Re: [meteorite-list] Spirit Drives to a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close Inspection

2004-01-20 Thread Thomas Webb
Ron and List,
Does it appear to you that there may have been some shearing on the right hand side of the rock called 'Adirondack'?
Thomas H. WebbRon Baalke [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Guy Webster (818) 354-5011Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.Donald Savage (202) 358-1547NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.News Release: 2004-024 January 19, 2004Spirit Drives to a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close InspectionNASA's Spirit rover has successfully driven to its first target onMars, a football-sized rock that scientists have dubbed Adirondack.The Mars Exploration Rover flight team at NASA's Jet PropulsionLaboratory, Pasadena, Calif., plans to send commands to Spirit earlyTuesday to examine Adirondack with a microscope and two instrumentsthat reveal the composition of rocks, said JPL's Dr. Mark Adler,Spirit mission manager. The instruments are the Mössbauer spectrometer and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.Spirit successfully rolled off the lander and onto the
 martiansurface last Thursday. To make the drive to Adirondack, the roverturned 40 degrees in short arcs totaling 95 centimeters (3.1 feet).It then turned in place to face the target rock and drove four shortmoves straightforward totaling 1.9 meters (6.2 feet). The movescovered a span of 30 minutes on Sunday, though most of that wassitting still and taking pictures between moves. The total amountof time when Spirit was actually moving was about two minutes."These are the sorts of baby steps we're taking," said JPL's Dr.Eddie Tunstel, rover mobility engineer."The drive was designed for two purposes, one of which was to get tothe rock," Tunstel said. "From the mobility engineers' standpoint,this drive was geared to testing out how we do drives on this newsurface." Gathering new information such as how much the wheelsslip in the martian soil will give the team confidence for moreambitious drives in future weeks and
 months."Adirondack is now about one foot (30 centimeters) in front of thefront wheels," he said.Scientists chose Adirondack to be Spirit's first target rock ratherthan another rock, called Sashimi, that would have been a shorter,straight-ahead drive. Rocks are time capsules containing evidence ofthe environmental conditions of the past, said Dr. Dave Des Marais,a rover science-team member from NASA Ames Research Center, MoffettField, Calif. "We needed to decide which of these time capsules toopen."Sashimi appears dustier than Adirondack. The dust layer couldobscure good observations of the rock's surface, which may giveinformation about chemical changes and other weathering fromenvironmental conditions affecting the rock since its surface wasfresh. Also, Sashimi is more pitted than Adirondack. That makes it apoorer candidate for the rover's rock abrasion tool, which scrapesaway a rock's surface for a view of
 the interior evidence aboutenvironmental conditions when the rock first formed. Adirondack hasa "nice, flat surface" well suited to trying out the rover's toolson their first martian rock, Des Marais said."The hypothesis is that this is a volcanic rock, but we'll test thathypothesis," he said. Spirit arrived at Mars Jan. 3 (EST and PST; Jan.4 Universal Time) after a seven-month journey. In coming weeks and months,according to plans, it will be exploring for clues in rocks andsoil to decipher whether the past environment in Gusev Craterwas ever watery and possibly suitable to sustain life.Spirit's twin Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, will reach Marson Jan. 25 (EST and Universal Time; 9:05 p.m., Jan. 24, PST) tobegin a similar examination of a site on the opposite side of theplanet from Gusev Crater.JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology inPasadena, manages the Mars Exploration
 Rover project for NASA'sOffice of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Images and additionalinformation about the project are available from JPL athttp://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.govfrom Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at http://athena.cornell.edu/ .-end-__Meteorite-list mailing list[EMAIL PROTECTED]http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
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RE: [meteorite-list] Spirit Drives to a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close Inspection

2004-01-20 Thread mark ford












Looks like there are quite a few vesicles
too.



Mark Ford



-Original Message-
From: Thomas Webb
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Sent: 20 January 2004 14:36
To: Ron Baalke
Cc:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list]
Spirit Drives to a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close Inspection





Ron and List,





Does it appear to you
that there may have been some shearing on the right hand side of the rock
called 'Adirondack'?





Thomas H. Webb

Ron Baalke
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:







Guy Webster (818) 354-5011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Donald Savage (202) 358-1547
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

News Release: 2004-024 January 19, 2004

Spirit Drives to a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close Inspection

NASA's Spirit rover has successfully driven to its first target on
Mars, a football-sized rock that scientists have dubbed Adirondack.

The Mars Exploration Rover flight team at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., plans to send commands to Spirit early
Tuesday to examine Adirondack with a microscope and two instruments
that reveal the composition of rocks, said JPL's Dr. Mark Adler,
Spirit mission manager. The instruments are the Mössbauer 
spectrometer and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.

Spirit successfully rolled off the lander and onto the martian
surface last Thursday. To make the drive to Adirondack, the rover
turned 40 degrees in short arcs totaling 95 centimeters (3.1 feet).
It then turned in place to face the target rock and drove four short
moves straightforward totaling 1.9 meters (6.2 feet). The moves
covered a span of 30 minutes on Sunday, though most of that was
sitting still and taking pictures between moves. The total amount
of time when Spirit was actually moving was about two minutes.

These are the sorts of baby steps we're taking, said JPL's Dr.
Eddie Tunstel, rover mobility engineer.

The drive was designed for two purposes, one of which was to get to
the rock, Tunstel said. From the mobility engineers' standpoint,
this drive was geared to testing out how we do drives on this new
surface. Gathering new information such as how much the wheels
slip in the martian soil will give the team confidence for more
ambitious drives in future weeks and months.

Adirondack is now about one foot (30 centimeters) in front of the
front wheels, he said.

Scientists chose Adirondack to be Spirit's first target rock rather
than another rock, called Sashimi, that would have been a shorter,
straight-ahead drive. Rocks are time capsules containing evidence of
the environmental conditions of the past, said Dr. Dave Des Marais,
a rover science-team member from NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett
Field, Calif. We needed to decide which of these time capsules to
open.

Sashimi appears dustier than Adirondack. The dust layer could
obscure good observations of the rock's surface, which may give
information about chemical changes and other weathering from
environmental conditions affecting the rock since its surface was
fresh. Also, Sashimi is more pitted than Adirondack. That makes it a
poorer candidate for the rover's rock abrasion tool, which scrapes
away a rock's surface for a view of the interior evidence about
environmental conditions when the rock first formed. Adirondack has
a nice, flat surface well suited to trying out the rover's tools
on their first martian rock, Des Marais said.

The hypothesis is that this is a volcanic rock, but we'll test that
hypothesis, he said. 

Spirit arrived at Mars Jan. 3 (EST and PST; Jan.
4 Universal Time) after a seven-month journey. In coming weeks and months,
according to plans, it will be exploring for clues in rocks and
soil to decipher whether the past environment in Gusev Crater
was ever watery and possibly suitable to sustain life.

Spirit's twin Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, will reach Mars
on Jan. 25 (EST and Universal Time; 9:05 p.m., Jan. 24, PST) to
begin a similar examination of a site on the opposite side of the
planet from Gusev Crater.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's
Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Images and additional
information about the project are available from JPL at

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov

from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at 

http://athena.cornell.edu/ .
-end-





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Re: [meteorite-list] Spirit Drives to a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close Inspection

2004-01-20 Thread Dan Wray



Hello Thomas and group,

Adirondack and many other rocks in the rover photos 
appear to be altered by wind erosion. This can leave very sharp faces and are 
known as ventifacts. Other terms used for this effect are 
dreikanteralso windkanter.Seasonal changes in wind direction 
can causetwo or three distinct planes on the rock surface. They are 
common in windy desert environments.

Dan Wray
COMETS

  - Original Message - 
  From: 
  Thomas Webb 
  
  To: Ron Baalke 
  Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
  
  Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 7:35 
  AM
  Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Spirit 
  Drives to a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close Inspection
  
  Ron and List,
  Does it appear to you that there may have been some shearing on the right 
  hand side of the rock called 'Adirondack'?
  Thomas H. WebbRon Baalke [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
  wrote:
  Guy 
Webster (818) 354-5011Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, 
Calif.Donald Savage (202) 358-1547NASA Headquarters, Washington, 
D.C.News Release: 2004-024 January 19, 2004Spirit Drives to 
a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close InspectionNASA's Spirit rover 
has successfully driven to its first target onMars, a football-sized 
rock that scientists have dubbed Adirondack.The Mars Exploration 
Rover flight team at NASA's Jet PropulsionLaboratory, Pasadena, Calif., 
plans to send commands to Spirit earlyTuesday to examine Adirondack with 
a microscope and two instrumentsthat reveal the composition of rocks, 
said JPL's Dr. Mark Adler,Spirit mission manager. The instruments are 
the Mössbauer spectrometer and the alpha particle X-ray 
spectrometer.Spirit successfully rolled off the lander and onto the 
martiansurface last Thursday. To make the drive to Adirondack, the 
roverturned 40 degrees in short arcs totaling 95 centimeters (3.1 
feet).It then turned in place to face the target rock and drove four 
shortmoves straightforward totaling 1.9 meters (6.2 feet). The 
movescovered a span of 30 minutes on Sunday, though most of that 
wassitting still and taking pictures between moves. The total 
amountof time when Spirit was actually moving was about two 
minutes."These are the sorts of baby steps we're taking," said JPL's 
Dr.Eddie Tunstel, rover mobility engineer."The drive was 
designed for two purposes, one of which was to get tothe rock," Tunstel 
said. "From the mobility engineers' standpoint,this drive was geared to 
testing out how we do drives on this newsurface." Gathering new 
information such as how much the wheelsslip in the martian soil will 
give the team confidence for moreambitious drives in future weeks and 
months."Adirondack is now about one foot (30 centimeters) in front 
of thefront wheels," he said.Scientists chose Adirondack to be 
Spirit's first target rock ratherthan another rock, called Sashimi, that 
would have been a shorter,straight-ahead drive. Rocks are time capsules 
containing evidence ofthe environmental conditions of the past, said Dr. 
Dave Des Marais,a rover science-team member from NASA Ames Research 
Center, MoffettField, Calif. "We needed to decide which of these time 
capsules toopen."Sashimi appears dustier than Adirondack. The 
dust layer couldobscure good observations of the rock's surface, which 
may giveinformation about chemical changes and other weathering 
fromenvironmental conditions affecting the rock since its surface 
wasfresh. Also, Sashimi is more pitted than Adirondack. That makes it 
apoorer candidate for the rover's rock abrasion tool, which 
scrapesaway a rock's surface for a view of the interior evidence 
aboutenvironmental conditions when the rock first formed. Adirondack 
hasa "nice, flat surface" well suited to trying out the rover's 
toolson their first martian rock, Des Marais said."The 
hypothesis is that this is a volcanic rock, but we'll test 
thathypothesis," he said. Spirit arrived at Mars Jan. 3 (EST and 
PST; Jan.4 Universal Time) after a seven-month journey. In coming weeks 
and months,according to plans, it will be exploring for clues in rocks 
andsoil to decipher whether the past environment in Gusev Craterwas 
ever watery and possibly suitable to sustain life.Spirit's twin Mars 
Exploration Rover, Opportunity, will reach Marson Jan. 25 (EST and 
Universal Time; 9:05 p.m., Jan. 24, PST) tobegin a similar examination 
of a site on the opposite side of theplanet from Gusev 
Crater.JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology 
inPasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for 
NASA'sOffice of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Images and 
additionalinformation about the project are available from JPL 
athttp://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.govfrom Cornell U

RE: [meteorite-list] Spirit Drives to a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close Inspection

2004-01-20 Thread mark ford










Nice B  W image of Adirondack.



http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/2/p/016/2P127783908EFF0327P2370L7M1.JPG





-Original Message-
From: mark ford 
Sent: 20 January 2004 14:58
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: [meteorite-list]
Spirit Drives to a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close Inspection







Looks
like there are quite a few vesicles too.



Mark
Ford



-Original Message-
From: Thomas Webb
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Sent: 20 January 2004 14:36
To: Ron Baalke
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list]
Spirit Drives to a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close Inspection





Ron and List,





Does it appear to you
that there may have been some shearing on the right hand side of the rock
called 'Adirondack'?





Thomas H. Webb

Ron Baalke
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:







Guy Webster (818) 354-5011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Donald Savage (202) 358-1547
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

News Release: 2004-024 January 19, 2004

Spirit Drives to a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close Inspection

NASA's Spirit rover has successfully driven to its first target on
Mars, a football-sized rock that scientists have dubbed Adirondack.

The Mars Exploration Rover flight team at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., plans to send commands to Spirit early
Tuesday to examine Adirondack with a microscope and two instruments
that reveal the composition of rocks, said JPL's Dr. Mark Adler,
Spirit mission manager. The instruments are the Mössbauer 
spectrometer and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.

Spirit successfully rolled off the lander and onto the martian
surface last Thursday. To make the drive to Adirondack, the rover
turned 40 degrees in short arcs totaling 95 centimeters (3.1 feet).
It then turned in place to face the target rock and drove four short
moves straightforward totaling 1.9 meters (6.2 feet). The moves
covered a span of 30 minutes on Sunday, though most of that was
sitting still and taking pictures between moves. The total amount
of time when Spirit was actually moving was about two minutes.

These are the sorts of baby steps we're taking, said JPL's Dr.
Eddie Tunstel, rover mobility engineer.

The drive was designed for two purposes, one of which was to get to
the rock, Tunstel said. From the mobility engineers' standpoint,
this drive was geared to testing out how we do drives on this new
surface. Gathering new information such as how much the wheels
slip in the martian soil will give the team confidence for more
ambitious drives in future weeks and months.

Adirondack is now about one foot (30 centimeters) in front of the
front wheels, he said.

Scientists chose Adirondack to be Spirit's first target rock rather
than another rock, called Sashimi, that would have been a shorter,
straight-ahead drive. Rocks are time capsules containing evidence of
the environmental conditions of the past, said Dr. Dave Des Marais,
a rover science-team member from NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett
Field, Calif. We needed to decide which of these time capsules to
open.

Sashimi appears dustier than Adirondack. The dust layer could
obscure good observations of the rock's surface, which may give
information about chemical changes and other weathering from
environmental conditions affecting the rock since its surface was
fresh. Also, Sashimi is more pitted than Adirondack. That makes it a
poorer candidate for the rover's rock abrasion tool, which scrapes
away a rock's surface for a view of the interior evidence about
environmental conditions when the rock first formed. Adirondack has
a nice, flat surface well suited to trying out the rover's tools
on their first martian rock, Des Marais said.

The hypothesis is that this is a volcanic rock, but we'll test that
hypothesis, he said. 

Spirit arrived at Mars Jan. 3 (EST and PST; Jan.
4 Universal Time) after a seven-month journey. In coming weeks and months,
according to plans, it will be exploring for clues in rocks and
soil to decipher whether the past environment in Gusev Crater
was ever watery and possibly suitable to sustain life.

Spirit's twin Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, will reach Mars
on Jan. 25 (EST and Universal Time; 9:05 p.m., Jan. 24, PST) to
begin a similar examination of a site on the opposite side of the
planet from Gusev Crater.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's
Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Images and additional
information about the project are available from JPL at

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov

from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at 

http://athena.cornell.edu/ .
-end-





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Re: [meteorite-list] Spirit Drives to a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close Inspection

2004-01-20 Thread David Freeman
I happen to own  a wonderously beautiful 3 pound TRICANTERED specimen 
of emerald green nephrite (known as a slick).
Ventifacts are relatively common here in SW Wyoming, and I suspect other 
areas of the western U.S.

Dave F.
snowballs
Dan Wray wrote:

Hello Thomas and group,

 

Adirondack and many other rocks in the rover photos appear to be 
altered by wind erosion. This can leave very sharp faces and are known 
as ventifacts.  Other terms used for this effect are dreikanter also 
windkanter.  Seasonal changes in wind direction can cause two or three 
distinct planes on the rock surface.  They are common in windy desert 
environments.

 

Dan Wray

COMETS 

- Original Message -

From:Thomas Webb mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

To: Ron Baalke mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 7:35 AM

Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Spirit Drives to a Rock Called
'Adirondack' for Close Inspection
Ron and List,

Does it appear to you that there may have been some shearing on
the right hand side of the rock called 'Adirondack'?
Thomas H. Webb

Ron Baalke [EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]  wrote:


Guy Webster (818) 354-5011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Donald Savage (202) 358-1547
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
News Release: 2004-024 January 19, 2004

Spirit Drives to a Rock Called 'Adirondack' for Close Inspection

NASA's Spirit rover has successfully driven to its first target on
Mars, a football-sized rock that scientists have dubbed
Adirondack.
The Mars Exploration Rover flight team at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., plans to send commands to Spirit
early
Tuesday to examine Adirondack with a microscope and two
instruments
that reveal the composition of rocks, said JPL's Dr. Mark Adler,
Spirit mission manager. The instruments are the Mössbauer
spectrometer and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.
Spirit successfully rolled off the lander and onto the martian
surface last Thursday. To make the drive to Adirondack, the rover
turned 40 degrees in short arcs totaling 95 centimeters (3.1
feet).
It then turned in place to face the target rock and drove four
short
moves straightforward totaling 1.9 meters (6.2 feet). The moves
covered a span of 30 minutes on Sunday, though most of that was
sitting still and taking pictures between moves. The total amount
of time when Spirit was actually moving was about two minutes.
These are the sorts of baby steps we're taking, said JPL's Dr.
Eddie Tunstel, rover mobility engineer.
The drive was designed for two purposes, one of which was to
get to
the rock, Tunstel said. From the mobility engineers' standpoint,
this drive was geared to testing out how we do drives on this new
surface. Gathering new information such as how much the wheels
slip in the martian soil will give the team confidence for more
ambitious drives in future weeks and months.
Adirondack is now about one foot (30 centimeters) in front of the
front wheels, he said.
Scientists chose Adirondack to be Spirit's first target rock
rather
than another rock, called Sashimi, that would have been a shorter,
straight-ahead drive. Rocks are time capsules containing
evidence of
the environmental conditions of the past, said Dr. Dave Des
Marais,
a rover science-team member from NASA Ames Research Center,
Moffett
Field, Calif. We needed to decide which of these time capsules to
open.
Sashimi appears dustier than Adirondack. The dust layer could
obscure good observations of the rock's surface, which may give
information about chemical changes and other weathering from
environmental conditions affecting the rock since its surface was
fresh. Also, Sashimi is more pitted than Adirondack. That
makes it a
poorer candidate for the rover's rock abrasion tool, which scrapes
away a rock's surface for a view of the interior evidence about
environmental conditions when the rock first formed.
Adirondack has
a nice, flat surface well suited to trying out the rover's tools
on their first martian rock, Des Marais said.
The hypothesis is that this is a volcanic rock, but we'll
test that
hypothesis, he said.
Spirit arrived at Mars Jan. 3 (EST and PST; Jan.
4 Universal Time) after a seven-month journey. In coming weeks
and months,
according to plans, it will be exploring for clues in rocks and
soil to decipher whether the past environment