Mars crater where rover landed looks 'Earth-like'
Source: AP-Excite
By ALICIA CHANG
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - The ancient Martian crater where the Curiosity rover landed looks strikingly similar to the Mojave Desert in California with its looming mountains and hanging haze, scientists said Wednesday.
"The first impression that you get is how Earth-like this seems looking at that landscape," said chief scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology.
Overnight, the car-size rover poked its head out for the first time since settling in Gale Crater, peered around and returned a flood of black-and-white pictures that will be stitched into a panorama.
It provided the best view so far of its destination since touching down Sunday night after nailing an intricate choreography. During the last few seconds, a rocket-powered spacecraft hovered as cables lowered Curiosity to the ground.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120808/DA0HD0D00.html
In this image released by NASA on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012, a self portrait of NASA's Curiosity rover was taken by its Navigation cameras, located on the now-upright mast. The camera snapped pictures 360-degrees around the rover. (AP Photo/NASA)
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Does that mean its got an Area 51 ?
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Earth is starting to look more "Mars like".
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)WinstonSmith4740
(3,055 posts)This'll be sure to set off the conspiracy theories about how the space program is a fraud, and we never went to the moon.
MADem
(135,425 posts)Remember that stupid, schlocky movie? People grabbed on to that like a dawg wid a bone!
snooper2
(30,151 posts)4th law of robotics
(6,801 posts)WinstonSmith4740
(3,055 posts)And so simple! Thanks for the perfect reply. I have friends that truly believe we never went to the moon...I'm not proud of it, but I've got them!
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)Duer 157099
(17,742 posts)then we'll be twins
proud patriot
(100,704 posts)nikto
(3,284 posts)"The ancient Martian crater where the Curiosity rover landed
looks strikingly similar to the Mojave Desert in California."
"Majestically visible in the distance, and completing the scene, was
The Tallest Thermometer On Mars".
PlanetBev
(4,104 posts)Home of the famous "Bun Boy" hamburger restaurant. Wonder if it's still there.
CRH
(1,553 posts)but a few years ago I passed through Baker and that thermometer read 118 degrees, with the wind blowing out of the north west at 38 mph, and it was overcast. It made me wonder hot it would get with no clouds on a still day uncooled by a northerly.
Javaman
(62,497 posts)still doesn't mean he's from here, though.
sofa king
(10,857 posts)That's what makes Gale Crater interesting, is that it appears to have a crescent-shaped lake bed in one half of the crater.
I'm pretty sure Curiosity managed to stick its landing right next to one of the drainages, inside of the ancient lake-bed itself. We can already see the same sort of pebble distribution that is left over from the Mojave's inland sea, as well as some very shallow runoff features.
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/08/mars-curiosity-science-lab-already-points-to-water-flows-at-gale-crater.html
That's one of the things I love about planetary science, that we get to see the same geological features, but they're always a little bit different thanks to gravity, atmosphere, proximity to the Sun, and so on.
I wonder how far behind the geologists would be if they did not have data from other solar system objects to show them how different forces can lead to wildly different--and hauntingly familiar--results.