You see, Joe, Jim has explained to me that they lock-up the tea leaves, entrails & Tarot cards every day after the forecast is read as part of Homeland Security procedures. That only leaves any bones that may have been cast but not yet collected, and everyone knows that the bones are only good for long-range, general forecasts. The Magic 8-Ball is currently back at the manufacturer's for upgrades. The Ouija board was abandoned in 1986 for not being cost-effective. Too many workers needed for too long. Recently, however, government analysts have been taking another look at it. By outsourcing the contract to a Pakistani company, it just might be competitive again thanks to third-world wages. So we have to wait until Kreskin comes back in the morning. ;) --- Jim Gibson <jimgibson00@yahoo.com> wrote:

Joe I didn't think to ask. I won't be able to get that information until tomorrow now. Sorry Jim

Joe Bauman <bau@desnews.com> wrote: Jim, how's Thursday night for Castle Dale? Thanks, Joe

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Joe, A very interesting photo. I printed it and turned it upside down. When you do this and think of the illumination coming from the top, the straight lines appear to be on high surfaces rather than low surfaces. This makes it more probable that they are an artifact of the rover. It sure is easy to see the tail of a fish in the right side up photo, though. Brent --- Joe Bauman <bau@desnews.com> wrote:

Could somebody take a look at this microscopic imager view from Spirit, just posted, and tell me if you think it's just scrapes from the abrasion tool, or something more interesting -- like fossils. Thanks, Joe

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/2/m/099/2M135153386EFF2700P2959M2...

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On 15-Apr-04 9:36, Joe Bauman wrote:

Could somebody take a look at this microscopic imager view from Spirit, just posted, and tell me if you think it's just scrapes from the abrasion tool, or something more interesting -- like fossils. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/2/m/099/2M135153386EFF2700P2959M2... Does anyone know where to find information on the image? I would like to know what terrain the picture is in (solid rock, soil, etc.), the scale of the image (microns, mm, meters), and lighting (natural, artificial, high/low angle, etc.). Pictures of rock/soil with no scales are difficult to interpret for processes that create structure. Without image info, it could be a photomicrograph of an rock, or a picture of a planet surface from orbit. The scale invariance of geology is always fun. :)

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Information on the camera and the the specifications for it can be found here: http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/MER-AthenaMI/microscopic_imager.html

Does anyone know where to find information on the image? I would like to know what terrain the picture is in (solid rock, soil, etc.), the scale of the image (microns, mm, meters), and lighting (natural, artificial, high/low angle, etc.). Pictures of rock/soil with no scales are difficult to interpret for processes that create structure. Without image info, it could be a photomicrograph of an rock, or a picture of a planet surface from orbit. The scale invariance of geology is always fun. :)

It's strange, but maybe these are marks left by the rock abrasion tool -- I would very much like to know more, though. Thanks for everyone's input, AJoe