February 2004 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

RE: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Martian mushrooms
by Kim Hyatt 04 Feb '04

04 Feb '04

I remember some mushrooms from my ill-spent youth that were out of this world... -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Wiggins [mailto:paw@trilobyte.net] Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2004 12:07 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Martian mushrooms Joe Bauman wrote: > > Now that we've admired the Martian trilobite, let's examine the Mars > mushrooms! -- Joe > > http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/010/1P129075117EFF0224P2370L2 M1.JPG And more mushrooms (just released in the past few minutes). Look at that fat, juicy one in the lower left. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040204a/1M1290709 54EFF0224P2933M2M1_str-B011R1_br.jpg Patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Found in Martian soil (what is it?)
by Paul Witte 04 Feb '04

04 Feb '04

Correct me if I am wrong, but if NASA felt it was anything unusual I would expect a press release by now. I can't imagine they didn't notice it when they looked at the picture. If you look at the large photos you can see 2 white specs off to the right of that one that appear to be the same color. I'm guessing it's something from the lander. ---------- From: Patrick Wiggins Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2004 8:47 PM To: utah astronomy listserve Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Found in Martian soil (what is it?) Ann House emailed me a picture she had been sent as a joke, seeming to show a "bug" on Mars. I chuckled, thinking it was like the PhotoShopped pictures seen here that show Wal Mart and McDonald's signs on Mars. But then, just for the heck of it, I had a look at the original image on the NASA/JPL web site. It was there too. Here are small (300 kB) http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040202a/MSPan_B1… and large (9 MB) http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040202a/MSPan_B1… versions of the picture in question. The "bug" is located about 2/3 of the way across (left to right) and not quite half way up the image. I've put a close up of the object (supplied by Ann) here http://planet.state.ut.us/temp/WHATISIT.JPG Ideas? Something that came from the lander? Note, BTW, that the "bug's antennae" are above the surface and cast shadows. Patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Found in Martian soil (what is it?)
by Kim Hyatt 04 Feb '04

04 Feb '04

As a matter of fact...no, let's not even go there. -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Hards [mailto:chuckhards@yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2004 10:58 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] Found in Martian soil (what is it?) Speaking of which, Kim, I hope you're not at the office as you wrote that... ;) --- Kim Hyatt <khyatt(a)smithlayton.com> wrote: > Someone has to get out more often... __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/ _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Found in Martian soil (what is it?)
by Paul Witte 03 Feb '04

03 Feb '04

Here is another picture of it from the "raw" images: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/002/1P128372948EFF0200P2211L… There is also a thread going on about it on www.badastronomy.com: http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=10957 ---------- From: Patrick Wiggins Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2004 10:29 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Found in Martian soil (what is it?) Paul Witte wrote: > > Correct me if I am wrong, but if NASA felt it was > anything unusual I would expect a press release by now. Just for the heck of it I emailed a contact at JPL about the object. Will be interested to see what she says. FWIW, Ann emailed me to say that the person that sent her that picture says the object is missing in a picture of the same area taken some time later. Maybe it crawled off? (Disclaimer: I *am* kidding about it crawling off.) Patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Found in Martian soil (what is it?)
by Kim Hyatt 03 Feb '04

03 Feb '04

Someone has to get out more often... -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Wiggins [mailto:paw@trilobyte.net] Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2004 8:47 PM To: utah astronomy listserve Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Found in Martian soil (what is it?) Ann House emailed me a picture she had been sent as a joke, seeming to show a "bug" on Mars. I chuckled, thinking it was like the PhotoShopped pictures seen here that show Wal Mart and McDonald's signs on Mars. But then, just for the heck of it, I had a look at the original image on the NASA/JPL web site. It was there too. Here are small (300 kB) http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040202a/MSPan_B1_ 2x-B009R1_br2.jpg and large (9 MB) http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040202a/MSPan_B1_ 2x-B009R1.jpg versions of the picture in question. The "bug" is located about 2/3 of the way across (left to right) and not quite half way up the image. I've put a close up of the object (supplied by Ann) here http://planet.state.ut.us/temp/WHATISIT.JPG Ideas? Something that came from the lander? Note, BTW, that the "bug's antennae" are above the surface and cast shadows. Patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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Article on Rover software
by Michael Carnes 03 Feb '04

03 Feb '04

Hello all, I ran across this article on the software gothcas that I thought might be on general interest. Hope you enjoy. < http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107_2-5148988.html> Michael

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Martian soil
by Chuck Hards 03 Feb '04

03 Feb '04

Hey Joe (Bauman): Remembering your initial comments about the apparent cohesion of the Martian soil, in the apparent absence of water, when it struck me that the lunar soil had similar properties. Remember how it clung to everything, and left crisp boot impressions, almost as if it were slightly damp? Perhaps looking for old Apollo reports on the subject may shed light on what's going-on with Martian soil. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Martian soil
by Kim Hyatt 03 Feb '04

03 Feb '04

Is not this at least one argument why human space/planetary exploration is worthwhile? If there were a person on Mars stepping in the dust, picking up rocks in his/her gloves, then a lot of speculation about the nature of the soil we can only see one-dimensionally from here would be unnecessary. -----Original Message----- From: Joe Bauman [mailto:bau@desnews.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2004 12:09 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Martian soil Great point. What's strange is that the soil at Spirit's site and that at Opportunity's seem to have different properties. Spirit's looks much more gummy, with those scrape marks. Spirit's seems to take impressions much more strongly, but not to stick to things -- you can see the seams of the airbags in the "lillypad" impressions made when the lander was bouncing along, yet the airbags are not covered with dirt the way Spirit's are. Very odd. -- Joe _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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WTB: Millenium Star Atlas
by Chuck Hards 03 Feb '04

03 Feb '04

I'm looking for a copy of the Millenium Star Atlas, will pay full new price if GC, less according to wear. Can also trade for astro-goodies. It is out of print, my contacts at Sky say there are currently no plans for a reprint. EBay, Amazon, and the usual "used" vendors are empty-handed. Contact me off-list, leads appreciated also, thanks! C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/

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ISS ground track shifted
by Patrick Wiggins 02 Feb '04

02 Feb '04

Looks like the orbit of ISS has changed as the latest TLEs indicate the ground track for Wednesday's transit has shifted south a couple of kilometers and moved up a few seconds. As it stands now we could probably see if from SPOC. Original track: http://planet.state.ut.us/temp/1-ISSTRACK04FEB2004.JPG Updated track: http://planet.state.ut.us/temp/1-ISSTRACK04FEB2004.JPG Of course, the weather continues to look poor: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=84074 Patrick

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