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...First Microscopic Images of Soil from another World...and Several Mysteries

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...First Microscopic Images of Soil from another World...and Several Mysteries jonathan 06-16-2008
Posted by jonathan on June 16, 2008, 8:35 pm
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From the Mars Phoenix lander of course

Lander Homepages
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/main.php


In these two microscopic images, field of view about 2 to 3mm, with all
the dust, there's some green crystals (olivine?), and a square
red crystal (iron?).
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=4859&cID=69

And in this picture, in the upper left of the sticky substrate, is a
brownish oval crystal? Coated with numerous tiny crystals and
looking like a rather festive Christmas tree. Any guesses as to
what these crystals are?
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=4869&cID=69

White material in trench, ice or salts?
NASA seems to think it's the edge of a slab they trenched into, but
hasn't identified the white material yet.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/images.php?fileID=13919

And another open question is this poor resolution image of a rock
directly underneath the lander. It looks like a slab of ice where
water has bored a couple of holes. Is it ice or rock?
(ignore stray Martian stainless spring-like fossil lower right~)
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=0&cID=74


Whatd'ya think?


What I know about geology can fit on a post card, yet I find
this stuff very fascinating. Who wouldn't?


s









Posted by sir.jean-paul.turcaud on June 17, 2008, 4:51 am
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> From the Mars Phoenix lander of course
>
> Lander Homepageshttp://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/new=
s/phoenix/main.php
>
> In these two microscopic images, field of view about 2 to 3mm, with all
> the dust, there's some green crystals (olivine?), and a square
> red crystal (iron?).http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=3D4859&c=
ID=3D69
>
> And in this picture, in the upper left of the sticky substrate, is a
> brownish oval crystal? Coated with numerous tiny crystals and
> looking like a rather festive Christmas tree. Any guesses as to
> what these crystals are?http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=3D48=
69&cID=3D69
>
> White material in trench, ice or salts?
> NASA seems to think it's the edge of a slab they trenched into, but
> hasn't identified the white material yet.http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoe=
nix/images.php?fileID=3D13919
>
> And another open question is this poor resolution image of a rock
> directly underneath the lander. It looks like a slab of ice where
> water has bored a couple of holes. =A0Is it ice or rock?
> (ignore stray Martian stainless spring-like fossil lower right~)http://pho=
enix.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=3D0&cID=3D74
>
> Whatd'ya think?
>
> What I know about geology can fit on a post card, yet I find
> this stuff very fascinating. Who wouldn't?
>
> s
Mars rock formations are exactly the one who find down here in Earth
as Mars is Earth elder sister, just as Venus is Earth younger sister !
One day the Earth will be on Mars orbit just like Mars will have
drifted further to the Belt of Aeroliths position ...
=2E.. and life on Earth will have become extinct has Mars life has
become extinct !!!

and thanks to Global Warming that very process of drift on the
Ecliptic is accelerating indeed

Not cyclic but irreversible situation !

Jean-Paul Turcaud
Australia Mining Pioneer
Discoverer of Telfer, Nifty & Kintyre Mines in the Great Sandy Desert
Exploration Geologist & Offshore Consultant
Bus ph + 33 6 50 17 14 64
Founder of the True Geology

~ Ignorance is the Cosmic Sin, the One never Forgiven ~

Posted by George on June 17, 2008, 11:18 pm
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<snip>

> And another open question is this poor resolution image of a rock
> directly underneath the lander. It looks like a slab of ice where
> water has bored a couple of holes. Is it ice or rock?
> (ignore stray Martian stainless spring-like fossil lower right~)
> http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=0&cID=74
>
>
> Whatd'ya think?

NASA said today that the hole is directly beneath a thruster, and so is
probably the result of a thruster firing when the craft landed. They also
said that that might indicate that the slab is ice.

George



Posted by Pat Flannery on June 18, 2008, 4:03 am
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George wrote:
>
> NASA said today that the hole is directly beneath a thruster, and so is
> probably the result of a thruster firing when the craft landed. They also
> said that that might indicate that the slab is ice.
>

Or dry ice... I took a Bernz-O-Matic torch to water ice with very poor
results indeed, and the total time of the landing engine's impinging on
the Martian surface would be be very low, measured in a few seconds at most.
It really didn't help that it took so long to get the soil sample into
the test chamber - any CO2 or water ice in it might have sublimated into
the atmosphere between the time it was scooped up and the time it
finally got into the test chamber days later.
Ideally, the soil sample goes into the test chamber within a few minutes
after the arm scoops it up, to preserve any volatile ices in it.
I still have grave doubts about it finding water ice, but would happily
admit to being wrong about this if firm proof of water ice is found,
because of the profound implications of such a finding.

Pat


Posted by V for Vendicar on June 18, 2008, 5:15 am
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> Or dry ice...

Flat ice... Under a rocket thruster?

It would have sublimed away a long time ago.

> Ideally, the soil sample goes into the test chamber within a few minutes
> after the arm scoops it up, to preserve any volatile ices in it.

The atmospheric pressure 2cm under a pile of sand is not practically
different than the atmospheric pressure at the surface.

Salt.



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