
First full-resolution images of the Martian surface - ed209
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16013.html
======
TomGullen
I absolutely love this stuff. The photos to me are strangely eerie, and even
perhaps a little sinister.

I have trouble comprehending the size of other planets, photos like these make
me feel uneasy (in an exciting way) because they are strikingly similar to
landscapes we might find here on earth - yet it's a completely different
planet! I'm no longer looking at mars as a red circle as shown in textbooks,
but now as vast unseen landscapes that have never been explored before - a new
perspective and a new age of discovery and I can't wait to see what else
happens in my life.

It's also a stunning achievement. As I lie in bed looking up into the
darkness, a boundless expanse of tens of millions of miles of absolutely
nothing lies between me, and a small man made robot with the martian wind
gusting and whistling gently over it. A robot that is cautiously making small
movements, buzzing and whirring going about it's business with no one there to
hear the sounds or see the movements it's making. A machine who's intentions
are totally pure - it's sole purpose is simply to learn. A small beacon in a
far-reaching expanse of barrenness and nothingness.

One thing I found recently I'd never heard of before is 'Venera 13':
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_13>

A Russian rover that landed on Venus in 1981 - designed to last the harsh
environment of Venus for 32 minutes but actually lasted 127 minutes. An
extraordinary engineering achievement to have a rover go from freezing space
temperatures to temperatures of over 450c.

And it managed to transmit images of the surface: [http://mo-
www.harvard.edu/microobs/guestobserverportal/Galil...](http://mo-
www.harvard.edu/microobs/guestobserverportal/Galileo/ThenNow/Venus/mObsVenusWeb_files/image007.png)

Absolutely stunning, and in some ways even more eerie and provocative to me
than the Mars pictures as the environment it briefly operated in is far more
hostile and as time was so limited the images are even more precious.

~~~
Wingman4l7
The Venera program is definitely one of the "unsung heroes" of planetary
exploration.

Perhaps the best resource for surface images of Venus (along with fascinating
image reconstruction) is Don P. Mitchell's page:
<http://mentallandscape.com/C_CatalogVenus.htm>

Another fascinating tidbit: the Soviets also performed the first (and to date,
only) deployment of a balloon probe on another planet:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobot#The_Venus_Vega_balloons>

~~~
tomfakes
I was going to mention Don - he's a friend of a friend - and the book he's
writing about the Russian Venus program. There's a lot of awesome stuff here
that almost no-one knows about.

~~~
Wingman4l7
His series of pages on the Venera program[1] just blows all other resources
away, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

He mentions on his copyright page[2] that he studied Russian books/papers,
befriended & interviewed Russian scientists, dug up rare photographs, and even
processed original spacecraft data with custom C++ code to create some of the
images!

I look forward to his book; does he have an ETA on the publication date?

[1]: <http://www.mentallandscape.com/V_Venus.htm> [2]:
<http://www.mentallandscape.com/Copyright.htm>

~~~
tomfakes
All his friends are pestering him about when he's releasing this book - he's
under no pressure to publish and rather enjoys the process of digging up all
this stuff and writing the code to process these images.

------
7c8011dda3f3b
Links to raw images that I posted as a comment on another article:

Navcam Left A: [http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-
images/proj/msl/redops/ods/...](http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-
images/proj/msl/redops/ods/surface/sol/00002/opgs/edr/ncam/NLA_397681372EDR_F0020000AUT_04096M_.JPG)

Navcam Left A: [http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-
images/proj/msl/redops/ods/...](http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-
images/proj/msl/redops/ods/surface/sol/00002/opgs/edr/ncam/NLA_397681339EDR_F0020000AUT_04096M_.JPG)

Navcam Left A: [http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-
images/proj/msl/redops/ods/...](http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-
images/proj/msl/redops/ods/surface/sol/00002/opgs/edr/ncam/NLA_397673010EDR_F0010008AUT_04096M_.JPG)

Navcam Right A: [http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-
images/proj/msl/redops/ods/...](http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-
images/proj/msl/redops/ods/surface/sol/00002/opgs/edr/ncam/NRA_397681372EDR_F0020000AUT_04096M_.JPG)

Navcam Right A: [http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-
images/proj/msl/redops/ods/...](http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-
images/proj/msl/redops/ods/surface/sol/00002/opgs/edr/ncam/NRA_397681339EDR_F0020000AUT_04096M_.JPG)

~~~
Coincoin
Nice! You can actually use those to make pairs of stereoscopic images. You can
even see features not otherwise visible from the raw pictures. It's a shame
the left and right camera distances are not the same as a human eye ; it makes
the 3D effect a little too strong. I guess it gives their nav software a
better depth resolution that way.

~~~
fooey
i put this together quick as an example: <http://i.imgur.com/bNlkY.jpg>

~~~
leberwurstsaft
Thank you! The lower part isn't really a good fit, but the upper part is nice
to look at.

------
arturadib
In cased you missed this released by NASA in July, it's also amazing: HD
panoramic view of Mars by the Opportunity rover:
<http://www.panoramas.dk/mars/greeley-haven.html>

------
mattacular
This was taken by the camera whose sole purpose is to assist with navigation.
That is why its B&W, low quality, and stitched. The main camera system will
produce full color images that I assume will be much higher quality.

~~~
fletchowns
Are there any examples of a picture taken on Earth with the main camera?

~~~
capnrefsmmat
Here's a full-resolution picture taken by the descent imager as the heat
shield fell away:

[http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16021.ht...](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16021.html)

The descent imager uses the same sensor as the main mast cameras, but with
different optics.

~~~
guscost
If that camera works for 10+ years, I'll take that resolution any day!
Beautiful!

If you want to blow up a giant printout wait for the stitched-together shots,
I suppose.

------
bialecki
Random question: Is it silent on Mars? I'm looking at this picture and can't
help but wonder what it sounds like. Just curious if Martian weather tends to
be windy or calm.

~~~
skeletonjelly
They didn't pack a microphone! Bastards! :P

Considering the propensity for dust storms I'm going to say windy. But the
atmosphere is thinner, so this makes it harder to hear? Or quieter?

~~~
jcarreiro

      > But the atmosphere is thinner, so this makes it harder to
      > hear? Or quieter?
    

Sound intensity for a plane wave is given by the equation $I = \xi^2 \omega^2
c \rho$. Here $\xi$ is the particle displacement (the amplitude of our wave),
$\omega$ is the angular frequency, and $c \rho$, typically called $Z$, is the
characteristic acoustic impedance, where $c$ is the speed of sound and $\rho$
is the density of the medium.

Given that the speed of sound is roughly independent of pressure, and keeping
all other variables equal, as $\rho$ decreases, $I$ also decreases. So yes, on
Mars, sounds are much quieter.

Sources: [http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/672/what-is-
the-r...](http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/672/what-is-the-relation-
of-sound-propagation-to-air-pressure)

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_intensity>

~~~
skeletonjelly
I knew my bait would bring someone smarter than me out of the woodwork!
Thanks, very informative. Can I ask what's your background that led you to
this?

------
sheraz
I thought it was interesting to learn about the different ways we get data
back from mars. Excerpt from [1]:

The data rate direct-to-Earth varies from about 500 bits per second to 32,000
bits per second (roughly half as fast as a standard home modem). The data rate
to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is selected automatically and continuously
during communications and can be as high as 2 million bits per second. The
data rate to the Odyssey orbiter is a selectable 128,000 or 256,000 bits per
second (4-8 times faster than a home modem).

[1]
[http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/communicationwithearth/...](http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/communicationwithearth/data/)

~~~
aortega
Some one has a link with more technical data about the communication stack?
algorithms, modulation, etc.

~~~
sanxiyn
Some information is available here, including variable bit rate:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electra_(radio)>

------
outside1234
i hate to be critical of an image sent from millions of miles away but I have
an honest question:

Why do images from landers like this always look like there were taken from a
iPhone 1's camera?

~~~
vladd
>> The bandwidth from Curiosity directly to Earth is about 8 kb/s. Curiosity
has a high bandwidth link to the Mars Odyssey Orbiter, a Mars satellite, which
has a 256 kb/s link to Earth.

The early pictures are from a low resolution camera with a clear dust cover
still attached. This camera is used to determine if Curiosity is about to land
in a crater. A higher resolution camera will be activated later. <<

(taken from [http://www.quora.com/NASA/Why-dont-we-have-more-color-
images...](http://www.quora.com/NASA/Why-dont-we-have-more-color-images-from-
Mars/answers/1427717) )

~~~
H_L
While yes, the original pictures from the low res camera look bad, the new raw
pictures from the higher-resolution cameras aren't really that much better.
Better than the images from the iPhone 1, probably. But better than Viking 1
images from 1976? Honestly, it doesn't look like it.

[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Mars_Viki...](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Mars_Viking_11d128.png)

Just look at the detail per pixel. It's amazing. You can see tiny details in
the sand. It's looks like if you took an image on a 20 megapixel DSLR with a
high-quality lens, then scaled the image down to web size. The resolution
isn't higher than a camera-phone, but the detail is remarkably better. And
that's from nearly 40 years ago.

~~~
beefman
That image was taken in 1977. Actually, this is how people saw it until 2009

<http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/hires/vl1_11d128.gif>

when Mr Van der Hoorn "used the original 11d128.blu, 11d128.grn and 11d128.red
images from the NASA Viking image archive, converted them to .png, manually
removed the noise and finally merged them into one image"

Details:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Van_der_Hoorn/Viking/Filte...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Van_der_Hoorn/Viking/Filters)

The Viking 1 camera(s) were of the Vidicon type:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vidicon.png>

~~~
H_L
While yes, the full color image I posted was re-compiled from the original
red, green, and blue channel images sent from the rover by a non-NASA source,
even NASA's B&W images look better back then than they do now.

I made an image to illustrate this:
[http://f.cl.ly/items/0k2w2d1C1O3w3e0t300f/NASAQualityDegreda...](http://f.cl.ly/items/0k2w2d1C1O3w3e0t300f/NASAQualityDegredation.png)

~~~
Two9A
Remember that the images we have from Curiosity so far are from the
navigational guidance cameras, though. The heavy equipment hasn't been fired
up yet.

If I recall, the Mastcam will take a panoramic colour view later today, and
that'll take a few days to download. Then we'll have a proper image, for the
first time.

~~~
brucardoso2
Here is the panaromic view from Mastcam. But as you can see by image's
description, we're all still waiting for the big picture though! Excerpt from
[1]: "As engaging as this color panorama is, it is important to note this is
only one-eighth the potential resolution of images from this camera."
[1]<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120809.html>

------
tomkit
Random tangent, but I wonder what procedures NASA goES through to scrub all
living organisms from the robot itself if one of their aims is to see if they
can detect life on the martian planet.

~~~
GregBuchholz
"NASA uses a variety of methods to measure, control and reduce spacecraft
microbial contamination for planetary protection purposes. Assembly of
spacecraft hardware is carefully controlled and often takes place in clean-
room facilities using, aseptic techniques in order to meet planetary
protection requirements. Dry heat microbial reduction techniques first used on
the Viking spacecraft are still used today..."

<http://planetaryprotection.nasa.gov/methods/>

------
dgregd
Without caption someone may think that pictures were taken on some Earth
desert. It is surprising that mountains look quite "normal".

~~~
rokhayakebe
To me seeing Mars looking like somewhere on Earth just changes everything.

------
pramanat
Looks like the image was stitched together from multiple images, judging by
the jagged edges at the top and the "fold" to the right of middle in the
image. Very neat, nonetheless.

~~~
ereckers
I think that's why it's described as "two" high resolution images and they're
only providing a single file to view.

------
gdw2
Has something been whited-out in the bottom right corner?

~~~
ben1040
I might well be wrong, but I assumed that white spot was just the sun
reflecting off of that part of the rover.

~~~
grecy
I had to actually stop and think "hang on, does 'sun' mean THE sun, or....".

It's cool thinking about a little robot on mars cruising around doing stuff
for us, still showing reflections from THE sun.

~~~
jdpage
Worth noting that this particular "little robot", unlike the previous set, is
about the size of a car. That's why they could fit more equipment on it. :D

------
hybrid11
There's a good stitched together panoramic view of all those images at Gizmodo
- [http://gizmodo.com/5932952/curiosity-opens-her-eyes-for-
the-...](http://gizmodo.com/5932952/curiosity-opens-her-eyes-for-the-first-
time)

------
powerslave12r
In case anyone's curious-

List of missions to Mars:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Mars>

------
hammock
How far away are those hills in the back? I'm guessing they're farther away
than we might think, due to Mars not having much of an atmosphere to reduce
visibility.

~~~
awolf
I think you think its a lot farther than it actually is.

My estimate would be about a mile.

~~~
ChuckMcM
From a topographic picture of Gale crater [1] with the landing area of
Curiosity circled, its about 25km to the nearest crater wall or slightly more
than 15 miles to the crater wall.

[1]
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Topograp...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Topographic_Map_of_Gale_Crater.jpg)

------
zerostar07
Another random question: In pictures like this:
[http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/800px-
Op...](http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/800px-
Opportunity_Lander_Petals_PIA04848-615.jpg)

the rover is in a clean chamber, with the staff wearing suits. Why is the
clean chamber needed for assembly?

~~~
jcarreiro
This is part of NASA's Planetary Protection directive [1]. Their goal is to
ensure that we do not inadvertently contaminate the pristine environments that
we visit with our spacecraft. If we did, we would be destroying an invaluable
scientific resource!

They are also responsible for ensuring that samples returned to Earth from
outer space are handled safely.

[1] <http://planetaryprotection.nasa.gov>

------
hypnocode
Really brings home the fact that we have reached beyond the place where life
sprung up, and are probably getting ready to move beyond the earth.

------
redwood
Wait, so this is just one photo right? I see a range... assuming this is the
edge of the crater? I don't think Mt. Sharp is visible here?

------
nymrulez
It's time to put men on Mars and not just robots. It's embarrassing that in
the 40+ yrs since Armstrong we haven't gotten anywhere else.

~~~
hk_kh
Woosh.. really it's time to put men on Mars, or is it just "for the lulz"?

Robots are meant to provide scientific data about Mars ecosystem, explore
further on the surface and so on. What does a men, right now, add there?
Nothing. Just danger and wasting money.

Now, investigating technology that could put a man on Mars, that's
interesting. But not just for setting foot on the surface, just for bringing
to reality new tech that allows that.

Curiosity is an achievement itself. Great technology, and for now, greatly
executed. How many different proves went to the moon before a man could set
its foot on there?

It's not embarassing that in 40 years "we" haven't gotten anywhere else. To me
it's embarassing that in 40 years we do not have yet sustainable way of
keeping life on our own planet. Energy, on Earth and beyond, it's what could
set a new standard for human race.

------
magsafe
On the NASA site, look for the "Full Size" link, then right click on the image
and set it as your desktop wallpaper. Fits perfectly.

------
ck2
The highlight of my day is to watch the NASA daily press briefings each day
this week.

(1pm EST or 10am PST on all NASA channels)

------
y4m4
This is just blows my mind! - Hopefully one day we will walk on that surface
and have a thriving colony.

------
desireco42
To sum up sentiment of many here: NASA should have got Canon as a sponsor and
give us some decent images.

It's ridiculous to travel across the system and not being able to send good
images.

~~~
Difwif
Okay I've heard this from a couple people already and I think this needs to be
said. For one these are the Navigation camera shots and have no reason to be
any higher quality. The craft has only been on the ground for 5 days and
hasn't initialized all 17 of its on board cameras yet. The one in particular
interest to us is the MastCam which features true-color 1600x1200 stereoscopic
CCD's, can shoot 720p video at 10 fps, can telescope out to objects seven
football fields away, and detect a wide range of wavelengths. And before you
complain about it being only 2 Mp or that it can only do snails pace HD that
your camera phone can achieve I ask you to think about how resilient these
cameras must be to the environment along with how slow our communication
speeds are with the rover. With a max uplink of 2Mb/s for 8 minutes per day
and a 32kb/s connection otherwise, 3D 1080p at 60 fps really doesn't seem
worth the network resources it will hog from more important mission data.

~~~
desireco42
People who support NASA and it's projects are the reason why you should make
room for good cameras. Even scientists are people and would be motivated by
good pictures. Having a sense of how it is on Mars is whole point of this and
good pictures provide that.

Also arguments about how it would be hard to add good camera, simply is not
true. I agree about uplink and understand.

------
hessenwolf
Why are they in black and white?

------
jsilence
Rocks!

------
thetrb
Looks pretty boring around there. I hope they can find something interesting
somewhere around that area. I read that over the whole mission the rover is
supposed to drive only ~20 miles, so there better be something interesting to
observe :)

~~~
jakeonthemove
well, what do you expect, red trees and volcanoes :-)? Mars is kind of a dead
planet, and the most interesting things you can see are the dust devils and
maybe/hopefully, ice formations.

~~~
jcarreiro

      > the most interesting things you can see are the dust
      > devils and maybe/hopefully, ice formations
    

For the geologists who designed the scientific instruments on Curiosity, the
most interesting things they can see are rocks. Lots of rocks, from different
periods in the geologic history of Mars.

This is why Gale Crater was picked as the rover's landing site; there are
several nearby features, including Aeolis Mons, that will provide the rover
with an opportunity to date and investigate rock layers from different eras.

