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Articles
From the Summer, 2008 PGMC 'Gem'
How to Use a Compass
A
compass is crucial in finding direction in the middle of a forest, sea
or even in a city. A simple tool based on the earth's magnetic field
that has been around for centuries, the compass will, if used
correctly, find the right direction.
Steps To "take a bearing"; i.e. use a compass to find your direction of travel
1. Place the compass flat on your palm, and your palm in front of your chest. 2. Point the direction of travel arrow in the direction you wish to take a bearing.
3. Rotate the compass housing until the orienting arrow (on the compass
housing) lines up with the north end of the magnetic compass needle. 4. Read off the bearing marked on the edge of the compass housing that aligns with the direction of travel arrow.
5. You can now plot the direction you have just taken a bearing of on
the map. Take off local magnetic variation (i.e. take off the
difference between magnetic and true north) by rotating the compass
housing. Place the compass on the map, holding both horizontally, and
rotate the whole compass to line up the orienting arrow and lines with
the map's North lines. Move the compass so that its edge passes through
your current position and maintains its alignment with the map's North
line. 6. Draw a line through your current position and
along the compass' edge. Your path from your current position will be
along the line along the edge of the compass if you maintain this
bearing.
To "follow a bearing"; i.e. use a compass to walk in the right direction
1. Hold map horizontally and place compass on the map. 2. Adjust compass so its edge passes through your current position and the position you intend to walk to. 3. Rotate the compass housing until the orienting arrow and lines are parallel with the North lines of the map.
4. Put the map away. Read off the bearing reading from the compass
housing and add local value of magnetic variation. 5.
Hold compass horizontally with the direction of travel arrow pointing
away from you. Turn to face in a direction where the North needle lines
up with the orienting arrow on the compass housing. 6.
Look down the direction of travel arrow and focus on an object in the
middle distance that it points to e.g. tree, telegraph pole etc.
Walking towards this object will take you towards your intended
position. 7. If visibility is limited and you cannot
see any distant objects use another member of your walking party. Ask
them to walk away from you in the direction indicated by the direction
of travel arrow as you stay in the same spot. Call out to correct their
direction as they walk. When they approach the edge of visibility ask
them to wait until you catch up. 8. When you reach the
object you selected or the person you are directing make another
bearing by repeating these steps.
To triangulate - finding your current position using bearings on visible landmarks
1. Choose 3 prominent landmarks that you can see and also find on your
map. These should be as widely spread around your field of view as
possible. 2. Aim the compass' direction of travel arrow at the landmark and take a bearing. 3. Adjust for magnetic variation.
4. Place the compass on the map and orientate it so the edge of the
compass passes through the landmark on the map and the North lines on
the compass housing line up with the map's north lines. 5. Draw a line along the edge of the compass through the landmark and your approximate position.
6. Repeat for each landmark to produce a small triangle where the lines
intersect. Your position is inside this triangle, the size of which
depends on the accuracy of your bearings. More accurate bearings reduce
the size of the triangle and, with lots of practice, you may get the
lines to intersect at one point.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Needles of Obsidian
The
term 'needles of obsidian' refers to a naturally occurring fragment of
obsidian that is basically rod like in shape. Needles can be any where
from the size of a pencil lead to that of a three-foot section of
four-by-four.
As obsidian cools beyond the threshold of
crystallization, it contracts and fractures. Usually the pattern of
shattering is pretty random, creating pieces of varying size and shape.
In any large obsidian flow there may be a few long thin pieces just
because of chance. In a few flows, however, the entire formation has an
over all tendency to produce needles. No one has ever seen this occur,
so theories as to the origin of needles are only that: theories. The
one that I favor, which was developed by an actual geologist from
Humboldt University some twenty-five years ago, is that the needles
formed in an already existing obsidian flow when it was bisected by a
fault line. The resulting earth movement flaked the rock along parallel
axis at 90 degrees, the result being needles.
At
every site where I have found more than random needles, there seems to
be a general matrix with needle sizes ranging from hair-like to honkers
of up to thirty inches; but please, feel free to come up with a theory
of your own. Perhaps they were left by aliens or are some kind of weird
communist plot.
At any rate the needles are the second key to
the wonderful and amazing tones that our chimes produce. The shapes
allow the sympathetic vibrations to build up and emote.
Needles
of obsidian are relatively rare and little known. Over the years, we
have found several places in Oregon and California where we are
permitted to dig them. http://www.obsidianwindchimes.com/about3.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alexandrite: Birthstone for June The
Gemstone Alexandrite is the color changing variety of the mineral
Chrysoberyl. The June Birthstone, its color varies from red to green
depending upon the light source. It is an alternate (modern) Zodiac
stone for the constellation of Gemini.
Alexandrite
is named for the former czar of Russia, Alexander II, and was first
discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia, supposedly on the day of
his birth. Chromium
gives alexandrite its color and while, in most minerals, a trace
element like chromium would provide only one color to the mineral, in
alexandrite it gives it two! Coloring agents are dependent on the
wavelength of
light and the chemical bonds in the crystal to determine the color that
they will cause. An element like copper, in normal light, can cause a
green color in malachite and a blue color in azurite, it all depends on
the character of the chemical bonding. In a single specimen of
alexandrite, the chromium is in such a balanced situation that the
color of the specimen depends on the character of light that hits the
crystal. If the light is natural sunlight or fluorescent light, the
crystal will be green; however, if the light is incandescent light from
a common indoor light bulb, then the crystal will appear red.
Synthetic
corundums spiked with trace elements that yield an alexandrite-like
color change are sold as alexandrite on the gemstone market. These
stones have a red-violet, near-amethyst color in incandescent light and
a blue-violet color in daylight. They are far cheaper than natural
alexandrites, which are some of the rarest and most expensive of
gemstones. http://www.galleries.com/minerals/gemstone/alexandr/birthJUN.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ruby: Birthstone for July The
gemstone ruby is the red variety of the mineral Corundum , the second
hardest natural mineral known to mankind. Ruby is the July birthstone,
and the Capricorn Zodiac stone.
All colors of corundum other
than red or white are called Sapphire The red color in ruby is caused
by trace amounts of the element chromium. The best shade of red for
ruby is often given the name "pigeon blood red", but ruby can be any
shade of red up to almost pink. Oriented rutile crystal inclusions
cause a six-rayed-star light effect (called asterism) to form the
popular Star Ruby.
Rubies
come from all over the world but good gemstones are found at Thailand,
India, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, North Carolina in the U.S., Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania, Kampuchea, and perhaps most
notably, Burma.
Like most gemstones from the antiquities, Ruby
is one of the Biblestones. In Exodus, the Breastplate of Aaron is
described as containing a "sardius", the ancient name for
ruby.
Rubies have a famous place in science - the first lasers
were made from artificial ruby crystals. They still are used for
this purpose although other materials offer improved efficiency.
Some natural ruby crystals show the fluorescence (actually very short
term phosphorescence) that makes a laser possible.
http://www.galleries.com/minerals/gemstone/ruby/birthjul.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peridot: Birthstone for August
Peridot
(pronounced pair-a-doe) is the gem variety of olivine. Peridot is the
birthstone for August and the Zodiac stone for the constellation Libra
(astrological sources refer to peridot as Chrysolite).
Olivine,
which is actually not an official mineral, is composed of two minerals:
fayalite and forsterite. Fayalite is the iron rich member and
forsterite is the magnesium rich member. Olivine's formula is written
as (Mg, Fe)2SiO4 to show the substitution of the magnesium and iron.
Peridot is usually closer to forsterite than fayalite in composition
although iron is the coloring agent for peridot. The best colored
peridot has an iron percentage of less than 15% and includes nickel and
chromium as trace elements that may also contribute to the best peridot
color.
Gem quality peridot comes from the ancient source of
Zagbargad (Zebirget) Island in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt;
Mogok, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma); Kohistan, Pakistan; Minas
Gerais, Brazil; Eifel, Germany; Chihuahua, Mexico; Ethiopia; Australia;
Peridot Mesa, San Carlos Apache Reservation, Gila County, Arizona and Salt
Lake Crater, Oahu, Hawaii, USA. The best quality peridot has
historically come either from Myanmar or Egypt. But new sources in
Pakistan are challenging that claim with some exceptional specimens.
The Arizona gem material is of lesser quality, but is far more abundant
and is therefore much more affordable. An estimated 80 - 95% of all
world production of peridot comes from Arizona. The Myanmar, Pakistani
and Egyptian gems are rarer and of better quality and thus quite
valuable approaching the per carat values of top gemstones. Possibly
the most unusual peridot is that which comes from iron-nickel
meteorites called pallasites. Some are actually facetted and set in
jewelry.
Peridot is perhaps derived from the French word peritot
which means unclear, probably due to the inclusions and cloudy nature
of large stones. It could also be named from the Arabic word faridat
which means gem. In either case, peridot has been mined as a gemstone
for an estimated four thousand years or better, and is mentioned in the
Bible under the Hebrew name of pitdah (see Biblestones). Peridot gems
along with other gems were probably used in the fabled Breastplates of
the Jewish High Priest, artifacts that have never been found. The
Greeks and Romans referred to peridot as topazion and topazius
respectively and this name was later given to topaz, to end the
confusion with the two gems. Historical legend has it that peridot was
the favorite gemstone of Cleopatra. Pliny wrote about the green stone
from Zagbargad Island in 1500 B.C.. Even until recently jewelers have
used the term "chrysolite" (latin for golden stone) in referring to
peridot gems for some reason. This term has also been used to refer to
other gemstones, of a more golden color.
Olivine has the same
overall composition as the Earth's mantle, and thus can be considered
to be the most common mineral INSIDE the Earth (the 1600 mile wide
solid iron core is second). In a sense then, peridot may be by far the
most common gemstone. Some volcanoes, including Hawaii, occasionally
produce sands which are composed of transparent green grains of
peridot. On the Big Island, the sands mostly appear black except on a
beach near the southernmost tip of the island.
http://www.galleries.com/minerals/gemstone/peridot/birthaug.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minerals
from Another World
Follow
the lastest discoveries from NASA, as Mars Rovers
Spirit and Opportunity continue to explore, experiment and send
back images from Mars.These rugged Rovers were expected to last
about 3 months on the hostile Red Planet, before their batteries
gave out and they fell silent. At the time of this writing, they
have far exceeded expectations and have been exploring and sending
data for over a year. I will continue to add these wonderful pictures
as long as they keep coming.
Large
Image of the Red Planet _
Mars Wallpaper: 800 x 600
__1024 x 768
Recent
highlights:
| 7/20/07 |
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Dust Storm Time Lapse Shows Opportunity's Skies Darken
NASA's Opportunity rover is literally seeing some of its darkest days.
Both Mars Exploration Rovers have been riding out a regional dust storm
for several weeks. Conditions became particularly dreary in the
Meridiani Planum region where Opportunity sits, perched on the edge of
"Victoria Crater." Read more |
| 2/5/07 |
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Spirit's Winter Panorama (Labeled)
Since April of 2006, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has been
sojourning in a place called "Winter Haven," where the robotic
geologist spent several months parked on a north-facing slope in order
to keep its solar panels pointed toward the sun...Read More |
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8/7/06
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Opportunity
Approaches the Bowl of Beagle Crater: NASA's Mars
Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired this false-color image
of the rim of the 35-meter (115-foot) diameter Beagle Crater
on Martian day, or sol, 894 (July 30, 2006) using the panoramic
camera's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters.
At the time the rover was about 25 meters (82 feet) from Beagle
Crater, looking east-southeast. Read
More |
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5/5/06
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Spirit
Beholds Bumpy Boulder: As NASA's Mars Exploration
Rover Spirit began collecting images for a 360-degree panorama
of new terrain, the rover captured this view of a dark boulder
with an interesting surface texture. The boulder sits about
40 centimeters (16 inches) tall on Martian sand about 5 meters
(16 feet) away from Spirit. It is one of many dark, volcanic
rock fragments -- many pocked with rounded holes called vesicles
-- littering the slope of "Low Ridge." Read
More |
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3/27/06
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Spirit
Says Goodbye to 'Home Plate': For the past several
weeks, Spirit has been examining spectacular layered rocks
exposed at "Home Plate." The rover has been driving
around the northern and eastern edges of Home Plate, on the
way to "McCool Hill." Before departing, Spirit took
this image showing some of the most complex layering patterns
seen so far at this location. Read
More.... |
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2/17/06
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Revealing
Roosevelt: This image mosaic from the microscopic
imager aboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows
detailed structure of a small fin-like structure dubbed "Roosevelt,"
which sticks out from the outcrop pavement at the edge of
"Erebus Crater." Read
More.
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2/17/06
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Spirit
Hits a Home Run: This week, NASA's Mars Exploration
Rover Spirit arrived at "Home Plate," a feature
that, when seen from orbit, looks like the home plate of a
baseball diamond. Home Plate is a roughly circular feature
about 80 meters (260 feet) in diameter that might be an old
impact crater or volcanic feature. Read
More. |
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1/20/06
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Salty
Expression (False Color) NASA's Mars Exploration
Rover Spirit spent the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend
analyzing a remarkable exposure of bright, loose material.
Spirit discovered the material while driving toward "Home
Plate" along the floor of the basin south of "Husband
Hill" in Gusev Crater. These images from Spirit's panoramic
camera (Pancam) show some of the most colorful deposits yet
photographed on the surface of Mars. Read
More |
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9/9/05
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Two
Moons Passing in the Night: Taking advantage of extra
solar energy collected during the day, NASA's Mars Exploration
Rover Spirit settled in for an evening of stargazing, photographing
the two moons of Mars as they crossed the night sky. "It
is incredibly cool to be running an observatory on another
planet," said planetary scientist Jim Bell of Cornell
University, Ithaca, N.Y., lead scientist for the panoramic
cameras on Spirit and Opportunity.
Read More |
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9/1/05
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Rind-Like
Features at a Meridiani Outcrop: After months spent
crossing a sea of rippled sands, Opportunity reached an outcrop
in August 2005 and began investigating exposures of sedimentary
rocks, intriguing rind-like features that appear to cap the
rocks, and cobbles that dot the martian surface locally. Read
More
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6/10/05
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A
Moment Frozen in Time: On May 19th, 2005, NASA's
Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view
as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. This
Panoramic Camera (Pancam) mosaic was taken around 6:07 in
the evening of the rover's 489th martian day, or sol. Spirit
was commanded to stay awake briefly after sending that sol's
data to the Mars Odyssey orbiter just before sunset. Read
more...
Mars Sunset Wallpaper: 800x600
or 1024x768 |
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4/29/05
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'Lookout
Panorama' from Spirit: This is the Spirit panoramic
camera's "Lookout" panorama, acquired on the rover's
410th to 413th martian days, or sols (Feb. 27 to Mar. 2, 2005).
The view is from a position known informally as "Larry's
Lookout" along the drive up "Husband Hill."
Read
More
224K
Image |
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4/21/05
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Movie
Clip Shows Whirlwinds Carrying Dust on Mars: This
movie clip shows a dust devil scooting across a plain inside
Gusev Crater on Mars as seen from the NASA rover Spirit's
hillside vantage point during the rover's 456th martian day,
or sol (April 15, 2005). The individual images were taken
about 20 seconds apart by Spirit's navigation camera. Read
More |
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4/11/05
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Scientists
Contemplate Tilting of Rock Layers on Mars: Gazing
across the landscape of the "Columbia Hills" in
Gusev Crater on Mars, scientists think they have been seeing
hints of tilted rock layers across the area traversed by the
rover...One possible explanation for these ridges is that
they were formed by tilted layers of sediment that were more
resistant to erosion and now stand in relief above the surrounding
surface...Read
More |
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2/4/05
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Still
Giving Thanks for Good Health: NASA's Mars Exploration
Rover Spirit took this full-circle
panorama of the region near "Husband Hill" (the
peak just to the left of center) over the Thanksgiving holiday,
before ascending farther. Both the Spirit and Opportunity
rovers are still going strong, more than a year after landing
on Mars. Read
More
360°
animated view. (File Size: 6.9 mb; Quicktime:
Download
plugin) |
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1/19/05
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Iron
Meteorite on Mars: NASA's Mars Exploration Rover
Opportunity has found an iron meteorite on Mars, the first
meteorite of any type ever identified on another planet. The
pitted, basketball-size object is mostly made of iron and
nickel. Readings from spectrometers on the rover determined
that composition. Read
More |
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11/4/04
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Spirit
Adds Clues About History of Rocks in Martian Hills
Full Press Release
Layers in 'Tetl': NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
has examined the layered structure of this rock, called "Tetl,"
in the "Columbia Hills." This approximately true-color
view was made from frames taken by Spirit's panoramic camera
on the rover's 264th martian day....Read
More |
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10/7/04
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'Escher'
Rock: This false-color image taken by NASA's Mars
Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a rock dubbed "Escher"
on the southwestern slopes of "Endurance Crater."
Scientists believe the rock's fractures, which divide the
surface into polygons, may have been formed by one of several
processes...Read
More |
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8/6/04
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"Endurance
Crater's" Dazzling Dunes: (false-color): As
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity creeps farther into
"Endurance Crater," the dune field on the crater
floor appears even more dramatic. This false-color image taken
by the rover's panoramic camera shows that the dune crests
have accumulated more dust than the flanks of the dunes and
the flat surfaces between them. Read
More |
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7/16/04
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Chlorine
Goes Deep: This image taken by the navigation camera
on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the layers
of bedrock that line the walls of "Endurance Crater."
Opportunity has been inching down the crater walls, investigating
distinct layers of rock for clues to Mars' buried past. The
various layers are labeled here as "A" through "F."
Targets within these layers, including millstone, are also
indicated.Read
More |
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6/25/04
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'Endurance'
Tells Story of Mars' History: This false-color image
shows the area inside "Endurance Crater" that the
Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been examining. The
rover is currently investigating the distinct layers of rock
that make up this region. Each layer is defined by subtle
color and texture variations and represents a separate chapter
in Mars' history. Read
More |
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6/15/04
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'Tennessee'
Clues: This false-color image shows the area within
"Endurance Crater," currently being investigated
by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The rover is
inspecting a hole it drilled into a flat rock (center) dubbed
"Tennessee," which scientists believe may be made
up of the same evaporite-rich materials as those found in
"Eagle Crater."
Read
More
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6/15/04
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Crater
of Clues: This 360-degree panorama shows "Endurance
Crater" and the surrounding plains of Meridiani Planum.
This is the second large panoramic camera mosaic of Endurance,
and was obtained from a high point near the crater's south
rim. Read
More
Large
Panoramic Image |
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6/2/04
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The
Colors of "Endurance": This false-color
image shows visible mineral changes between the materials
that make up the rim of the impact crater known as "Endurance."
The image was taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars
Exploration Rover Opportunity using all 13 color filters.
The cyan blue color denotes basalts, whereas the dark green
color denotes a mixture of iron oxide and basaltic materials.
Reds and yellows indicate dusty material containing sulfates. Read
More |
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4/15/04
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Mars Rover Finds Rock Resembling Meteorites That Fell
to Earth: NASA's Opportunity rover has examined an
odd volcanic rock on the plains of Mars' Meridiani Planum
region with a composition unlike anything seen on Mars before,
but scientists have found similarities to meteorites that
fell to Earth. Read
More |
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4/15/04
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Smooth
Side of 'Route 66': This image was taken by the microscopic
imager onboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol
99 (April 13, 2004). It is a close-up look at a portion of
the rock called "Route 66," which was brushed by
the rover's rock abrasion tool. This image intrigues scientists
because it looks very different from the microscopic images
taken of other brushed rocks at the Gusev Crater location. Read
More |
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4/1/04
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Spirit
Finds Multi-Layer Hints of Past Water at Mars' Gusev Site:
Clues from a wind-scalloped volcanic rock on Mars investigated
by NASA's Spirit rover suggest repeated possible exposures
to water inside Gusev Crater, scientists said Thursday. Gusev
is halfway around the planet from the Meridiani region where
Spirit's twin, Opportunity, recently found evidence that water
used to flow across the surface. Read
More |
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3/23/04
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Standing Body of Water Left Its Mark in Mars Rocks: NASA's Opportunity rover has demonstrated some rocks on Mars
probably formed as deposits at the bottom of a body of gently
flowing saltwater. "We think Opportunity is parked on
what was once the shoreline of a salty sea on Mars,"
said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University...Read
More |
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3/18/04
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Spirit's
Destination (panorama): This panoramic image mosaic
from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit panoramic camera, shows
the rover's destination toward the hills nicknamed the "Columbia
Hills," on the right. The rover's heatshield can be seen
on the left as a tiny bright dot in the distance, just under
the horizon. Dark drift material can be seen in the image
center. Read
More
Large
Panoramic Image |
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3/18/04
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Mineral in Mars 'Berries' Adds to Water Story:
A major ingredient in small mineral spheres analyzed by NASA's
Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity furthers understanding
of past water at Opportunity's landing site and points to
a way of determining whether the vast plains surrounding the
site also have a wet history. Read
More |
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3/18/04
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A
Bowl of Hematite-Rich 'Berries': This graph shows
two spectra, or light signatures, of outcrop regions near
the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site. The
blue line shows data for a region dubbed "Berry Bowl,"
which contains a handful of the sphere-like grains dubbed
"blueberries." Read
More |
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3/2/04
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The
Texture of El Capitan: This image, taken by the panoramic
camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows a
close up of the rock dubbed "El Capitan," located
in the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. This image
shows fine, parallel lamination in the upper area of the rock,
which also contains scattered sphere-shaped objects ranging
from 1 to 2 millimeters (.04 to .08 inches) in size. Read
More |
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3/11/04
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The
Minerals at 'El Capitan': The white curve in this
image shows the spectrum, or light signature, of a region
of rock outcrop dubbed "El Capitan" near the Mars
Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site. The data were
taken by rover's miniature thermal emission spectrometer
instrument, located on its panoramic camera mast assembly. Read
More
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3/2/04
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Opportunity
Rover Finds Strong Evidence Meridiani Planum Was Wet: Scientists
have concluded the part of Mars that NASA's Opportunity rover
is exploring was soaking wet in the past. Evidence the rover
found in a rock outcrop led scientists to the conclusion.
Clues from the rocks' composition, such as the presence of
sulfates, and the rocks' physical appearance, such as niches
where crystals grew, helped make the case for a watery history.
Read
More |
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3/2/04
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Mineral
Tells Tale of Watery Past: This spectrum, taken by
the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's Moessbauer spectrometer,
shows the presence of an iron-bearing mineral called jarosite in the collection of rocks dubbed "El Capitan."
"El Capitan" is located within the rock outcrop
that lines the inner edge of the small crater where Opportunity
landed. The pair of yellow peaks specifically indicates a
jarosite phase, which contains water in the form of hydroxyl
as a part of its structure. Read
More |
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2/20/04
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Plotting
and Scheming: This graphic is a planning tool used
by Mars Exploration Rover engineers to plot and scheme the
perfect location to place the rock abrasion tool on the rock
collection dubbed "El Capitan" near Opportunity's
landing site. "El Capitan" is located within a larger
outcrop nicknamed "Opportunity Ledge." Read
More |
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2/19/04
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Opportunity
Examines Trench As Spirit Prepares To Dig One: By
inspecting the sides and floor of a hole it dug on Mars,
NASA's Opportunity rover is finding some things it did not
see beforehand, including round pebbles that are shiny and
soil so fine-grained that the rover's microscope can't make
out individual particles. Read
More
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2/13/04
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Flaky
"Mimi": This color image taken by the
Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera on Sol
40 is centered on an unusually flaky rock called Mimi. Mimi
is only one of many features in the area known as "Stone
Council," but looks very different from any rock that
scientists have seen at the Gusev crater site so far. Read
More
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2/9/04
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Mars
Rock Formation Poses Mystery: This sharp, close-up
image taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration
Rover Opportunity's instrument deployment device, or "arm,"
shows a rock target dubbed "Robert E," located
on the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. Read
More
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2/4/04
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2/4/04
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Mars
Under the Microscope: This magnified look at the
martian soil near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's
landing site, Meridiani Planum, shows coarse grains sprinkled
over a fine layer of sand. Read
More..
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1/28/04
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A
Geologist's Treasure Trove: This high-resolution
image captured by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's
panoramic camera highlights the puzzling rock outcropping
that scientists are eagerly planning to investigate. Presently,
Opportunity is on its lander facing northeast; the outcropping
lies to the northwest. Read
More
Large Panoramic Image |
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1/20/04
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The
Mystery Soil: This high-resolution image from the
panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows
the region containing the patch of soil scientists examined
at Gusev Crater just after Spirit rolled off the Columbia
Memorial Station. Scientists examined this patch on the
13th and 15th martian days, or sols, of Spirit's journey.
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1/13/04
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In
the Far East: In the distance stand the east hills,
which are closest to the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in
comparison to other hill ranges seen on the martian horizon.
The top of the east hills are approximately 2 to 3 kilometers
(1 to 2 miles) away from the rover's approximate location.
This image was taken on Mars by the rover's panoramic camera.
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Large Panoramic Image
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1/12/04
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Mars
in Full View: This is a medium-resolution version
of the first 360-degree panoramic view of the martian surface,
taken on Mars by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic
camera. Part of the spacecraft can be seen in the lower
corner regions. Read
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Large Panoramic Image
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