We have now found a color panorama (PIA01907) which actually shows the rover color calibration dial and the Martian sky above. Once again, when we correct the color so that the dial appears as it does on Earth in normal light, the sky on Mars goes from the absurd NASA "Technicolor red" to a fairly normal "Arizona Blue."
So again, why does NASA keep modifying the color images taken from the surface to make Mars appear alien and forbidding?
(We will be posting a full size version of this image later on Dark Mission.net)
Posts
37 comments:
My dog was going nuts at the front door. I looked out the window and saw the UPS truck fleeing.
On the front porch a package from Amazon.com.
It's the book.
Dark Mission, the secret history of NASA.
Kool!
Christmas came early this year.
Gort
Cool! Be sure and leave a review on Amazon when you are finished.
In the 15th century when the whole world was opened up to discovery and colonization the old money European power brokers saw this upstart country form out of nothing and become a superpower.
It took them over 400 years to gain control over the political and economic structure of this new 'phenomenon'. some would say they still dont have the control they would like.
there is a very real and valid fear of a return to the idea of 'colonialism' on a solar-system wide basis.
can you imagine what kind of power a nation located on the moon would have over the entire Earth?
how about a group living on Mars with a whole new (even if small) planet to explore and exploit?
how can it be controlled? taxed? competed with?
i think the answer to all your questions are based on nothig more than the age old issues of power and control...
What has RCH done to Gary, the Mars Revealer ?
What is your accounting of what occurred with him ?
Why does everyone who posts here just co-incidentally "buy the Book" ?
Richard has doen nothing to Gary but try to help him.
He is banned from this blog because he has threatened Richard's life.
Any other stupid questions, Unit?
Big Mike,
I live in Manhattan. went to B&N...no dice. Borders...no dice. They're telling me the 1st of November. What the deally? Amazon for now?
I will agree the launch site at White Sands (for Von Braun's early U.S. rocket program) being called "launch pad 33" is unusual.
I will point out that to say "the one and only" runway at Cape Canaveral is called "runway 33" is slightly misleading. Just to clarify, especially for a public readership not well versed in aviation lore, runways are numbered by azimuth or heading as you approach it. Each runway is really two runways. If you land from the south at Kennedy Space Center, you have a runway with a heading of 330 degrees. Runways are named/numbered by dropping the third digit, to save time in calling it out to a pilot and to save paint on the end of the runway, so 330 degrees becomes runway 33. If you approach the runway from the other end, it is a heading of 150 degrees and is called/numbered runway 15.
It can conveniently be explained by the lay of the land on the cape, and yet it is still "mysterious" that one end of the only runway is "runway 33." Back then they probably had a large budget and a lot of open space from which to choose a runway location. And filling swamplands wasn't as hard to do then, as far as EPA regulations, etc. But the present aligment does seem logical if you want the runway close to the launch pads. (And the other end of the same runway is "runway 15", an anagram of 51,--51 degrees being close to the number use to divide a circle into seven equal parts, as in the "magickal" symbol on page 278, linked to Von Karman, Jack Parsons, and JPL--and also 51 as in "area 51.)
(And NASA/Goddard is located on an azimuth of 51 degrees from the Pentagon, for what it's worth.) ;)
Gort
Prof Taylor,
Just distribution problems. B&N just doubled their order, so we can hope that they will be getting the books before November 1st.
Try Barnes and Noble.com. They told us yesterday they have books ready to ship.
Gort,
Even if all you said is true, they still laid it out so it would be "runway 33," just like they have TWO pad 39's (39\2=19.5).
How is that misleading? It is called Runway 33.
Thanks bro. I'm on it. By the way, is there a logistical or (is it just plain politics and manUNkindness) as to why space exploration is not an earth issue. Meaning, why couldn't the World Bank fund space exploration maybe through the United Nations Office For Outer Space Affairs in conjunction with some International World Station blah blah blah.... (I know, the UNOOSA only handles satellites) but I was just curious. I don't know about the political and financial rah rah of all of this. I'm a fan and am "down" with you guys. Hoagie is "off the chain". Is there a way to email him as well?
I pre-ordered on September 3rd and I'm still waiting for my copy to be processed, let alone ship :(
I imagine they've got more than just one or two orders to sort through...
Dear Mr. Hoagland and Mr. Bara,
First of all I would like to thank Mr. Hoagland for his work, that I follow since '98, that I consider something like a light for my soul.
I haven't still bought the book ( better yet ... I bought it but I still didn't receive it ), so I hope that what I'm about to say isn't in the book itself. If it is please forgive me.
The fact is that since 2004, NASA is showing on the website of Spirit and Opportunity ( marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov ), these amazing photos of a glass tower, on each side of the planet.
The links are:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all
/2/n/094/2N134687551ESF2700P1962L0M1.HTML
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all
/2/p/094/2P134687496EDN2700P2681L5M1.HTML
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all
/1/n/094/1N136550002EFF1900P2679L0M1.HTML
( just check SOL 94 on the navigation camera and the panoramic camera both on Spirit and Opportunity ).
I've been waiting since '04 to ask Mr. Hoagland what he thinks about this matter, and he never made an article about this, only now with this forum I have the opportunity ( eh-eh ).
Once again thank you for everything you've taught me.
However the problem with this 'picture' is that you're calibrating the shots to 'look right' by using a colour chart situated in Mars lighting conditions without knowing exactly what an accurate picture taken in Mars conditions would look like...as Nasa constantly demonstrates.
By calibrating the colours of the picture to make the colour chart in your shot look right, all you're effectively doing is making it look right - even if it may look completely different to the naked eye.
If there was an orange cast, then the chart WILL naturally have an orange tint. We in the video industry use white balancing for effect all the time. You can be in a room lit with pale green fluros - but by white balancing under those conditions can give you back your true white.
There are limits, but you get my drift.
The lighting conditions on Mars are different than on Earth.
http://www.enterprisemission.com/colors.htm
http://keithlaney.net/MOCC/MarsOdysseyColorCorrections.html
http://keithlaney.net/spirit_color_images.htm
Mike, I agree the symbolism is there in Runway 33 and Launch Complex 39a and 39b. I was just trying to point out that one could argue it is really runway 15, or runway 15/33.
www.kennedyspacecenter.com calls it "Shuttle Landing Facility"
Also, the Launch Complex 33 at White Sands(or part of Fort Bliss?)
appears to be near 33 degrees north. The southern border of NM (east of El Paso) is 32 North.
If the launch site itself was south of 33, the down range areas appear to be north of 33, so maybe that where/why the name originated. But still "symbolic" and strange.
I have only read chapter 5, chapter 12 and the epilog so far.(and the introduction on-line)
Chapter 5 was great, it really explained a lot. It read like a "who-dunnit".
Gort
Gort,
Glad you like it so far. I got a copy to Chris Matthews of "Hardball" tonight.
Gary, you certainly made threats. I have copies of the emails.
Unit - Get a life and give me a break.
Big Mike, did you read my last post? What do you thnk? I know it's improbable but I wanted your thoughts.
Prof Taylor - I just don't that much about how the World Bank works, but I think on the Face of it, your idea has merit.
"M", I meant to say that the lighting conditions on Mars are NOT different than on Earth. I had a chat with Hoagy this morning, and he's going to work up a new post sometime today which will illustrate the point. I'll post it as soon as I get it.
Unit - Get a life and give me a break.
I did - I came to the conclusion that MR is Schizophrenic.
Cheers Mike - I was hoping that would be the case.
I suppose one handy outcome with pushing the colours towards the red channel is that it helps to shift anything that's naturally green towards black
No doubt. It just seems like they would come up with a way (currency) to get it "crackin'" you know? Somewhere between the US, Japan, China and Russia.? Whew! Man Mike....that would be awesome! Why we'd be "back" to the moon in 24 months! (Smile) Keep up the good work. Can't wait for the book. A DVD in the works? Podcasts?
Why we'd be "back" to the moon in 24 months!
Where are Ken's Pictures of getting in and out of the LEM ?
Just for information purposes...
I preordered 2 copies of the book from Amazon on Sept. 13, and according to my account-management page with them, the estimated delivery date is Nov. 12 - 19.
So I wait... [**sigh**]
T'Zairis
Unfortunately this kind of white balance color correction does not prove anything. It only shows what the Martian landscape would look like on a sunny day under an Earth sky. The only thing we can know for sure about the "corrected" Martian sky in that picture is that it is wrong. Both the color chart and the landscape reflect light, which gets corrected. The sky on the other hand is direct light. The only way to know for sure what NASA has been doing is if we had some direct light source on the rover for which the light spectrum was known. A couple of LEDs would do the job, but NASA does not need that because they know the characteristics of their cameras and color filters. The reason for bringing the color chart to Mars is not to get a corrected picture, but to be able to correct for the Martian light conditions such that the stones can be seen in their true colors as if they had been brought back to Earth. That is a smart thing to do if you have geologists working on classifying the stones. But sorry, this kind of color correction alchemy will never tell us if NASA is fooling us or not.
Polygonal Shapes, such as those in Cydonia, are predictions of the Electric Universe model.
Pardon me Big Mike,
What's up Unit.
You said "up unit" huh huh huh
Polygonal Shapes, such as those in Cydonia, are predictions of the Electric Universe model.
There are readers that will believe there are things on the Moon & Mars - perhaps even the things your book describes. However, in the telling of stories about things beyond the frontier - tis folly to accept the context at face value. Before the railroads brought elites to the West, there were story-tellers that brought the West to the elites.
There is a filtration system in place to use "disclosure" about a New World, about the Wild West and the Last Frontier (Alaska). Why would we expect NASA to be set-up any differently ?
The High Frontier of Space would not be an invention because exploration is not new to the United States. The principles of an American Space Program would be an adaptation of old traditions. Look into how the Royal Navy "handled" the speculative arm-chair cartographers.
Information designed to get people to approve of a Space Program that is not very public ... an Agency that was being privatized in 1969 while they astronauts were on the Moon ... that with-holds data & photoshops images & bullies academics.
For Boeing and others that participate in the super-collider Space Program - they get Public support for a big fat NASA budget. Along the way, old traditions are followed and NASA, whether by secret mandate, or through the support cults of the elites, this propaganda tool for capitalism called NASA, masks the strict hierarchy that exists ... because that's what the Cold War was all about. Pretending that locals rule the world, rather than a cynical, isolated tiny minority that only leave their walled gardens for drugs and to schmooze. Most of the ruling elites live in the city whose skyline is featured on the Apollo logo.
I applaud the science and grumble about the social science - but there's just no pleasing some people :-)
Mike,
On page 4 a typo(?). The Old Man in the Mountain is not in New Jersey. I think it is either in New Hampshire or New Braska ;)
Check your pocket for a new hampshire quarter.
Gort
I think New Hampshire is correct. My bad. Thanks for the note.
Mike
From Space.com re the color of Mars:
"As you will see for yourself, the so-called "Red Planet" actually will appear closer to a yellow-orange tint – the same color of a dry desert under a high sun."
By: Joe Rao
Space.com Skywatching columnist
http://www.space.com/aol/070928_ns_mars_watch.html
Mars in the Morning: Red Planet Grows Brighter
Posted 28 September 2007
06:61 am ET
Gort>Looks like not everyone buys the NASA technicolor red. :)
Gort
Hi
Greetings fron SudAmerica,
I buy the book in amazon and
waiting his arrival.. question?
In May 2007, YouTube user “retiredafb” posted a number of videos purporting to be from a secret USAF Saturn V mission to the Moon in 1976, whose purpose was to explore the ancient alien spaceships shown below. Since posting, the videos altogether have received well over 1.2 million viewings, 1,066 ratings, 2,229 comments, and favorited 2,109 times. Not only that, there have been numerous videos posted in response, either to reinforce retiredafb's allegations or as attempts to debunk them.
So, with all this attention at YouTube, why hasn't any of the news outlets covered this intriguing story? Does the media believe it to be a hoax? But even assuming (arguendo) it is a hoax, this has never been a disqualification. Many media outlets, including Rense.com, Coast-to-Coast AM, Earthfiles, Enterprisemission etc., will cover stories on alien abductions, bigfoot, UFOs, crop circles, remote viewing, conspiracy theories, etc. While some of them may be true, surely, not all of them are true. So, why then, won't any media outlet cover the Apollo 20 story? It makes one wonder if the media has been warned not to, over fears of reprisals from the NSA, CIA, DIA, FCC, or some arm of a shadow government.
The Apollo 20 story about a secret mission to the moon involving a Saturn V rocket launched from Vandenberg AFB, two USAF pilots (one of them a woman), and a Soviet cosmonaut, is a fascinating story in its own right, regardless of whether it is 100% true or not. So much so, that an Italian journalist, a graphic artist in Israel, and a newly founded organization named SpaceHeroes.org formed the “Apollo 20 Alliance”, whose main goal is to investigate and report on this most amazing Apollo 20 story.
Gus
Big Mike,
Is the "forests on Mars " guy making that up? Are his photos real?
Mike, Great Work.
I am from India and have an unbiased look at your website and all the stuff that you guys are putting out.
Especially the new book.
Unfortunately it will take some time before the book lands in India and I generally check out crosswords book shop for the latest.
Will do that today and see if it is there.
Do check out my website http://www.uncensoredinfo.com
I had written an email to you couple of days back...hope you take time when you are free for a reply.
thanks
Gustavo,
The Apollo 20 video looks phoney to me, I've never believed it was real.
PT - Got a link to the forrests on Mars guy? I've never seen this.
Guy - Let us know if the book shows up in India, that would be cool!
Mike,
Other business aside, as I've said before, you cannot use auto colour adjust to colour correct these photos. Manual colour correction can only be done with a desired effect in mind. In both images, the rover is more less the colour that it appears on earth. The second picture is not accurate, as once again all the colours are hot. You could just as easily maintain the colour of the rover and turn the sky green.
It would make no sense that the colour of the Martian sky should be blue. The atmosphere on Mars is completely different than the atmosphere on Earth. The light is also traveling a greater distance to reach Mars. I have found the following excerpt on a page which explains, in detail, why the sky is blue on Earth. The page also used Mars as an example to explain why the atmosphere must be the correct compsition to result in the bluing of the sky:
Notice that this argument depends very little on the composition of the atmosphere. Any clear atmosphere of more or less Earthlike size and density, lit by a sun whose light appears more or less white, would result in a blue sky.
The color pictures from Mars Pathfinder are a spectacular reminder that the sky is not blue on Mars. Instead, it has colors that have been described as everything from "orange-pink" to "gray-tan", as was discovered in the 1970s by the Viking landers. This is because the atmosphere of Mars is very thin and dusty, and atmospheric light scattering is dominated not by the molecules of gas (in the case of Mars, mostly carbon dioxide) but by suspended dust particles. These are larger than the wavelengths of visible light, and they are reddened by iron oxide, like Martian soil. It's not just Rayleigh scattering, so the power spectrum is different.
(emphasis mine)
This also helps to answer the questions of some of your readers who were confused as to why everything on Mars would be red -- iron, when oxidized, turns red. There is reason to believe that Mars once had water on its surface. It is believed that the wet atmosphere cause the iron-rich Martian soil to oxidize, along with almost every iron-rich stone and outcrop. This happened long ago. There is not enough oxygen in the Martian atmosphere to do this, today.
Post a Comment