Curiosity's Destination

It has been a touch quite around here lately, so we've been going over some interesting pictures taken during the first weeks of Curiosity on Mars. Whilst the MSL team tries to sort out the kinks in Curiosity's computer systems, we all await the beginning of the long march.

So we took a look at exactly where Curiosity is going to end-up at the completion of that 2 year period. The pictures are stunning and get the imaginative juices really flowing.

Here are two pictures as to where Curiosity is and where it is going:



Note that right by the 16.2km mark there is an ancient flow of some sort. This is a valley up which Curiosity is expected to travel some way. If you look at the picture here you will find the valley up which Curiosity will travel on the left. At the moment (from this perspective, but not in the picture) the rover is on the extreme far right.

If you take a close look at the far-left of the above-linked picture, you will see this:


It is on the left of the valley as Curiosity will move upwards.

Now, even at first look this piece of rock seems oddly symmetrical... An even closer look began to open our eyes:


External view: files.abovetopsecret.com...

Here is an annotated version:



I have highlighted some strange and synthetic appearing points of interest.

1. Yellow - a strange 'boardwalk' sort of a flat structure, very well camouflaged, atop the main rocky structure. It is theorized that this is propped-up by a number of weight bearing columns. the purpose of the walk-way is unknown. Suggestions include a walkway, some sort of energy device, and piece of rock. Another suggestion is that the walkway is an access route to where the 'steps' are (at the top of the yellow annotation, veering left). There is some evidence that at-least one deployed stealth array sits atop the rock.
2. Green - a very odd looking semi-hexagonal thing at the MRO facing vertex of the small mesa. It is interesting that in a different MRO picture the object seems to be (or may be) in a different orientation:



(NOTE: The first set of pictures came about due to an urgent attitude change of MRO, which produced the oblique view of the destination (about 45 degree perspective), in the days after Curiosity landed. The latter picture was taken as part of normal MRO ops. We suspect that the earlier pic came as a surprise and did not give the HLF's (Higher Life Forms) a chance to take cover and optimize the stealth arrays.)

The object highlighted in green seems to be sort of concave, perhaps an antennae of some sort. Mind you, it could equally be a symbol indication something. We do not know.

3. Red - indicates what appear to be vertically opening doors. The one on the left is small, suggesting a purpose differing from that of the large door to the right. Viewers with very good eyes will spot very odd things outside these doors, including hypothesized beings (2), and a parked deployable stealth field generator (see '4. Pink dots').

4. Pink dots - indicates what appears to be a field generated by a parked deployable stealth field generator. Nearby a HLF approaches the craft (HLF appears to be at the edge of the field). Another HLF stands outside the small open door (on the left, in red) watching. We have not annotated the HLFs.

So MSL has a long way to travel just to enter the valley where it may find these objects of interest. There are more in the picture, but these are just some of the highlights. For instance, on the larger door (on the right), there does appear to be a large triangular symbol, and in the shadowed area of the small mesa, there may be a stealth array deployed. lighting conditions are such that is surmised, rather than confirmed.

Interesting finds are going to happen.

Even before the climb there is more evidence of the water that used to exist on the planet.

www.bbc.co.uk...

By accident a "rock crushed under the Curiosity Mars rover's wheels has dazzled mission scientists in more ways than one."

A white rock on the red planet.

reply to post by dowot


A white rock? It looks like most of the rocks in Yellowknife Bay are white once the dust is blown or cleaned off. The red planet, at least judging from Yellowknife, is the white planet.

And this looks like a very good thread, will save it for later. Very nice work and this is something I've been waiting for - the exact route and description of the route that Curiosity will take. Thank you OP.

reply to post by Aleister


Actually the route or possible route changes almost daily. With every drive the rover makes, obstacles and objects of interest are found and the route gets decided.

But very exciting, once MSL gets cleared to go ahead.

I just thought that I would add pictures of another stealth field generator on Mount Sharp. This one may become visible to Curiosity as it moves south toward its destination:



Here is an annotated version:


Whatever the strange shaped "pipe" or "tube" object is we have no idea. It is placed on the very edge of the mountain, appears to have a hole, lower center, looks damaged or open on the mountain-side. The piece that seems to have fallen down on the left of the tube fits well with the segment (upper-left) that seems missing.

Looking at the center of the spherical field we can see a pale christmas-tree looking object. That is the stealth field generator. We have joked that there is a fat HLF sat on the edge of the mountain (inside the field) looking out toward where Curiosity landed.

reply to post by Blister


Do you have a link to any high resolution photos of this area?

reply to post by this_is_who_we_are


Unfortunately not, this is the best I could get:

www.uahirise.org...

The last images I posted can be clearly seen on that pic, at the upper edge.

Great imagination, guys! It's like making your own sci-fi book/movie.

Here's the OP's site with the brightened part that is in shadow:



Larger version:

Looks like there is a large cave entrance, that could probably lead to a huge hangar or a base. Note the large straigh "road" that seems to lead out of it.

Whatever it may be, I hope Curiosity will come nearby and snap some pictures of it.

reply to post by wildespace


My first thought when seeing that pic was possible cave entrance, but not one that leads to a hangar/base and that's definitely not a road, Would be awesome though if it was a cave entrance, unfortunately though even if it is there is no chance we will see inside it , I'd put money on some form of life being down there though.

after playing with the pic in PS I'm now not so sure about a cave entrance

Good thread, blister!

Even though I think the shapes you highlighted seem rather natural at first glance. When I look hard enough, pareidolia sets in and I start seeing those features (eg. the tube and the platform on top). But it will be very difficult to conclude anything based on the available resolution and perspectives.

By the time Curiosity got up there, we'll hopefully have already figured out why we see so many interesting things at Rocknest, Yellowknife Bay etc. ... and I hope it'll get even better, provided that Curiosity gets well soon and can continue her mission as planned!

You have it all wrong!!! This is Jabba The Hut's lair! Tattonine was Mars in the past. Star Wars was just a quasi docu-dram film!

Seriously though I too will look forward to seeing what NASA releases to us next. I suspect though they have a fairly shrewd idea already and are just spoon feeding tidbits to us. I have long suspected Mars would be the Disclosure Planet. Small microbes or water at first and then later another discovery is announced by NASA somewhere else in the solar system or indeed outside it.

reply to post by jeep3r

Yes, everything does look natural when first looked at. The tech being used is very, very good (very advanced), especially when it is being used in combination with other tech. So in the 'oblique' pics taken by MRO, whereby it changed orientation without public notice, the stealth tech simply was not deployed. Yes, it seems to have been available and ready for deployment, but it was not. I am talking about the powering-up of stealth meta materials that seem to be layered over and around specific areas on and about Mt Sharp.

When layered in multiple amounts with differing planes vision is severely limited - as seen with the later picture that appears of dramatically less quality (very blurred, despite corrective computer processing that was required, due to MRO movement).

Something else I thought I would pass-on. The recent passes by MRO of the area have given us new insights into the "deployable stealth field generators" sometimes spotted on Mars. These seems to be designed to hover above the Martian surface, using two 'pods', somewhat similar in appearance to a catamaran. The essential engineering design of the vehicle is the same for other vehicles: covered in stealth inducing meta-material, catamaran style, anti-gravity pods, may or may not be remotely controlled, and seems to have three basic configurations.

These are proposed to be:

(1) Stealth array (aka, Mobile Stealth Inducer)


Source: www.uahirise.org...

N.B. This is a very rough annotation.

(Taken from a HiRise Photo “A Crater North of Coprates Chasma”. See the central lower edge of the original picture.)

We call them "Mobile Stealth Inducers" or "Deployable Stealth Arrays". It is theorized that the portable vehicle, usually a small anti-grav vehicle (usually with two anti-grav 'pods', one each side) moves to a desired location, deploys its mast, extends the array (wire-like meta material based), and can be linked in formation across the surface. Usually done to obfuscate (hide) surface activity. Theory says that a meta-material is hung from the extended wires to create a sort of curtain behind which things can be hidden

(2) Stealth field generator (see above post for pic)

Field generators do not seem to induce stealth. Until recently this was not understood. The 'stealth' part of the name is a reference to the stealth vehicle sometimes used to deploy the field generator. The field generator itself can be used either on the vehicle, or off-loaded and used in-situ. It is suggested that lack of (or shortage of, or rationing of) resources means that vehicles are in short supply and therefore off-loading is a favored practice. With the arrival of Curiosity this understanding has gained added support.

Field generators do not induce stealth. They create a field that prevents certain radiation from passing through. as such they are commonly used for HLF surface activities. Some analysis suggests a suspicion that field generators are being used in conjunction with stealth arrays and layered stealth meta-materials..

(3) Passenger vehicle.

This class of vehicle is theorized only and no currently available evidence supports such existence.

That's enough for now...

reply to post by Blister


No offence but there is so much more to see!
Have a good look at these images from the same HiRise image you posted.

reply to post by ReconX

Hey, no offence man!

Gale is full of stuff that is pretty incredible. Getting to the areas of interest will be the difficult and time consuming part. Even then, I do not think Curiosity has the tech or mobility to do much more than basic observation.

Right now, probably visible to MSL is this:



Exactly what is... who knows? But it looks like a lone boulder perched on the side of the mountain. Our view taken from MRO makes that boulder look hollow. There is some very dodgy stuff and we are only know beginning to put the pieces together.

reply to post by Blister


Yes, noticed this too, looks odd!
It is a very interesting area!

I predict that even Arken, if he comes to this thread, will have to hunt and peck on his keyboard, looking for the letters to make a word he's never used before - rocks!

But very interesting rocks (I gave my S&F when this first went up).

reply to post by Aleister

The difference between Arken and me is that I don't see animals and skeletons... well not often. But his posts can be interesting sometimes. That's just my lazy opinion.

A quick update on Curiosity's destination. Not much has happened in regard to high quality pics, though recently these gems came through showing the area in much greater detail:

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...
mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

As expected, being from Curiosity's perspective neither image can see "up" the valley. Some of what is expected to be seen in close detail we've already looked at.



In these two images, there are further Objects of Interest, that the rover should or may be in line of sight of as it moves up the valley. In this annotated sub-sample of the (best) picture above I have lettered each of them. The arrow indicates general movement of MSL Curiosity up the mountain valley.



A: What appears to be a rocky ridge, which will seem to tower above the rover. Depending on Curiosity's approach/terrain/other factors (such as condition of the rover) this impressive ridgeline may be investigated. If it is layered or not, interesting science could be carried-out.

B: Possibly debris-filled, mixed terrain (i.e. rocky, broken and with sandy patches), at-least from the images we see from Curiosity at the moment. Navigating these obstructions will be hazardous but very interesting both visually and scientifically.

C: The rear-most and less defined of two mesa's perched on the mountain to the right of Curiosity. Though these pictures offer the best resolution at the moment, they offer fertile grounds for speculation viz-a-vis actual structural shape, composition and even it's purpose. Object C may not be visible from the rover, but may warrant close examination.

D: The foremost and what will be the closest of the two mesas on Curiosity's right. This Object of Interest is very intriguing as it appears like a hangar or building. Plainly visible as rock, the shape and apparent "entrance" at the front makes for a potentially dazzling discovery.

E: In very close proximity to Object D, and at the "front" from our (and Curiosity's) perspective, there appear to be at-least two irregularities of light. One seems well defined as a curving vertical structure, the other a smudge against the terrain. Note that each irregularity may (and probably will) be found to be illusions created by natural conditions, such as ridges of rocks reflecting the sun, or dust particles reflecting sunlight. This needs to be checked though.

F: High above the valley on the right of Curiosity sits what seems to be a rock, ridge, cave or something else. Due to low resolution, armchair theorists will have a field day proposing all sorts of possibilities. I for one would like a closer look, but do not hold high hopes that a close visual analysis can be carried-out with the next two years.

These are just a few of the sights and objects that await us as our great little rover enters the mountain. Before then we need to get to the right waypoints and cross through Murray Buttes. Spectacular findings await us.

reply to post by Blister


Thanks for keeping track of the progress, for laying out the route Curiosity will take, and for keeping on top of the story.