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Self Portraits and Flowers on Mars

1/4/2013

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Self-portrait of Rover Curiosity. Source: NASA
Using a collection of different images, NASA has been able to piece together a self-portrait  of the Rover Curiosity. The car-like laboratory with a 2.5 billion dollar price tag travelled for 8.5 months and 352 million miles in order to reach Mars. 

The self-portrait shows Mount Sharp in the distance, which is the final destination of the Rover. These high-definition images are released to the public in websites such as Unmanned Space Flight  and enhanced in order to display an earth like colouring. Portraits like the one shown on the left, are used by NASA engineers to track dust accumulation on the vehicle and tire wear. 

It should be noted the picture does not show the arm that connect the camera to the rover; this is because the image is produced using a collection of images stitched together with technology much like the ones that we use on our smartphones to make panoramic photos.


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Close-up picture of "flower" perturbing Martian rock. Source: NASA
As I was discussing in my last post, photography is becoming the fulcrum of information consumption. The photo shows what some have called a "flower", with various opinions and observations surfacing all over the web. It was originally thought that it may be a piece of debris from the rover itself, but the fact it is embedded in the rock disproves that theory. 

It is not yet known (at least to the general public) what the protrusion is made of, but that hasn't stopped people from flocking to forums such as Above Top Secret to speculate about the image. For now all we can do it wait for official releases from reliable entities. 

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Brass Bell found in Coal deposit. Source: OOPARTS.
Turns out that a variety of interesting objects have been found embedded in rocks on Earth, such as this brass bell with an iron clapper found in coal deposits that are hundreds of millions of years old. In Norm Scharbough's book Ammunition the bell has been analyzed at University of Oklahoma and it contains metal mixtures different from any seen in modern times. 

Further information on these "out of place" objects can be found with a simple Google search or a visit to pages such as OOPARTS which provide some introduction and discussion of these artifacts.


By: Edmundo Rodrigues        






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    idea mater is a series of articles, ideas and reflections written and compiled by Rafael Fraga and Edmundo Rodrigues. Topics such as history, science, art or life-style are presented with a hint of personal opinion.

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