer of soil gets a different color from exposure to the sun, just like it happens on Earth.

Yeah, I didn't see the big picture below that post. I agree. Weathered surface soil. Anyway, most of it is basaltic. The most interesting thing is the soil layering.

 

[Guiberu]

Bricks...

Holy Flurking Schnit at those bricks....

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

Holy Flurking Schnit at those bricks....

Aliens, believe.

 

[DieH@rd]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, did they say what was that?

 

[Insane Metal]

Isn't that in the lower right corner of the picture, Curiosity's wheel? I think those 'bricks' are just part of the wheel's marks on the dust...

 

[Partial Gamification]

Isn't that in the lower right corner of the picture, Curiosity's wheel? I think those 'bricks' are just part of the wheel's marks on the dust...

I just threw the pic up b/c I thought it was curious, I don't know what it is and was bullshitting about the "bricks" comment: "It would be nice to imagine."

Really, I just caught yesterday was the 1 yr anniversary of the MSL launch and wanted to post before the day was over on this part of the World.

edit: here are JPL's raw images. The "brick" one was from MARDI, sol 103, and there is another.

I'm going to say no to the tires to keep the hype for Monday alive.

 

[Volimar]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, did they say what was that?

Looks like Skyrim in a piece of rock after you've already mined all the ore.


Wait...

The world of The Elder Scrolls has two moons. Mars has two moons!

FINKEL IS EINHORN!

 

[Insane Metal]

I just threw the pic up b/c I thought it was curious, I don't know what it is and was bullshitting about the "bricks" comment: "It would be nice to imagine."

Really, I just caught yesterday was the 1 yr anniversary of the MSL launch and wanted to post before the day was over on this part of the World.

Don't worry dude, I know

And I'm just throwing my idea... it could be the wheel mark or just a natural pattern on the rock...

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

Isn't that in the lower right corner of the picture, Curiosity's wheel? I think those 'bricks' are just part of the wheel's marks on the dust...

The rover's tracks look nothing like that.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

it might be wheel marks but it's probably aliens
NASA just must've missed it

 

[Always-honest]

Bricks...

Source (image above from lower right of original)

Well, its nice to imagine. MSL launched one year ago today!

Nice, he allready found a road.

 

[Insane Metal]

The rover's tracks look nothing like that.

Yes it does, look at the squares on the dust. If the wheel only barely touched the soil in one spot it could look like that. I bet on it.

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

Yes it does, look at the squares on the dust. If the wheel only barely touched the soil in one spot it could look like that. I bet on it.

I’d bet that there is some other explanation for it. Their proportions and layout are not analogous, amongst many other things.

 

[ced]

This has nothing to do with the picture, but how amazing would it be if they did stumble across some ancient architecture or stone work.

I guess I'll settle for microbes though...

 

[Guiberu]

Yes it does, look at the squares on the dust. If the wheel only barely touched the soil in one spot it could look like that. I bet on it.

The main issue with that would be the shape of the tracks - which appear to be much more of an elongated rectangle than the more squatty rectangle in the "bricks".

I'm also starting to think that the tracks, which are visible in the picture itself, would be at the wrong angle/direction to produce such markings. The track looks horizontal in the picture, yet the "bricks" appear to be vertical.

There's also considerably more depth to the "bricks" than the tracks would seemingly allow for. That is to say, the edges around each "brick" are much deeper and thicker than what would be produced, should they have been made by the tracks of the rover.

 

[Mengy]

Holy Flurking Schnit at those bricks....

The realist cynic in me says that is just a unique tire impression from the rover and nothing to get excited about.

The Star Trek loving "I Wanna Believe" fan in me says that the tire tracks we've seen in all the other photos look nothing like that, not in any other pictures, not even close. Also, the pattern does not match the wheel tread, and with the direction the wheel is facing there I don't see how it could make an impression like that. In a small gulley no less between two other raised rocks.

Damnit, that just has to be an extremely fucked up tire impression. Any other explanation would indeed be "one for the history books".

 

[Graphics Horse]

I'm also starting to think that the tracks, which are visible in the picture itself, would be at the wrong angle/direction to produce such markings. The track looks horizontal in the picture, yet the "bricks" appear to be vertical.

That's a vertically orientated wheel bottom right of the picture, no?

But probably aliens.

 

[Guiberu]

The realist cynic in me says that is just a unique tire impression from the rover and nothing to get excited about.

The Star Trek loving "I Wanna Believe" fan in me says that the tire tracks we've seen in all the other photos look nothing like that, not in any other pictures, not even close. Also, the pattern does not match the wheel tread, and with the direction the wheel is facing there I don't see how it could make an impression like that. In a small gulley no less between two other raised rocks.

Damnit, that just has to be an extremely fucked up tire impression. Any other explanation would indeed be "one for the history books".

Exactly.

Even if it is just the remains of a busted up outer wall from many years ago. That's it. Intelligent Life elsewhere. Job done. Time to step up our space exploration game.

 

[ced]

It's not tracks, but there could be 1000 plausible explanations before artificially created bricks. Probably the result of one of the instruments if not natural.

 

[Guiberu]

That's a vertically orientated wheel bottom right of the picture, no?

To me it looks like the wheel is horiztontal - but I could be wrong.

Someone create a three dimensional recreation of the scene. Stat.

 

[Kurdel]

Even if it wasn't the wheel, thinking it is a brick is ridiculous.

Nature can make some interesting geometric shapes right here on earth:

 

[Guiberu]

It's not tracks, but there could be 1000 plausible explanations before artificially created bricks. Probably the result of one of the instruments if not natural.

I'm not entirely sure such a formation could be devised of a natural formation. Not with such regularity.

The closest we have on Earth is the Giants Causeway. But that's a very uneven, polygonal formation.

These are quad-shapes. In a set pattern. Repeating.

 

[Always-honest]

It's not tracks, but there could be 1000 plausible explanations before artificially created bricks. Probably the result of one of the instruments if not natural.

Buttons. They are buttons i tell ya. Push them in the right order and the secrets of the universe will be revealed.
Push them in the wrong order and we will be attacked and destroyed.

 

[Kurdel]

I'm not entirely sure such a formation could be devised of a natural formation. Not with such regularity.

The closest we have on Earth is the Giants Causeway. But that's a very uneven, polygonal formation.

These are quad-shapes. In a set pattern. Repeating.

You seem pretty skeptical. What do you think it could be?

 

[Graphics Horse]

To me it looks like the wheel is horiztontal - but I could be wrong.

Someone create a three dimensional recreation of the scene. Stat.

You can see part of the pointy tread on the wheel pointing at the bricks, and a straight tread above it.

The brick pattern is from this part, or aliens.

 

[McNei1y]

It's still crazy to see those pictures. That's another planet! I just love saying that.

 

[Always-honest]

You can see part of the pointy tread on the wheel pointing at the bricks, and a straight tread above it.

The brick pattern is from this part, or aliens.

That is not a match

 

[Guiberu]

You seem pretty skeptical. What do you think it could be?

I honestly don't know.

I would like to think it's an intelligently created structure - If I'm honest.

This is a picture of the Giant's Causeway from above. Which, makes it look like...rocks.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jbaugher/3754444495/

The picture we have is from a similar viewpoint (albeit not from above, but parallel) and it still looks like a precise structure.

 

[Graphics Horse]

That is not a match

Aliens it is.

 

[Guiberu]

You can see part of the pointy tread on the wheel pointing at the bricks, and a straight tread above it.

The brick pattern is from this part, or aliens.

See, to me it looks like the treads that could maybe cause those markings are pointed in the wrong direction.

 

[Kurdel]

Bricks...

!

It would be a huge coincidence that alien bricks looks so much like the wheel tracks...

 

[Guiberu]

It would be a huge coincidence that alien bricks looks so much like the wheel tracks...

They're the wrong shape!

The tracks are long, thin rectangles with "lips" and a slightly recessed section inbetween.

The "Bricks" are short, squatty rectangles with no visible "lip" and a deep recess between.

For more images of the tracks and their very specific shape...

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1329

 

[Graphics Horse]

The square, or 'short squatty rectangle', represents the dots in the morse code message in your link, while the rectangle represents the dash.