
NASA: Mars rover Curiosity finds bright object - johncarpinelli
http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-mars-rover-curiosity-makes-first-scoop-detects-032812764.html
======
zheng
So the picture doesn't really make it obvious, but I believe they are talking
about the item emphasized here[0]. I might just be dense, but why would NASA
think that is a part of the rover, it really doesn't seem like it to me. As an
aside, it also doesn't seem particularly "bright".

\---

[0]: <http://i.imgur.com/NOnPK.jpg>

~~~
mseepgood
<http://postimage.org/image/ouvupuniz/>

~~~
whatshisface
For those that don't click on the image, there is a hole in the rover where a
screw would normally be found. Does anyone here know if this is intentional?

~~~
koski
It seems to be intentional.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjEgTuCFLU4&t=0m37s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjEgTuCFLU4&t=0m37s)
(if it's the same hole as in that video, I'm so bad with moving objects in my
head to different angles)

(Edit, fixed a typo)

~~~
adriand
Nice find! I watches the video and I believe you are correct.

------
nikic
I've seen this story on a few sites now, and _none of them_ bothered to show
just where exactly in that image the part is supposed to be. Very helpful.

~~~
alexpenny
They don't actually know where it is, they're just quoting NASA to jump on the
page views.

------
fla
Link to the latest (raw) ChemCam images :
[http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=62&camera...](http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=62&camera=CHEMCAM_)

~~~
thesis
Have you seen a picture of the "bright object" this post references? Unless
it's in that picture and I'm just missing it.

~~~
libria
A reddit user[1] enhanced a closeup: <http://i.imgur.com/99jDI.jpg>

This was taken from [http://www.universetoday.com/97774/curiosity-finds-
something...](http://www.universetoday.com/97774/curiosity-finds-something-on-
martian-surface/)

[1]
[http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/116q6s/curiosity_fi...](http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/116q6s/curiosity_finds_something_on_martian_surface/)

~~~
chucknelson
As a casual observer, I would think that it is just some bit of material that
fell off of the rover.

~~~
ceejayoz
Which I'd imagine shouldn't ever happen, and that's why they're taking a very
cautious approach to using the robotic arm until they can rule that out.

~~~
ktizo
I wouldn't worry. As anyone who has dismantled technology can tell you,
usually anything up to 90% of the small screws in any piece of equipment are
entirely unnecessary, and in many cases seem to have manifested themselves
spontaneously out of the vacuum. Or possibly the hoover.

~~~
waterlesscloud
The best theory I've seen is that it's a piece of foil tape that's crumbled in
the harsh cold. Hopefully that's all it is.

~~~
ceejayoz
There does appear to be a screw hole with a missing screw, though:
<http://postimage.org/image/ouvupuniz/full/>

~~~
3rd3
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjEgTuCFLU4&t=0m36s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjEgTuCFLU4&t=0m36s)

~~~
ceejayoz
Nice find!

------
tersiag
Its amazing to view the surface of _Mars_ from my browser

------
ceejayoz
Really, really hope this is a shard of a meteorite or something, not a piece
of the rover's arm.

------
podperson
This reminds me that the HN spoof page a few days back really needed a "NASA:
Curiosity moves three inches to the left" item.

~~~
samwilliams
While that post was very amusing, I don't believe this can really be compared
to your example. If this really is a piece of the rover that has fallen off it
could spell disaster for a hugely important and expensive mission.

~~~
aik
True but you have to agree that opening HN and seeing, "NASA: Mars rover
Curiosity finds bright object" is a bit humorous on several levels. The
dichotomy makes it so:

1\. Big impact: Science and our understanding of the universe is being
explored in new and very promising ways.

2\. Big impact: Billions of dollars and years of time spent are on the line.

3\. Generally tiny impact (except for this situation): What is often seen as a
child-like curiosity: Look, shiny object! What is it!?

Which also makes it humorous that we see the title and think, "that sounds
interesting".

------
vtail
Here is how you can find this object with Mathematica:
[http://mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/11819/help-
fi...](http://mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/11819/help-find-a-
bright-object-on-mars/11822#11822)

------
ef4
Here's hoping it's the Martian equivalent of an arrowhead. :-)

Or at least, let's hope it's not some critical piece of the rover itself.

~~~
saraid216
The first thing that struck me when reading the headline was, "That's exactly
the kind of thing we'd do. Drop a shiny thing in front of the foreign lifeform
and see what it does with it."

------
kghose
I find it impressive that they can find that tiny thing. I imagine it is some
image processing algorithm that identifies anomalies in the texture. Or do
they have humans scanning through each full res picture?

~~~
gosub
Maybe hoards of undergraduates?

------
joering2
oh boy you gotta love Yahoo, even now under Mayer. Spent 10 minutes looking at
the photo and realized that photo caption is layered over it... good job Yahoo
team!

~~~
phogster
Yeah, come on, CEO of a multi-billion dollar company. Stop pandering to stock
holders, board directors, and senior management, and go look at a line of text
on your photos!

------
FootballMuse
ooo shiny thing! #ADD

~~~
johncarpinelli
"The rover team's assessment is that the bright object is something from the
rover, not Martian material," mission team members wrote in an update today.
"It appears to be a shred of plastic material, likely benign, but it has not
been definitively identified."

[http://news.yahoo.com/bright-object-mars-actually-plastic-
cu...](http://news.yahoo.com/bright-object-mars-actually-plastic-curiosity-
rover-200931416.html)

