Latest Posts

Curiosity Sol 2492, Aug. 10, 2019

By Marco De Marco / August 12, 2019

At 14:48:34 UTC the Mastcam Right captured this nice view with rounded hillocks, against the background of a blue sky but partially covered by white clouds.The wad-like appearance of this cloud is definitely different from the cirrus clouds that sometimes veil the Martian sky.However, it remains a mystery to me how clouds can form in an atmosphere so dry that if we condense all the moisture in it to the ground, we would get a layer of liquid water about a hundredth of a millimeter thick!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.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02492/mcam/2492MR0132360070304998C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Curiosity Sol 2492, Aug. 10, 2019

By Marco De Marco / August 12, 2019

At 16:31:54 UTC the Mastcam Right captured this group of boulders and rocks of obvious sedimentary origin.I find the presence of extremely smooth and rounded rocks and sharp-edged rocks very interesting.Also note how the soil around the rock at the top of the photo appears darker and in places shaped by the flow of a liquid, probably water condensed on the rocks themselves.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.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02492/mcam/2492MR0132430530305117C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

ExoMars 2020 system crashed during parachute test in Sweden (article by Anna Kharitonova, translated from Russian)

By Marco De Marco / August 10, 2019

“Tests in Sweden of the parachute system for the Russian-European ExoMars 2020 mission proved unsuccessful: the station’s model crashed during landing, Ria Novosti reported, citing an informed source on the test results.The test of the parachute system at the Esrange training ground in Sweden failed. The full-size model of the ExoMars 2020 Martian station landing module crashed during the landing, according to the agency.The press service of the European Space Agency has not yet commented on this information.According to the head of the Space Policy Institute, Ivan Moiseev, the accident may not affect the launch date of the spacecraft planned for next year, as there is still time to perform more tests.That’s why tests are being conducted. For the remaining time, the parachute system can be improved. I think the deadlines will not change unless some new reasons arise. If it’s not possible this time they’ll correct it for the next one, since there’s still enough time.” Maybe they’re starting to get the hang of it! 🙏😏🧐 This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Darkness meets light on Mars

By Marco De Marco / August 9, 2019

ESA’s Mars Express probe captured this cosmic contrast in Terra Cimmeria, a region located in the highlands of Mars’ southern hemisphere marked by impact craters and valleys carved by water with dust and sand in colors of chocolate and caramel.Although we often refer to Mars as “the red planet,” a close-up view shows us a wide variety of colors, from white to black, yellow to green, and red to cappuccino, as in this photo.These color differences are already visible with telescopes from Earth and reveal the wide variety of composition and properties of the Martian soil.Although the largest crater, visible in this photo, is 25 km wide its depth is only 300 meters, due to the material deposited inside after its formation.The surrounding structures also show us how water has extensively shaped the area, water that has been trapped below the surface by a layer of ice that has periodically melted releasing large amounts of liquid water to the surface even in relatively recent times.In the area are also visible dark stripes of aeolian origin that show us how the prevailing direction of the winds blew in a southeasterly direction.The Mars Express, in about sixteen years of activity, has shown us a large amount of surface changes revealing a world extremely dynamic and far from dead, finding also signs of tectonic activity relatively recent as well as the formation of strange seasonal clouds and the formation and melting of ice at the poles. This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Curiosity Sol 2486, Aug. 4, 2019

By Marco De Marco / August 5, 2019

At 11:04:34 UTC the Mastcam Right took this nice photo of the drilling just performed by Curiosity in the area called “Glen Etive 1”.With so many interesting rocks seen in the last days, I would have expected in drilling site a little more interesting than this simple layered rock.In any case, the hole obtained appears to be deep enough and so we hope that the sample collected will be useful for physicochemical analysis.In this case, the excavated material appears to be the same “Mars red” color as the rock itself, so I believe that the analyses will not provide any particular results, contrary to other drillings in which the excavated material appeared even bluish. However, we will wait patiently for the results of this (and other…) analyses, as soon as they are officially published.To show colors more similar to those that the human eye would see, I subjected the image to a reduction of noise due to Jpeg compression, white balance and a slight increase in microcontrast and color saturation. Original image: https://mars.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02486/mcam/2486MR0132080010404946E01_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

************************ Breaking news ************************

By Marco De Marco / August 5, 2019

Arsia Mons, August 4, 2019: the volcano wakes up!!! After months of no observation and an apparent quiescence since last June 19 (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/a.1625578140858706/2260042377412276/), the activity of Arsia Mons definitely seems to resume in a big way!Ridiculous explanations such as “seasonal phenomenon” or “orographic cloud” no longer hold up and it is time that someone decided to give more credible explanations.Not only a nice puff coming from the volcano itself, but also a nice “cloud” visible well beyond the border between day and night (terminator). In fact, the “cloud” connected to the puff of Arsia Mons (top left) must soar well over 60 km altitude to be visible at that distance from the terminator, an altitude at which not even on Earth similar clouds are formed, despite the fact that the Earth has an atmosphere (officially!) 100 times denser! Original image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/esa_marswebcam/48462619377/ This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Curiosity Sol 2484, August 2, 2019

By Marco De Marco / August 3, 2019

At 08:43:46 UTC the Mastcam Right shot for the third time this suggestive hillock of stratified rocks with the blue sky for background but this time slightly veiled!I suggest you to compare this image with the two previous ones, that of Sol 2458 (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/a.1625578140858706/2291028767646970/) and that of Sol 2464 (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/a.1625578140858706/2300905249992655/). Compared to the previous image there are further differences in the color of the rocks, while the angle of illumination (of the Sun) is the same.So, if between the first and the second photo the big difference in the angle of illumination could have been partly the cause of the differences in the colors of the rocks, between the second and the third (this one!) the angle of illumination is practically the same, so the color differences in this case can only be attributed to physical-chemical alterations of the ground itself, alterations already observed in some shots of Opportunity (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/videos/1668518819897971/). In your opinion what could cause such obvious changes in such a relatively short period of time?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.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02484/mcam/2484MR0132030230504902C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Curiosity Sol 2483, July 31, 2019

By Marco De Marco / August 2, 2019

At 23:02:37 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) has taken this beautiful picture of a Martian rock from a distance of only 7.47 cm and with a definition of 0.0338 mm/pixel, thus covering an area of 5.31 cm X 3.95 cm.An incredible interweaving of limestone (or gypsum), such as to create such intricate textures as to make the surface of this rock worthy of an abstract painting; it occurs to me that sometimes nature creates true works of art!If you’d like, download the image from the options menu from the photo and zoom in well on the various details. You’ll notice some really intricate thin branching branches; definitely spectacular.This photo has been processed to allow a better view of the colors by making them more like what the human eye would see, balancing the white and slightly increasing the microcontrast and color saturation. Original image: https://mars.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02483/mhli/2483MH0001530000903011R00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Curiosity Sol 2481, July 30, 2019

By Marco De Marco / August 1, 2019

At 04:16:30 UTC Mastcam Left took this nice photo of the inner rim of Gale Crater.The horizon appears veiled by a kind of haze very similar to that observed here on Earth during humid days, but less intense than in other photos.If this haze was due to dust in suspension it would appear ocher in color and not tending to blue as in this case.Also in this photo the variations in the color of the terrain create a sort of rainbow as you go toward the horizon, with the far peaks decidedly bluish.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. Original image: https://mars.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02481/mcam/2481ML0131690000904572C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

Curiosity Sol 2475, July 24, 2019

By Marco De Marco / July 26, 2019

At 06:09:12 UTC Mastcam Left took this picture of Martian layered rocks.These rocks appear on average of the typical “Mars red” color, except in the inlets and recesses where the color turns decidedly turquoise.The ground also shows similar color variations, but also shows two very interesting “flows” darker than the surrounding terrain in the left side of the image; liquid water?Are we looking at the first close-up photo of two small RSLs (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_flows_on_warm_Martian_slopes)??? Spread this picture and try to submit it to as many people as you think may have a minimum of expertise on the subject, I am really curious to see the explanations that will give.I wonder if the technicians of Curiosity will try to investigate the chemical and physical nature of these two “likely” flows of liquid water, we hope!To show colors more similar to those that the human eye would see, I subjected the image to a reduction of noise due to Jpeg compression, white balance and a slight increase in microcontrast and color saturation. Original image: https://mars.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02475/mcam/2475ML0131400030904262E01_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.