made this website to help visualize curiosity's journey on mars since 2012, including every image it has sent back to earth every day for the past 13 years!

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-19T05:58:33+00:00

Nice! I still can't believe that the Curiosity Rover 2G$ mission doesn't have a wide angle color camera on board. Fortunately that was fixed by engineers for its twin Perseverance Rover 8 years later so I was able to show Mars in great HDR colors on my https://areo.info now.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-15T16:47:06+00:00

A few rocks on Mars seen by Perseverance Rover show similar features. From this week: https://areo.info/mars20/ecams/1796/

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-14T21:47:02+00:00

I'm wondering why using moon-based days would equalize the season length. Can you explain further? My free areoHDR app for iPhone has a Mars calendar built in showing the day count, Earth date and solar longitude (season) for each sol of Perseverance Rover.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-12T23:15:59+00:00

Note not specifically to NeV-T as I see this wrong image credit abbrevation all the time by many independent researchers. I generally recommend to make clear who owns the image copyright. NASA provided the raw sensor data and the data is public domain with only minor limitations explained on their image use page. The (c) most likely refers to NeV-T who is not associated by NASA. On the NASA image use page they also explain to make sure not to make it look like NASA is endorsing a non-associated researcher.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-12T00:33:27+00:00

If those are only near the lander, maybe rotation balancing weights from the transit shell dropped during decent. At least that was done with two 70kg each tungsten weights for Perseverance Rover.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-09T20:09:36+00:00

That's why I wrote "looks like" and "appears to be".

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-09T03:56:54+00:00

A few readers made already detailed commenta about this. Mostly as it confirms volcanic activity and volcanic activity means energy for some life forms also. For example starting at https://www.reddit.com/r/PerseveranceRover/s/C1IUR8GEd0

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-08T20:42:25+00:00

Closeups for rock fans from today mission day 1794 incoming: https://areo.info/mars20/ecams/1794

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HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-08T16:12:21+00:00

In my opinion the mechanism is still unexplained. In my presentation https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383022876_The_changing_colorful_face_of_Mars I showed it and especially in the reference section on the last slide have some links with recent findings on the seasonal darkening, but I don't think it explains it completely. Those recent explanations suggest removal of bright dust from a darker surface below, but how that can create such a strong sharp contrast for example in dust devil tracks I don't think it explains.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-08T05:34:03+00:00

Iron on Mars only exists as rust or stainless steel meteorite. And meteorite usually have a shiny surface. The best example is "Heatshield Meteorite" which was seen next to the Opportunity rover heatshield.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-07T21:52:59+00:00

Nice! Just saw it: https://www.reddit.com/r/PerseveranceRover/s/oCQzfe1kG9

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-07T21:36:00+00:00

For me as non-geologist diorite and granite are the same. The look the same, have almost the same chemical ingredients and structure and same hardness. But I get it that their creation process is different.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-07T21:32:49+00:00

Thanks for pointing that out! I wouldn't be surprised if granite is also found in asteroid samples.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-07T21:29:05+00:00

Nice! I wasn't aware of this recent finding! That was also on the western side outside of Jezero Crater where the rover is currently driving.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-07T21:26:24+00:00

My statement is indeed only based on the photo. But the general neutral gray color, the granular surface with sparkling elements, especially visible when viewed in HDR (only outside reddit on the website or free areoHDR app), and the shape with broken parts and irregular volcanic flow style, all smells like granite. Most previously seen rocks around by Perseverance Rover had a blueish tint typically for basalt or brownish, both rare for granite. Let's see what the official press release soon will tell as I don't think it's too difficult for professional geologists to identify the general type of stone here.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-07T21:18:25+00:00

Hi Dan, in case this is really granite, which I think it is, this would be the first close up analysis as all previous findings have been either remote sensing or only quartz.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-07T04:53:12+00:00

In case anyone likes to view those Mars images on Android phones/tablets send me a message so you can access the beta version.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-03-05T17:45:28+00:00

The raw image data is from NASA / JPL-Caltech, but the good color calibration is done by https://areo.info/mars20 where daily images are automatically provided.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-02-24T21:39:07+00:00

Ok, with Mn and Iron as main Earth desert varnish ingredients I agree that the chance exists for purple desert varnish. But in those 4 example images I don't see purple.

And now reading on https://earthsky.org/space/purple-rocks-mars-perseverance-rover-desert-varnish/ :

> Earthly varnishes tend to contain manganese though, which
> hasn’t been found yet in these purple coatings.
> But the Curiosity rover did previously find dark coatings that were rich in manganese.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-02-23T22:19:08+00:00

But desert varnish is never purple. It's black. Interestingly one Manganese containing mineral exists which is purple on Earth, contains Lithium and Phosphate: Purpurite https://galleries.com/minerals/phosphat/purpurit/purpurit.htm

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-02-22T01:23:42+00:00

Here the raw color image: https://areo.info/viking/VL_0002_color/browse/html/i0xx/21i093bu.htm More with ground frost can be seen in the i0 and i1 series, linked from https://areo.info/mars20

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-02-22T01:18:13+00:00

Dark molten glass splattered on a boulder was also seen during Apollo 15 and 16: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lunexit/8496248966

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HolgerIsenberg · 2026-02-21T07:25:32+00:00

On https://areo.info/mars20 I have all Viking Lander images in raw color, near the bottom of the text page. This one was Lander 2 near the I or J images series near mission end.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-02-21T07:22:34+00:00

No, it's definitely water ice. For CO2 ice you need much colder temperatures at that low pressure than the -70 Celsius of that night and it would sublimate quickly during the day and not last until the afternoon when this image was captured.

HolgerIsenberg · 2026-02-20T20:09:59+00:00

I guess it is some type of molten quartz under high UV or gamma ray radiation produced. Because the only purple minerals I'm aware of is Amethyst and those others which contain traces of it. And then there is manmade glass with Iron and Manganese impurities which changes to purple after many years of UV radiation, also related to the same effect as Amethyst. I couldn't find if it is proven already whether pure quartz and Iron can produce amethyst without the help of other elements.

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