Curiosity: Potential Anomalies (Update 01/2014)

a reply to: ArMaP

So what's all this talk about Mt. Sharpe being made of sediment from the lake, and that when the Rover nears it, and climbs the foothills a little bit, it will be moving through eons of sedimentary layers. Is that all wrong, and this little tiny lake is all there was? A rubber ducky wouldn't even have enough room to float around.

originally posted by: Aleister
So what's all this talk about Mt. Sharpe being made of sediment from the lake, and that when the Rover nears it, and climbs the foothills a little bit, it will be moving through eons of sedimentary layers. Is that all wrong, and this little tiny lake is all there was?

Didn't you see what ionwind posted?
Some people think mount Sharp was created by wind moving the sediments, with no water needed, but I don't agree with that theory of it being some kind of huge solidified dune.

Time will tell.

originally posted by: ArMaP

The problems I see is that Curiosity landed on the area marked in blue (I think), so we don't have data for the rest of the bottom of the crater, and the wind erosion on the bottom of a larger lake would make it different from the bottom of the more recent, smaller lake.

You are right, we only have very good data for where Curiosity and to some degree HiRISE have been or seen.

There is an alluvial fan in the north of the crater, which indicates the direction the water flowed in at some point. If it had been underwater, there would be no fan. Maybe the fan formed at a later time as the lake started to dry up.



Link

Curiosity did land in the the blue area, and this area has had past water confirmed. Here's a route map:



High Resolution

The planned future path, in orange, shows the route the rover could take. Once we start climbing Mount Sharp, not only will the images will be stunning, but who knows what we will find. It will be like nothing we've seen before

a reply to: ionwind

Great post, thanks. I haven't kept track of the route, how close is Curiosity to the Buttes (and has it even left Kimberly as yet?). I've been doing other things this past month or so, and haven't focused on the mission as much as earlier in the year. And good to meet you, nice work.

originally posted by: Aleister
a reply to: ionwind

Great post, thanks. I haven't kept track of the route, how close is Curiosity to the Buttes (and has it even left Kimberly as yet?). I've been doing other things this past month or so, and haven't focused on the mission as much as earlier in the year. And good to meet you, nice work.

Likewise. Right now Curiosity has left Kimberly and would be in the yellow "rapid transit route" phase from my previous post. They How long it will take to get to the Murray Buttes depends on how much science they do along the way. They may stop if they find something interesting.



Starting to climb Mount Sharp will definitely be awesome.

You can keep track of where Curiosity is by checking out this route thread, which is updated frequently:

MSL Route Map

a reply to: ionwind

Thanks. I like that they call it the "Rapid transit" route. Gives hope that it will be a 'rapid transit'.

a reply to: ionwind

Curiosity is closer now.
(Apparently)

originally posted by: ArMaP
Curiosity is closer now.
(Apparently)

That looks like a meteorite with regmaglypts.

originally posted by: ArMaP
a reply to: ionwind

Curiosity is closer now.
(Apparently)






Theres a stright line at the botom of the diamond shaped metal block. We need to see it from all sides.

originally posted by: Aleister
Thanks. I like that they call it the "Rapid transit" route. Gives hope that it will be a 'rapid transit'.

Sure. That way they can just zoom right past other things that might be even more interesting.

originally posted by: symptomoftheuniverse
Theres a stright line at the botom of the diamond shaped metal block. We need to see it from all sides.

What do you mean by "diamond shaped metal block"?

a reply to: ArMaP
Does the metal at the top look diamond shaped?
mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

a reply to: symptomoftheuniverse

I don't think it does.

originally posted by: ionwind

originally posted by: ArMaP

The problems I see is that Curiosity landed on the area marked in blue (I think), so we don't have data for the rest of the bottom of the crater, and the wind erosion on the bottom of a larger lake would make it different from the bottom of the more recent, smaller lake.

You are right, we only have very good data for where Curiosity and to some degree HiRISE have been or seen.

There is an alluvial fan in the north of the crater, which indicates the direction the water flowed in at some point. If it had been underwater, there would be no fan. Maybe the fan formed at a later time as the lake started to dry up.

Link

Curiosity did land in the the blue area, and this area has had past water confirmed. Here's a route map:

High Resolution

The planned future path, in orange, shows the route the rover could take. Once we start climbing Mount Sharp, not only will the images will be stunning, but who knows what we will find. It will be like nothing we've seen before

THANKS For this update

Interesting days ahead!

a reply to: symptomoftheuniverse

it looks a bit rhombus shaped.
a piece looks like it laying on the surface thoughand isn't partially buried like the other pieces

odd

funbox

originally posted by: Blue Shift

originally posted by: Aleister
Thanks. I like that they call it the "Rapid transit" route. Gives hope that it will be a 'rapid transit'.

Sure. That way they can just zoom right past other things that might be even more interesting.

I'm thinking of the (hopefully) slight chance that the wheels give way, or something breaks, or the computer is hit by flying debris of monsterous origin, or.... that at least the Rover will get to the Buttes and beyond while working and in one piece.

a reply to: ionwind

Here goes another close-up of the "meteorite" in all its glory, stitched together from two MastCam100 images taken on sol 640:


Source Images 01 | 02

Some of the features are quite similar to the Willamette Meteorite which is the largest iron-nickel meteorite found in North America up to this day.

originally posted by: funbox
a reply to: symptomoftheuniverse

it looks a bit rhombus shaped.
a piece looks like it laying on the surface thoughand isn't partially buried like the other pieces

odd

funbox

in england we say diamond/kite/rhombus/ shape , the meteorite seems in at least 3 pieces and some seems buried in the sand. That all area could be meteorite,who forgot to put a shovel on curio?
Then theres the glowing bit near the"mineral veins" between the large lump and the rombus lump.

Fossilized planaria:

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

originally posted by: Blue Shift
Fossilized planaria:

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

That certainly is a quite interesting segmented object. Lots of regular segments arranged in what seems to be a biological pattern. Nice find, and one which should have more eyes (and ears, if you've got 'em) on it.