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  • SOL 1077 - A Question for The Community

    What made this row of tiny holes?

     

    So I'm going thru my backlog of images I need to eyeball and decide to stitch a 'panorama' of a rock imaged by the Right MastCam on SOL 1077. Using 8 images (1077MR0047370010600161E01_DXXX-1077MR0047370080600168E01_DXXX), I zoomed-in really tight to check how smoothly the edges were joined and noticed a row of 5 dots in the sand next to the rock.

    The dots turned out to be holes in the sand.

    My first thought was that they were made by one of the sensors on Curiosity's robotic arm, but after much digging around I can't find any image that shows such a row of studs/rods on the robotic arm that could cause this all-but perfectly straight holes.

    My question then is does anyone know of any intrument on the robotic arm that could leave this mark in the sand?

  • SOL1073 - Possible script embossed on stone.

     

    In processing the NASA RAW 1073MR0047220000600078E01_DXXX.jpg

    Original NASA Link: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/01073/mcam/1073MR0047220000600078E01_DXXX.jpg

    All the other images are linked in the "Links" section below.

    SOL 1073 Right MastCam photo 1073MR0047220000600078E01_DXXX.jpg

    SOL 1073 Right MastCam  I realized there might be an opportunity to get some idea of the actual size of objects in the photo. So, using camera azimuth/elevation data I found a NavCam photo that fit the bill.

    SOL 1073 NavCam image NLB_492752127EDR_F0490642NCAM00354M_.jpg

    SOL 1073 NavCam image Combining the images shows relative sizes only, but I'm guestimating that the largest rock in MR 1073..078E01 is about the same size as a baseball, or maybe a softball.

    SOL 1073 MastCam photo in NavCam context.

    SOL 1073 MastCam photo in NavCam context. Which is pretty interesting in it's way. But not nearly as interesting as the possibility of scripted language embossed on the stone, as this rotated and cropped image shows...

    Cropped portion of 1073MR..078E01 showing possible script.

    Cropped portion of 1073MR..078E01. Is this a written language? Notice that the silvery-blue part casts shadows on the stone, thus is lying on rather than being part of, the stone; and the different color imples that it is a different type of material. 

    According to Omniglot-

    Writing systems can be divided into two main types: those that represent consonants and vowels (alphabets), and those which represent syllables (syllabaries), though some do both. There are a number of subdivisions of each type, and there are different classifications of writing systems in different sources.
    Abjads / Consonant Alphabets
    Alphabets
    Syllabic Alphabets / Abugidas
    Syllabaries
    Semanto-phonetic writing systems
    Undeciphered writing systems

    I can't tell if this is some form of hieroglyphics or what. I'd want a much sharper/larger image to do much detailed analysis, so for right now I'm just saying it's "Undeciphered."

    Thanks for reading!

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YouTube User:  WhatsUpInTheSky37 

Thank you to everyone who has stuck by the YouTube channel and to all of our admins and forum users here on the channel.   They really have kept the website current while I have been busy taking care of things in my personal life.   I promised that the next video would be a long one and have a LOT to look at.  You can get lost in these Gigapans and I really hope that you do!  I spent a lot of time stitching these together and making sure that they were the best quality that I could get them.  SOL 1448 really has been a goldmine for anomaly hunters and those people who are just hobbiest.  I really hope you enjoy this one and expect much more to come from the latest batches of images!

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