Starship Asterisk*

edilist wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 8:40 pm Zooming in on one of the wheels already shows damage (?) I hope we got the extended warranty.

kybergreg wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:41 pm
It is interesting how much damaged are the wheels of Curiosity.

I know it is there for nine years but it hasnt travelled that much (~25km).

https://www.planetary.org/articles/08190630-curiosity-wheel-damage wrote:
The skin of the wheel is 0.75 millimeters thick -- the absolute thinnest that could be machined.

<<The tears result from fatigue. You know how if you bend a metal paper clip back and forth repeatedly, it eventually snaps? Well, when the wheels are driving over a very hard rock surface -- one with no sand -- the thin skin of the wheels repeatedly bends.>>

kybergreg wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:41 pm It is interesting how much damaged are the wheels of Curiosity. I know it is there for nine years but it hasnt travelled that much (~25km).

Ann wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:15 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 4:33 pm Hmmm. The Golden Hour on Mars.

Don't you mean the Martian blue hour, Chris?
Mars has got its blue hour just like us, but ours is prettier.

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 4:33 pm

neufer wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 4:06 pm

Ann wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:36 am
There is an outcrop in the foreground of the APOD that is incredibly finely layered.

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission-updates/8893/sols-3062-3063-adjusting-the-lighting-on-mont-mercou/ wrote:

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3061. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

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MISSION UPDATES : 3/18/2021
Sols 3062-3063: Adjusting the Lighting on 'Mont Mercou'

Written by Melissa Rice, Planetary Geologist at Western Washington University

<<In photography, the right lighting is essential. Portrait photographers and Instagram selfie afficionados favor the kind of soft lighting that smooths over bumps and imperfections. Geology photographers, on the other hand, want to see all of the bumps, lines, divots and wrinkles, as those features tell the story of how a rock was formed and altered. To get the right lighting for accentuating the small-scale textures of "Mont Mercou," the team is planning to photograph the cliff face right before sunset on sol 3063, when the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky. We hope this new Mastcam mosaic will bring out even more detail than we can see in the image above.

The evening Mastcam photoshoot is just one part of this two-sol plan. The main event is the second analysis of the "Nontron" drill sample by CheMin, to refine what we’re learning about the mineralogy of the rocks at the base of Mont Mercou. We’ll look some more at Mont Mercou and other regions earlier in the day with Mastcam, and will watch for clouds in the sky at twilight. We’ll also use ChemCam’s RMI to image a butte called “mini-Mercou" to the east, which is a re-shoot of some previous images that were "slightly out of focus".>>

Hmmm. The Golden Hour on Mars.

neufer wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 4:06 pm

Ann wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:36 am
There is an outcrop in the foreground of the APOD that is incredibly finely layered.

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission-updates/8893/sols-3062-3063-adjusting-the-lighting-on-mont-mercou/ wrote:

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3061. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

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MISSION UPDATES : 3/18/2021
Sols 3062-3063: Adjusting the Lighting on 'Mont Mercou'

Written by Melissa Rice, Planetary Geologist at Western Washington University

<<In photography, the right lighting is essential. Portrait photographers and Instagram selfie afficionados favor the kind of soft lighting that smooths over bumps and imperfections. Geology photographers, on the other hand, want to see all of the bumps, lines, divots and wrinkles, as those features tell the story of how a rock was formed and altered. To get the right lighting for accentuating the small-scale textures of "Mont Mercou," the team is planning to photograph the cliff face right before sunset on sol 3063, when the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky. We hope this new Mastcam mosaic will bring out even more detail than we can see in the image above.

The evening Mastcam photoshoot is just one part of this two-sol plan. The main event is the second analysis of the "Nontron" drill sample by CheMin, to refine what we’re learning about the mineralogy of the rocks at the base of Mont Mercou. We’ll look some more at Mont Mercou and other regions earlier in the day with Mastcam, and will watch for clouds in the sky at twilight. We’ll also use ChemCam’s RMI to image a butte called “mini-Mercou" to the east, which is a re-shoot of some previous images that were "slightly out of focus".>>

Ann wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:36 am
There is an outcrop in the foreground of the APOD that is incredibly finely layered.

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission-updates/8893/sols-3062-3063-adjusting-the-lighting-on-mont-mercou/ wrote:

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3061. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

---

MISSION UPDATES : 3/18/2021
Sols 3062-3063: Adjusting the Lighting on 'Mont Mercou'

Written by Melissa Rice, Planetary Geologist at Western Washington University

<<In photography, the right lighting is essential. Portrait photographers and Instagram selfie afficionados favor the kind of soft lighting that smooths over bumps and imperfections. Geology photographers, on the other hand, want to see all of the bumps, lines, divots and wrinkles, as those features tell the story of how a rock was formed and altered. To get the right lighting for accentuating the small-scale textures of "Mont Mercou," the team is planning to photograph the cliff face right before sunset on sol 3063, when the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky. We hope this new Mastcam mosaic will bring out even more detail than we can see in the image above.

The evening Mastcam photoshoot is just one part of this two-sol plan. The main event is the second analysis of the "Nontron" drill sample by CheMin, to refine what we’re learning about the mineralogy of the rocks at the base of Mont Mercou. We’ll look some more at Mont Mercou and other regions earlier in the day with Mastcam, and will watch for clouds in the sky at twilight. We’ll also use ChemCam’s RMI to image a butte called “mini-Mercou" to the east, which is a re-shoot of some previous images that were "slightly out of focus".>>

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 3:40 pm

shaileshs wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 3:10 pm
Over 5kms ? Means more than 5000m. Means more than half of Mt Everest here on earth. Does it look that high in picture (even if from distance) ? to me, it doesn't seems like even 5000ft high.. No ?

It is almost the same height as Denali.

Appearances can be deceiving, depending as they do on distance, prominence, and slope angles.

• Shaileshs is in Denial.

shaileshs wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 3:10 pm Over 5kms ? Means more than 5000m. Means more than half of Mt Everest here on earth. Does it look that high in picture (even if from distance) ? to me, it doesn't seems like even 5000ft high.. No ?

bramboro wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 4:48 am Is that the right date for the touchdown, April 5, 2012? I was teaching an astronomy class that summer, and recall nervously waiting for news of the landing to come in while I was teaching that class. Wikipedia says August 6, 2012 was its landing date, so maybe someone confused A-months?