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Behold the Mountains of Mars!

JupiterKid

Here are some stunning new images from the surface of Mars taken by the newly landed Curiosity rover.

The mountains in the distance are actually the rim of a giant crater, Gale and are about 3,500 metres (12,000 feet) high.

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ScumLord

Blowfish wrote: »

Since the atmosphere is fairly thin, I'd imagine it's fairly quiet out there.

Sound would travel poorly but I'd say the wind would sound almost identical and would be all you would hear. Probably just like standing in an open plain on earth.

Knifey Spoony

Been watching Carl Sagan's Cosmos on Youtube lately, great documentaries on space for anyone who hasn't heard about it, and found the episode about Mars very interesting given the Curiosity mission at the moment.

It was filmed more than 30 years ago at this stage, around the time of the Viking missions, which Carl contributed to the planning of. Anyway, thought some people might be interested in it as it hows how Mars was studied hundreds of years ago and how this lead to the Viking missions and now the Curiosity mission. Really interesting stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqFe-YksnuU

JupiterKid

The true scale of those beautiful layered gullies at the foot of Mount Sharp...
pia16104malin06anno-br2.jpg?w=474&h=624

And an image of them without the labels. Stunning!:cool:

Undercarriage of Curiosity rover as seen by the camera on MAHLI, its robotic arm.

gnfnrhead

It's still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that that is another planet!

JupiterKid

More stunning vistas of the Gale Crater on Mars from Curiosity.:)

index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=28532

shedweller

Great pics Jupiterkid. Did anyone notice how the loom of wire is conected on the leg? That better be a good connection!

derfderf

Last edited by Frada; Yesterday at 23:36. Reason: No boobs please

Rabies wrote: »

Here ya go

(oYoYo)

Prick!

Wow, them mountains must be absolutely massive. Mind blowing.

Whats the temperature on mars. Is there gravity?

What's the make up of the planet?

Amazing that it's so flat.

Amazing.

shedweller

Prick! wrote: »

Wow, them mountains must be absolutely massive. Mind blowing.

Whats the temperature on mars. Is there gravity?

What's the make up of the planet?

Amazing that it's so flat.

Amazing.

Gravity on Mars is approx 1/3 of Earth.
It's not that flat either!

Prick!

Savage. I'd be right in assuming there's no tectonic plates so no naturally made mountains? So something must have hit it to make the bumps?

[Deleted User]

I'd love it if Curiosity uses it's lasers to draw a massive penis on Mars, but not tell anyone anything, just to give the astronomers a surprise.

JupiterKid

Prick! wrote: »

Savage. I'd be right in assuming there's no tectonic plates so no naturally made mountains? So something must have hit it to make the bumps?

Yes, the rims of some of the biggest craters and basins on Mars - like the Gale crater where the Curiosity rover is exploring - are mountains but Mars also has enormous volcanoes far bigger than anything on Earth.

Olympus Mons is not only the largest volcano on Mars but the entire solar system and is also the highest mountain on any body in the solar system.

olympusm.jpg?w=450

The sheer size of Olympus Mons can be seen when an outline of Germany is superimposed

Mars also has enormous canyons far larger than anything on Earth. Mars is far from flat!

Queen-Mise

Thanks for all the pics and info. Absolutely fascinating.

That volcano is ridiculously big...

Son Of A Vidic

Great stuff JupiterKid.

ScumLord

Deleted User wrote: »

I'd love it if Curiosity uses it's lasers to draw a massive penis on Mars, but not tell anyone anything, just to give the astronomers a surprise.

As I understand it Mars had an iron core similar to earths that provided a magnetic shield much like ours that would have allowed life to form but due to it's smaller size the core couldn't sustain itself and solidified which stopped the magnetic shielding and ultimately lead to the death of the planet.

Prick!

Why is a magnetic field needed for life?

And what is the cause of gravity on earth?

A_Sober_Paddy

Prick! wrote: »

Why is a magnetic field needed for life?

And what is the cause of gravity on earth?

Helps hold the atmosphere together and stops it drifting off into space...

No magnetic field means no atmosphere as far as my limited understanding of science

Queen-Mise

Prick! wrote: »

Why is a magnetic field needed for life?

And what is the cause of gravity on earth?

The spinning of the earth is the cause of the gravity. The same way as being spun on a fairground ride would stick you to the seat.

I have no idea on the magnetic field.

Tea_Bag

magnetic field protects us from the radiation given off from the sun. without it your face would boil... instantly.

--Kaiser--

Queen-Mise wrote: »

The spinning of the earth is the cause of the gravity. The same way as being spun on a fairground ride would stick you to the seat.

I have no idea on the magnetic field.

Ughh.....no, that is completely wrong. You are equating gravity with centrifugal force. What gives Earth gravity is its mass. Objects with more mass have more gravity and curve space-time so that other less massive objects (e.g. the moon) are attracted to it.

The Earth's magnetic field is caused by the Earth's spinning molten core of iron. It protects us from harmful solar radiation (the Aurora Borealis is solar wind being buffeted off the Earth's magnetic field) which would otherwise sterilise the planet

norrie rugger

Queen-Mise wrote: »

The spinning of the earth is the cause of the gravity. The same way as being spun on a fairground ride would stick you to the seat.

I have no idea on the magnetic field.

Actually it would be the other way around. The spinning would cause a centrifugal force which would actually push you away from the point of the rotation.

Is it mass (amount of matter, not the church) of an object that causes gravity. As long as the mass derived gravity is greater than the centrifugal force, then you stay nice and stuck to the ground.
The Earth has a nice and dense Iron core that provides enough mass, for our 1G.

The inner core is actually solid (this is due to the fact that the higher the pressure; the more heat needed to melt most materials). The pressures in the inner core mean that the iron actually stays solid. The outer core is also iron but in a liquid form that swirls around the solid core causing magnetism, in the form of our EM field (this is why compasses work like they do)

The magnetic field prevents the solar winds from frying us.
This lovely little pic shows the effects of our magnetic field on the charged particles, from the sun

You will notice that some of the charged material is send inwards, to the poles of the Earth, these are what cause the Aurorae.

Capt'n Midnight

Tea_Bag wrote: »

magnetic field protects us from the radiation given off from the sun. without it your face would boil... instantly.

no.

you'd get sunburnt very quickly though

for microbes yes it would be instant death unless they make their own sunblock (which some do)

If there was a coronal mass ejection headed our way and you were on the surface of Mars or the Moon you would have to get under ground ASAP. If travelling to Mars in a spaceship then you would the bulk of the ship , fuel, landers, engines to offer some protection.

Mass ejections take time to arrive so there would be advance warning.

norrie rugger

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

If there was a coronal mass ejection headed our way and you were on the surface of Mars or the Moon you would have to get under ground ASAP. If travelling to Mars in a spaceship then you would the bulk of the ship , fuel, landers, engines to offer some protection.

Mass ejections take time to arrive so there would be advance warning.

The moon looks like it gets some protection, for astronaughts, from the Earth.

A space ship (of current tech) would give minimal protection AFAIK. They are trying to develop lightweigh solutions to providing EM protection.

Tea_Bag

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

no.

you'd get sunburnt very quickly though

for microbes yes it would be instant death unless they make their own sunblock (which some do)

If there was a coronal mass ejection headed our way and you were on the surface of Mars or the Moon you would have to get under ground ASAP. If travelling to Mars in a spaceship then you would the bulk of the ship , fuel, landers, engines to offer some protection.

Mass ejections take time to arrive so there would be advance warning.

you are, as usual, 100% correct :-)
I was just doing a poor reference to Total Recall

while I guess it would be unpleasant, and cancer cases going up astronomicaly, we'd still be OK as a species.

Chet T16

norrie rugger wrote: »

The moon looks like it gets some protection, for astronaughts, from the Earth.

A space ship (of current tech) would give minimal protection AFAIK. They are trying to develop lightweigh solutions to providing EM protection.

Is there anything to be said for saying another mass?

Rented Mule

up for anything wrote: »

Looks like we're going to play Cowboys and Martians.

[Deleted User]

Queen-Mise wrote: »

The spinning of the earth is the cause of the gravity. The same way as being spun on a fairground ride would stick you to the seat.

I have no idea on the magnetic field.

WADR, you have no idea on the gravity, either.

:eek:

Scioch

Deleted User wrote: »

WADR, you have no idea on the gravity, either.

:eek:

The notion that gravity is caused by the spinning of the earth is a pretty wide held view in my experience. Its a plausible answer to someone who hasnt looked into it.

Its not really that easy to explain or understand what gravity actually is. Its complicated stuff.

[Deleted User]

Scioch wrote: »

The notion that gravity is caused by the spinning of the earth is a pretty wide held view in my experience. Its a plausible answer to someone who hasnt looked into it.

Its not really that easy to explain or understand what gravity actually is. Its complicated stuff.

It's not complicated. Actually, it is complicated when you start taking relativity into account - but it's easy to understand.

The fact that some people believe that gravity is a function of the spinning of the Earth merely demonstrates that people will believe almost anything. It's no wonder we have so much mumbo jumbo masquerading as science about the place.

Anyway, that's getting waaaaaayyyy off topic. Sorry. :cool:

Prick!

Deleted User wrote: »

It's not complicated. Actually, it is complicated when you start taking relativity into account - but it's easy to understand.

The fact that some people believe that gravity is a function of the spinning of the Earth merely demonstrates that people will believe almost anything. It's no wonder we have so much mumbo jumbo masquerading as science about the place.

Anyway, that's getting waaaaaayyyy off topic. Sorry. :cool:

What causes gravity then?