APOD: NASA's Curiosity Rover at Namib Dune... (2016 Mar 29)

[APOD Robot]

NASA's Curiosity Rover at Namib Dune (360 View)

Explanation: Point or tilt to see a spectacular view of Mars visible to the Curiosity rover last December. In the foreground, part of Curiosity itself is visible, including its dusty sundial. Starting about seven meters back, the robotic rover is seen posing in front of a 5-meter tall dark sand dune named Namib, one of many dunes that span Bagnold field. Further in the distance is the summit of Mt. Sharp, the 5.5-kilometer peak at the center of 150-km wide Gale crater, the crater where Curiosity landed a few years ago. The featured composite spans a full 360-degrees around by combining several images taken on the same day, while the result has been color adjusted to mimic Earth lighting. Most recently, Curiosity is crossing the rocky and uneven Naukluft Plateau as it continues to make its way around and up Mt. Sharp.

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[hville]

This picture perfectly demonstrates why it would be ridiculous to send a man to Mars.

[Boomer12k]

I was thinking of moving to Mars... But obviously the neighbors are TOO CLOSE....

Really Nice View...

:---[===] *

[Boomer12k]

This picture perfectly demonstrates why it would be ridiculous to send a man to Mars.

I would go in an instant... even if a one way trip... but my physical maladies would preclude me... sigh... Darn Squirrels...

:---[===] *

[hville]

The nearest Big Mac and frys is a long way off.

[rstevenson]

This picture perfectly demonstrates why it would be ridiculous to send a man to Mars.

... and ...

The nearest Big Mac and frys is a long way off.

Some of us may have slightly different priorities.

Rob

[APODFORIST]

Description: "color adjusted to mimic Earth lighting"

I really don't understand why NASA is always doing this and not showing the pictures in original colors - like a human would see the scenery on Mars.

[Asterhole]

OK - it appears this is some sort of You Tube video. I'm at work and not allowed to stream videos, music, etc. on the Company computer. So I use my smartphone and play the video. It shows the time elapsing, but nothing's happening? The rover is just sitting there. Did the Mastcam pan 360 and this is the result? Or am I missing something?

[neufer]

OK - it appears this is some sort of You Tube video. I'm at work and not allowed to stream videos, music, etc. on the Company computer. So I use my smartphone and play the video. It shows the time elapsing, but nothing's happening? The rover is just sitting there. Did the Mastcam pan 360 and this is the result? Or am I missing something?

<<This image of the downwind face of "Namib Dune" on Mars covers 360 degrees, including a portion of Mount Sharp on the horizon. Use the arrows in the top left, or click and drag your cursor or mouse, to move the view up/down and right/left.

Important note: Not all browsers support viewing 360 videos/images. YouTube supports uploading and playback of 360 degree videos/images on computers using Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera browsers.

If your browser does not support 360, a static view of this same panorama image
is available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/det ... d=pia20284

[Chris Peterson]

The nearest Big Mac and frys is a long way off.

That's actually an argument in favor of going to Mars.

Although regrettably, if humans go to Mars junk food can't be far behind.

[Chris Peterson]

Description: "color adjusted to mimic Earth lighting"

I really don't understand why NASA is always doing this and not showing the pictures in original colors - like a human would see the scenery on Mars.

I take this to mean that the colors were adjusted to approximate what our eyes would see on Mars- which is different from what the unprocessed camera data provides, given the filters used.

Alternatively, assuming that the Martian atmosphere results in a somewhat different color temperature for the sunlight and scattered skylight, the reason to correct that is so that we see the rocks as we would see them on Earth, allowing us to better understand what they are. That makes sense if the primary intent is to inform us about what materials are around the rover, as opposed to accurately simulating the experience of standing in that location.

[sshea]

I wish some friendly Martian would come by and give Curiosity a good bath!
What an incredible image!

[diane in los angeles]

You really should put a sentence of explanation about the 360 panoramas. I had to do some investigation to understand why a 2 minute video claiming a 360 panoramic view was static. It's not obvious to everyone who might enjoy it that a little mousing permits full view of the panorama--that the viewer controls the image and that clicking 'play' will not show it. A link to an explanation would go a long way towards increasing viewer happiness.

[Fred the Cat]

The rovers have made many amazing discoveries . A while back there was a TV series in the US, United Kingdom and Australia called Life After People. One of the reoccurring themes was how short a period of time within a viable environment it really took to eliminate all evidence of our existence.

On a viable Mars how long would evidence of Martians taken to be destroyed or would that be Curiosity's most amazing discovery should the time frame be just short enough to leave some remnant? The discovery of ancient intelligent life would be even more important than the discovery of any life to push us on to undertake the daunting task to put humans on Mars. It would have to be the dream find of a rover driver.

[neufer]

Alternatively, assuming that the Martian atmosphere results in a somewhat different color temperature for the sunlight and scattered skylight, the reason to correct that is so that we see the rocks as we would see them on Earth, allowing us to better understand what they are. That makes sense if the primary intent is to inform us about what materials are around the rover, as opposed to accurately simulating the experience of standing in that location.

Surprising that no one ever requests that we get to see the Sun just a human would get to see it with the naked eye.

The scene is presented with a color adjustment that approximates white balancing, to resemble how the rocks would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth.

Humans have a really crappy set of senses and I have no inclination to experience Mars either personally or vicariously through an astronaut.

[In the dark]

You really should put a sentence of explanation about the 360 panoramas. I had to do some investigation to understand why a 2 minute video claiming a 360 panoramic view was static. It's not obvious to everyone who might enjoy it that a little mousing permits full view of the panorama--that the viewer controls the image and that clicking 'play' will not show it. A link to an explanation would go a long way towards increasing viewer happiness.

^^This. x2

[runge2000]

I like it and I want more of it, for example as a live stream.

[neufer]

I like it and I want more of it, for example as a live stream.

• http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150930.html

[APODFORIST]

Description: "color adjusted to mimic Earth lighting"

I really don't understand why NASA is always doing this and not showing the pictures in original colors - like a human would see the scenery on Mars.

I take this to mean that the colors were adjusted to approximate what our eyes would see on Mars- which is different from what the unprocessed camera data provides, given the filters used.

Alternatively, assuming that the Martian atmosphere results in a somewhat different color temperature for the sunlight and scattered skylight, the reason to correct that is so that we see the rocks as we would see them on Earth, allowing us to better understand what they are. That makes sense if the primary intent is to inform us about what materials are around the rover, as opposed to accurately simulating the experience of standing in that location.

Isn't it a foto with enhanced colors (to see more details)? If this is the reason why I can understand it. But I am always interested to see them in true colors too.

Probably like that true color foto:

Click to view full size image

In contrast to a foto with enhanced colors (as today ADPOP):

Click to view full size image

Sources:
http://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/?ImageID=7713
http://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/?ImageID=7714

[Chris Peterson]

Isn't it a foto with enhanced colors (to see more details)? If this is the reason why I can understand it. But I am always interested to see them in true colors too.

Probably like that true color foto:

Click to view full size image

In contrast to a foto with enhanced colors (as today ADPOP):

Click to view full size image

I suspect that if we were standing on Mars, we'd actually see something much closer to the second, "enhanced" image. Our eyes and brains do an excellent job of automatic white balance, but that function doesn't work with photos. Whether we're in a room lit by incandescent lights or fluorescent lights, we see things almost the same (after a short adjustment period). But when we look at photographs made under those conditions, they look very different, and we usually can't normalize them. Put on pink-lensed glasses, and in a few minutes you won't be aware of them, and white will again look like white. Can't do the same with a pink filter on a camera.

We evolved to see things under Earth sunlight, and our vision autocorrects colors accordingly.

Neither of these images have been enhanced in a way that really brings out much more color detail. And there's really no such thing as "true color", given that color is a physiological response, not a physical one, and varies widely from person to person, in addition to being influenced by the viewing environment (which is why we have so many startling optical illusions based on color).

[raimon99]

Best solution !
Download "Kolor Eyes" free on http://www.kolor.com/download/
Download on youtub the 4K file and ENJOY ! (...no lag and top quality !)

[ALohascope's Back]

Anybody else see the hubcap?

[geckzilla]

Isn't it a foto with enhanced colors (to see more details)? If this is the reason why I can understand it. But I am always interested to see them in true colors too.

Probably like that true color foto:

Click to view full size image

In contrast to a foto with enhanced colors (as today ADPOP):

Click to view full size image

I suspect that if we were standing on Mars, we'd actually see something much closer to the second, "enhanced" image. Our eyes and brains do an excellent job of automatic white balance, but that function doesn't work with photos. Whether we're in a room lit by incandescent lights or fluorescent lights, we see things almost the same (after a short adjustment period). But when we look at photographs made under those conditions, they look very different, and we usually can't normalize them. Put on pink-lensed glasses, and in a few minutes you won't be aware of them, and white will again look like white. Can't do the same with a pink filter on a camera.

We evolved to see things under Earth sunlight, and our vision autocorrects colors accordingly.

Neither of these images have been enhanced in a way that really brings out much more color detail. And there's really no such thing as "true color", given that color is a physiological response, not a physical one, and varies widely from person to person, in addition to being influenced by the viewing environment (which is why we have so many startling optical illusions based on color).

There have been some really, really long discussions on this over at the Unmanned Spaceflight forum. Like, what color is the sky on Mars, really? You'll find several well reasoned examples of why this or that is the real color of Mars. Amusing, but in the end, pointless... at least in my opinion, anyway. Mainly for the brain's white-balancing ability which you mentioned.

[neufer]

[b][color=#0000FF]Artist concept of a Martian dust storm (for [u]The Martian[/u]). Photo by NASA[/color][/b]

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There have been some really, really long discussions on this over at the Unmanned Spaceflight forum. Like, what color is the sky on Mars, really? You'll find several well reasoned examples of why this or that is the real color of Mars. Amusing, but in the end, pointless... at least in my opinion, anyway. Mainly for the brain's white-balancing ability which you mentioned.

It probably also matters if one is referring to the sky overhead or the sky near the horizon.