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Curiosity Sol 2597, Nov. 26, 2019

By Marco De Marco / November 28, 2019

At 11:47:20 UTC the Mastcam Right shot an area adjacent to, but more to the left of, the layered knoll shown in the previous photo (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/a.1625578140858706/2557308307685680/). Again we note a nice variety of colors and brightness, as well as streaks of sand darker than the adjacent terrain that seem to spring from the crevices of some rocks.Simple darker sand or small water flows?The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has been converted to color through a process called “debayering” or “demosaicing.” In addition, the photo has undergone noise reduction due to Jpeg compression, white balance and a slight increase in microcontrast and color saturation in order to make the colors more similar to what the human eye would see.Original image: https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02597/mcam/2597MR0136540181100851C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Curiosity Sol 2592, Nov. 21, 2019

By Marco De Marco / November 23, 2019

At 07:58:36 UTC Mastcam Right imaged these conglomerate-like looking rocks.The conglomerates or clastic sedimentary rocks or even detrital rocks derive from sediments whose constituent elements in turn derive mainly from the accumulation of lithic fragments of other altered rocks transported generally by different exogenous agents such as river courses, sea currents, winds, etc… (see https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roccia_sedimentaria_clastica). In the sand between the rocks one can also see dark stripes that look like they are due to small water flows. I would like to point out to those who try to attribute such flows to the simple landslide of the sand itself, that in an environment where everything has remained unchanged for no less than a few hundred million years, it is highly unlikely that there is anything that can still landslide, in addition to the fact that if the sub-surface sand is darker than the surface sand, this can only depend on a higher humidity present in the sand itself!Also note the greenish spots visible here and there on the sand and partly on the rocks.The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has been converted to color through a process called “debayering” or “demosaicing”. In addition, the photo has undergone a reduction of noise due to Jpeg compression, white balance and a slight increase in microcontrast and color saturation in order to make the colors more similar to what the human eye would see. Original image: https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02592/mcam/2592MR0136250081100743C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

A cloudy night on Mars, through the eyes of a supercomputer

By Marco De Marco / November 19, 2019

Your browser does not support HTML video. …then they affirm that on Mars there is no water! Full article: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/ames/a-cloudy-martian-night-through-the-eyes-of-a-supercomputer This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Curiosity Sol 2582, Nov. 10, 2019

By Marco De Marco / November 15, 2019

At 18:47:08 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) captured this very close detail of a very interesting rock.The photo was taken from a distance of 46.03 cm with a definition of 0.171 mm/pixel, thus covering an area of 26.86 cm X 20.01 cm.The complex structure of this layered rock is decidedly singular if one considers the right side of the image where the rock appears spongy in nature, with “balls” around a millimeter in diameter embedded within.Its complex structure, especially if analyzed in detail, is definitely interesting and intriguing and would certainly deserve a very careful analysis by an experienced geologist. To show colors more similar to what the human eye would see, I subjected the image to white balance and a slight increase in microcontrast and color saturation. Original image: https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02582/mhli/2582MH0005840000904197R00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Mars: with the mystery of methane still unsolved, Curiosity serves scientists a whole new one: oxygen By Massimo Zito

By Marco De Marco / November 13, 2019

“Researchers still haven’t figured out what the seasonal spikes in methane concentrations on Mars depend on, and Curiosity has now served them a new mystery: Every year there are repeated unexplained spikes in the concentration of oxygen in the air at Gale Crater. For now, scientists are groping in the dark.” Struggling in the dark?Are you kidding me?But it really takes a genius to understand that this is a further indication of the presence of biological activity on the Martian surface?The positive results of biological experiments of the two Viking landers, photos of “something” similar to mushrooms, photos of “something” similar to lichen, photos of “something” similar to mold, photos of stones that change color seasonally, seasonal emissions of methane and now also oxygen, and these people groping in the dark?These people are not groping in the dark, rather they are trying to grasp at straws in a vain attempt to find an alternative explanation to the biological one!By now, however, the screeching of their nails has become deafening!!! Article by Massimo Zito: https://www.reccom.org/2019/11/13/marte-con-il-mistero-del-metano-ancora-irrisolto-curiosity-ne-serve-agli-scienziati-uno-tutto-nuovo-lossigeno/ Original article by Lonnie Shekhtman of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center: https://phys.org/news/2019-11-mars-methane-mystery-unsolved-curiosity.html Full original research in PDF downloadable for free: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2019JE006175 This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Evidence of life on Mars?

By Marco De Marco / November 10, 2019

I present a substantial article on the possibility of the existence of life on Mars. Great scientists and researchers at work to demonstrate how the conditions on the Martian surface are not so hostile to the presence of bacterial life or even multicellular.Finally we face also the problem of radiation, not only the radiation present on the surface but the direct comparison with the amount of radiation tolerated by various living organisms. The result of this research is really disconcerting, fungi, lichens, algae and other organisms can survive not only the transfer from Earth to Mars but to the conditions on the Martian surface itself. Also in this research we note that not only is likely the presence of microorganisms but it is even supported by several photos taken by the various rovers on the Martian surface.A real coup de grace for all those who argue that the conditions on the Martian surface are totally hostile to any form of life as we know it.Impossible to summarize in a few lines all the content of this beautiful article, but certainly worth reading and also download it, since it is accessible free of charge by anyone without the need for any registration. Full article: http://journalofastrobiology.com/EvidenceofLifeonMars.html Free downloadable PDF version: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rhawn_Joseph2/publication/331792376_Evidence_of_Life_on_Mars/links/5c8c32eba6fdcc381756ce15/Evidence-of-Life-on-Mars.pdf This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Curiosity Sol 2575, November 3, 2019

By Marco De Marco / November 6, 2019

At 21:04:18 UTC the Mastcam Left has captured this suggestive hillock of stratified rocks with a beautiful blue sky in the background, slightly veiled by haze.We are slightly east of the mound we know well, towards which Curiosity is heading.The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has been converted to color through a process called “debayering” or “demosaicing”. In addition, the photo has undergone a reduction of noise due to Jpeg compression, white balance and a slight increase in microcontrast and color saturation in order to make the colors more similar to what the human eye would see. Original image: https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02575/mcam/2575ML0135250130706142C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Curiosity Sol 2574, November 3, 2019

By Marco De Marco / November 4, 2019

At 00:57:42 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) captured this very close detail of a rock just partially cleaned by Curiosity’s rotating wire brush (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/a.1625578140858706/2506023692814142/). The photo was taken from a distance of only 3.68 cm with a definition of 0.020 mm/pixel, thus covering an area of 3.19 cm X 2.37 cm.Apart from the obvious concentric circular scratches, due to the abrasive action of the rotating wire brush of Curiosity, you can observe a curious texture of the rock with fine interwoven filaments rather than grains!I can not tell if this appearance was caused by the “material” that previously adhered to the rock or the nature of the rock itself. I only hope that the physicochemical nature of these very particular twists will be analyzed, maybe with the ChemCam laser; I have the impression that we could get some very interesting results!See for yourself this photo in detail by enlarging it properly, taking into account that each pixel corresponds to only 20 microns.To show colors more similar to what the human eye would see, I subjected the image to white balance and a slight increase in microcontrast and color saturation. Original image: https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/raw_images/713859/ https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02574/mhli/2574MH0001840020903904C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Curiosity Sol 2574, November 3, 2019

By Marco De Marco / November 4, 2019

At 00:48:40 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) captured this detail of a rock just partially cleaned by Curiosity’s rotating wire brush.The photo was taken from a distance of 25.52 cm with a definition of 0.102 mm/pixel, thus covering an area of 16.21 cm X 12.05 cm.Note how the cleaned area has a much bluer coloration than the uncleaned rock. Note also how the removed material, accumulated partly around the brushed area, tends to aggregate forming little balls that look anything but dusty!This material covering the rocks clearly has a tendency to stick together and compact in a very different way from normal dust consisting of simple crystals of purely mineral origin, which would otherwise tend to be easily removed by the wind, or worse still by dust storms which should exert a very erosive effect.But then what makes that “material” so cohesive?To show colors more similar to what the human eye would see, I subjected the image to white balance and a slight increase in microcontrast and color saturation. Original image: https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/raw_images/711806/ https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02574/mhli/2574MH0001900010903877C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Curiosity Sol 2572, Oct. 31, 2019

By Marco De Marco / November 3, 2019

At 23:51:11 UTC Mastcam Left captured these decidedly intriguing looking rocks.In addition to the usual layered and finely laminated structure, the rock in the upper left shows a spongy detail almost “coral-like” in the upper part.In the part exposed to the sun, you can see detail regular layers in the lower part have the intrusion of something complex even if not identifiable with the forms known to us, a fossil?Note also the greenish spots visible here and there on the sand and partly on the rocks.The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has been converted to color through a process called “debayering” or “demosaicing”. In addition, the photo has undergone a reduction of noise due to Jpeg compression, white balance and a slight increase in microcontrast and color saturation in order to make the colors more similar to what the human eye would see. Original image: https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/raw_images/710473/ https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02572/mcam/2572ML0135100010706090C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.