How come they did'nt investigate this?

[wildone_106]

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/2/p/728/2P191002092EFFAMOAP2443L7M1.JPG

 

[telfrow]

Care to be a bit more specific? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[SpeedFreek]

Maybe he's referring to the <i> tree </i> in the background? <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000">_______________________________________________<br /></font><font size="2"><em>SpeedFreek</em></font> </p> </div>

 

[kyle_baron]

Yeah, could be the top of a tree, at the bottom of a hill. Or, if it's at the top of the hill, it looks more like an evergreen shrub (Japenese Yew). Depends on the perspective. Or, someone put it there as a joke. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="4"><strong></strong></font></p> </div>

 

[telfrow]

Or it's - dare I say it? - a rock. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[pyoko]

Not sure about the scale, but it looks a little larger than a rock. A .. large.. rock... very large. Is a mountain a huge rock? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p><p><span style="color:#ff9900" class="Apple-style-span">-pyoko</span> <span style="color:#333333" class="Apple-style-span">the</span> <span style="color:#339966" class="Apple-style-span">duck </span></p><p><span style="color:#339966" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color:#808080;font-style:italic" class="Apple-style-span">It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.</span></span></p> </div>

 

[telfrow]

Here's the sequence from Sol 728. <br /><br />(It's a rock.) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[pyoko]

I once took a train across the desert in Australia, and, ignoring the sporadic shrub, it looks like the photos of Mars. In Uluru-Kata Tjuta, we have this:<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p><p><span style="color:#ff9900" class="Apple-style-span">-pyoko</span> <span style="color:#333333" class="Apple-style-span">the</span> <span style="color:#339966" class="Apple-style-span">duck </span></p><p><span style="color:#339966" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color:#808080;font-style:italic" class="Apple-style-span">It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.</span></span></p> </div>

 

[six_strings]

Hmmm... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[search]

"it looks more like an evergreen shrub (Japenese Yew)"<br />Dang...NASA lost another race...the japanese got there first...

 

[JonClarke]

Let's look at the context images.<br /><br />Sol 728 Pamcam context images http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/spirit_p728.html<br /><br />Sol 728 Navcam context images http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/gallery/all/spirit_n728.html <br /><br />In both cameras the feature shows up in two images. So it is present in four images altogether. So it is real.<br /><br />In all four images the surface texture is the same as the very dark knobbly rocks in the area.<br /><br />The rover is at a sharp angle, with the result that one camera in the Navcam and pancam pairs is higher than the other so that it can see over the dune between the rover and the object. <br /><br />This means that the obscuring dune is probably very close, no more than a couple of metres away. The object too is probably very close.<br /><br />In both images that see over the nearer dune the object is closer than the skyline.<br /><br />It's most likely a rock. Probably using otrher panoramas from higher up the slope you could pin point it exactly.<br /><br />It looks unusual only because of the viewing angle But it is certainly a remarkable set of images. I bet it gave the rover operators a fright when they saw it. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> It took me 10 minutes to solve this to my satisfaction, I'll bet they did it quicker.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[tom_hobbes]

Perhaps he meant that it was an awfully interesting rock? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#339966"> I wish I could remember<br /> But my selective memory<br /> Won't let me</font><font size="2" color="#99cc00"> </font><font size="3" color="#339966"><font size="2">- </font></font><font size="1" color="#339966">Mark Oliver Everett</font></p><p> </p> </div>

 

[qso1]

Who's to say they are not investigating it? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[vonster]

theres nothing to investigate:<br /><br />this is obviously just another ordinary run of the mill 16th century french royal hedge sculpture. <br /><br />.

 

[silylene old]

<font color="yellow">Perhaps he meant that it was an awfully interesting rock? </font><br /><br />It does look like an interesting rock. I'd like a see a closer look. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[robnissen]

Excellent analysis Jon, per usual. Wildone, thanks for posting this. After a couple of years, I have stopped checking the NASA web site every day for the new pictures. I greatly appreciate when people point out interesting pictures. My only mild quibble, is that I don't think its necessary to be accusotory ("How come they didn't investigate this?"). My guess is that they are, and we will be seeing more pictures in the future.

 

[ebort]

it be one of dem dere rock based life forms...the ones that only have one thought every ten million years..and that thought is usualy "where's everybody gone?"

 

[wildone_106]

I thought it was an interesting rock, in any "context" and was just surprised it did'nt get a closer look. Its texture is most interesting compared to others I've seen there.

 

[JonClarke]

Why it was not examined closer can be attributed to priority decisions by the operators. It is not possible to visit every rock, there are trafficability issues and time pressures. The rock is in small sand dunes ands we have learned how tricky crossing those can be. Sol 728 there was pressure to get to a suitable winter over point as soon as possible. <br /><br />So priorities have to be set. The big science priority at this time was Home Plate. Given that there were other more accessible rocks with similar textures closer to the chosen route (Arad, I think, was one), the decision would have been made not to have a look.<br /><br />of course there is always the chance you might miss something , but that is the risk, indeed the inevitability, with any exploration program. So long as you find enough to justify the mission you have succeeded. The rest has to be left to future generations. We have got to leave them something to do! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />This is my reconstruction of events, anyway.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[kyle_baron]

After looking at the whole photograph, it looks very similar to the large sun-lite rock in the lower left hand corner. Having a lot of holes in it. Maybe volcanic? Similar to pumice? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="4"><strong></strong></font></p> </div>

 

[qso1]

vonster:<br />this is obviously just another ordinary run of the mill 16th century french royal hedge sculpture.<br /><br />Me:<br />And here I thought it was a 17th century sculpture LOL.<br /><br />Seriously, to clarify what I meant. Scientific investigation of the rock which appears porous and similar to some of the foreground rocks. The investigation is of the scientific and areological nature. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[futurexboy]

Cool! I haven't been keeping up with the latest photos and these spongy looking rocks are pretty cool looking...must be volcanic in nature I agree!

 

[JonClarke]

It is certainly possible that they are volcanic. Most, if not all the rocks at Gusev seen so far have been volcanic.<br /><br />But lots of processes can generate holes in rock surfaces. Extreme honeycomb weathering, wind etching of variably cemented materials, erosion or weathering out of pebbles, dissolution of soluble minerals. <br /><br />We have to be very careful about jumping to conclusions.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[mooware]

Nasa can't be spending it's resources on every tree, bush and lifeform it finds on mars. There are just far too many rocks to discover. that's why! <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[qso1]

Not being an expert in geology myself, I don't know for certain what the origin of the rocks could be but they have a resemblance to rocks of volcanic origin. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>