Explanation: Before Perseverance there was Curiosity. In fact, the Curiosity rover accomplished the first sky crane maneuver touchdown on Mars on August 5, 2012. March 2, 2021 marked Curiosity's 3,048th martian day operating on the surface of the Red Planet. This 360 degree panorama from sol 3048 is a mosaic of 149 frames from Curiosity's Mastcam above the rover's deck. It includes 23 frames of icy, thin, high clouds drifting through the martian sky. The cloudy sky frames were recorded throughout that martian day and are digitally stitched together in the panoramic view. Near center is a layered and streaked Mont Mercou. The peak of central Mount Sharp, rising over 5 kilometers above the floor of Gale Crater, is in the distant background on the left.
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?
There are obvious white streaks and small pockets in some of the rocks directly in front of Curiosity. On earth I would say those are gypsum deposits left by evaporating water in the rock crevices. Would that be a possibility here?
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?
Correct! It was August. Thank you for pointing this out We apologize for the oversight. This has now been corrected on the main NASA APOD site.
- RJN
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 (Mt McKinley). Appearances can be deceiving, depending as they do on distance, prominence, and slope angles.
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Chris
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Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory https://www.cloudbait.com
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.
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".>>
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".>>
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".>>
Don't you mean the Martian blue hour, Chris?
Mars has got its blue hour just like us, but ours is prettier.
Before sunset makes it the golden hour. After makes it the blue hour. They're shooting the rocks while the Sun is still in the sky, low but above the horizon. They want long shadows to highlight the relief.
Chris
*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory https://www.cloudbait.com
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).
Rough terrain and wheels designed to be as light weight as possible. They did make some design changes for the wheels on Perseverance, even though the basic concept is the same.
Chris
*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory https://www.cloudbait.com
<<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.>>
Curiosity: Sol 3048
job!
