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Mars Spirit Photos
Photo Source: NASA

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There are currently two rovers on Mars. We have Spirit and Opportunity. In conjunction with this, I have discovered that the software to analyze the photos coming from Mars is available to the public, it is called Maestro and is freely downloadable from NASA. I had originally decided to do an article on Rover and Opportunity but I have so much material that I have decided to do an article on each of them.

Scientific Instruments aboard Spirit and Opportunity:

Panoramic Camera (Pancam): for determining the mineralogy, texture, and structure of the local terrain.
Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES): for identifying promising rocks and soils for closer examination and for determining the processes that formed Martian rocks. The instrument will also look skyward to provide temperature profiles of the Martian atmosphere.
Mössbauer Spectrometer (MB): for close-up investigations of the mineralogy of iron-bearing rocks and soils.
Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS): for close-up analysis of the abundances of elements that make up rocks and soils.
Magnets: for collecting magnetic dust particles. The Mössbauer Spectrometer and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer will analyze the particles collected and help determine the ratio of magnetic particles to non-magnetic particles. They will also analyze the composition of magnetic minerals in airborne dust and rocks that have been ground by the Rock Abrasion Tool.
Microscopic Imager (MI): for obtaining close-up, high-resolution images of rocks and soils.
Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT): for removing dusty and weathered rock surfaces and exposing fresh material for examination by instruments onboard.

Today Spirit will be in the spotlight. I am not going to rehash the Spirit mission but rather show you some of the photographs that the rover has taken.

Left and Middle, touch down and deploying. A view of Mars on the right.

Left: Notice strange rock pattern almost in shape of a cross.
Middle: As you get nearer to the right side of the photo the rocks seem similar to rubble.
Right: Again many rocks and a hill or mountain in the background.

The three color photos above are a good example of the rock fields that Spirit is encountering.

Left: Strange power like substance on the rocks and ground.
Middle: Larger rock field.
Right: This photo looks like an ordinary view of the terrain but look at what I found in it below.

Left: Enlargement of the lower right corner of the photo above this photo and on the right.
Right: Highlighted odd area of photo.

Looking at the photo above, or should I say the magnified and cropped photo above, made me think of some ruins that I had seen when the partially destroyed heads of statues laid on the ground which were somewhat covered by sand and dirt. Click on the photos to enlarge them and draw your own conclusions.

The photo on the left looks perfectly normal but it contains this strange formation? just below the horizon line and on the right. If you look at the magnified version of the photograph you will find it.

The three photos above show the Martian landscape.

Its a funny thing, but I couldn't help but stare at some of these photo for awhile because they reminded me of something, something I had seen but couldn't remember. Then it hit me, when you magnify some of these photos, such as the middle one and right one above, they sort of remind one of an archeological dig, the type where some of the animal bones are sticking out through the soil. I am not saying that any of these rocks are bones, just that this is what I thought of when I saw the photos. I also couldn't help but notice that there are many different patterns formed by the rocks, but there are so many rocks that I guess this is natural. Still it would be nice to be able to do a little digging in this area.

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