Opportunity rover finds timber

reply to post by shadowjester


I don't think that it did.

There are no visible marks from the abrasion tool that the rovers carry.

It certainly looks like a piece of timber, which of course begs the question, who cut it to size? what was it for? where was it before it was discarded?,when was it discarded? and why?
It does look very much like a railroad cross tie, I must agree.
Maybe some more photos will surface soon, right now we can only guess.

Regards, Horsegiver.

Originally posted by horsegiver
It certainly looks like a piece of timber, which of course begs the question, who cut it to size? what was it for? where was it before it was discarded?,when was it discarded? and why?

This is a good example of how different people think different things about the same subject.

I also think that it looks like a piece of timber, but instead of asking those questions I thought: Why does it look like a piece of timber? What makes us think that some object is a piece of timber? Can it be anything else? What other things can look like a piece of timber?

I think that speculating about who cut it (and from where was it cut) before knowing if it is really a piece of wood may be a waste of time, if we can answer "my" questions first. (But if we can then we can ask anything )

Also, this shows the importance of a place like ATS, where people with different ways of thinking can join their minds to try to solve a common problem.

[edit on 16/3/2008 by ArMaP]

reply to post by NGC2736


I think that all those flat rocks are the same as the "timber", the only difference being the "timber" has a long and narrow shape while the other rocks are wide, making them look more like slabs.

Being less "slaby" (is that a real word?) the "timber" would behave in a different way to the winds and the way the sand accumulates around it will be different.

In the image bellow you can see more of those timber like (not timberlake ) objects.



PS: the image is very dark, the uncompressed IMG file has a much better look, but I don't have the time to download and convert it now, it's getting late here in Portugal.

How large would everyone say this object in question is? I don't really know the dimensions of the rover or whatever other man-made objects can be seen in these images, so a bit of light on that would help me out a lot.

If my uneducated opinion and i had to speculate on this right now, i'd suggest that IF it is wood, it would obviously have to be fossilized in order to survive any meaningful length of time, especially in that harsh environment.

If it is a tree...that means oxygen is or was there...meaning habitable atmosphere...meaning life

Don't want to get too ahead of myself by saying that but IF it is a tree...then theres the answer we we're looking for...but then again- why wouldn't there be trees on other planets???

reply to post by The Cyfre


I hadn't thought of that, I like the idea of possibly being petrified wood. To me it looks like it has attributes of both rock and wood... so that's is certainly a good thought. On the other hand it could certainly be a natural geologic formation. Right now I'm sitting on the fence, but I love the suggestion.

reply to post by The Cyfre


Apparently, that object has a length of more or less the distance between the wheels of the rover, judging by the marks on the ground.

I could not find any reference to that distance, but maybe this image will help you getting an idea of the size of the object.

Dear Gentlemen,

excuse me for my intrusion but I really did not understand the reason why you added a Map that is related to the Gusev Crater area (and relevant to the location of the Anomaly called "The Silver Sphere") in this discussion where, as it seems to me, you are talking to n. 2 possible Anomalies found by Opportunity in Meridiani Planum (the "Timber" and the "Shiny Spot" - which is actually Opportunity's Heat-Shield).
Maybe I missed or misunderstood something - ad, if so, I apologize. Otherwise, please help me to understand.

Thank you so very much for reading our Site (Grazie "Internos") and thanks for your opinions and insights, that we always carefully evaluate!

Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunar Explorer Italia (Chairman & Founder)

Is the OP missing for anyone else?

The thread shows RavenTheWitch as the author but the first post on page 1 is by Stikkinikki.

reply to post by internos



Congratulations humans! We've already started polluting another planet! How much space junk are we going to leave on the surface of Mars? How many pieces of how many rovers are going to be scattered over the surface of that planet in the next 100 years?