Weird and wild stuff. What's up with that wacky surface? It looks like it's fluffy and textured until you press on it and then it collapses into something very smooth and supple, and very red. Oh, and they finally posted the other full polar panorama that shows the horizon. I can't wait to see what's up above :)
Also, don't miss this great resource, Mars Exploration Rover Links. It's maintianed by William Spurlock (William, you rock!) and it's got all the MER links a Mars junky could ever want. Go there now and bookmark it and if you've got the time, send William an email thanking him for what's got to be the best collection of MER links on the web.
Posted by asa at January 26, 2004 12:12 AMI was thinking that it looked as if there's a very, very thin layer of dark, loose powder on top of a somewhat thicker layer of reddish powder, and the dark stuff came off on the airbags as they touched it. But maybe it's just that the powder looks darker when it hasn't been compacted and there are lots of voids between the particles.
Matt, I also thought for a moment that maybe the dark stuff had been lifted by the airbags but the bags are clean. I've been tweaking all the photos looking for evidence of really dirty airbags like you see at Colombia Memorial Station (Spirit's lander) and I just don't see it. The airbags look clean to me.
http://www.lyle.org/mars/imagery/color/128288189-6.jpg
http://www.lyle.org/mars/imagery/color/128288301-6.jpg
http://www.lyle.org/mars/imagery/color/128288680-6.jpg
