Piece of Wood in NASA Mars Photo?

[axj]

From: _http://thecrit.com/2008/08/05/nasa-mars-photo-leaked-wood-found-on-mars/

Original high resolution photo from NASA: _http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040524a/site_B115_navcam_180_cyl_L-B118R1.jpg

From the same article - a good photo of what looks like trees on Mars:

 

[Laura]

Looks like a piece of wood to me. What's more, it looks like a hewn timber...

 

[Rabelais]

Looks like a piece of wood to me. What's more, it looks like a hewn timber...

I was interested in this photo when it began to circulate around the internet a few days ago, but I had to ask myself; is this picture actually from Mars? Might not this simply be a pic from some pre-mission testing in any American desert?

It is impossible to tell from the picture, and NASA's track record of obfuscation and disinformation certainly doesn't give me a sturdy foundation from which to accept the picture at face value, as it is being promoted on the internet. This is not to say that it isn't actually a timber on the surface of Mars. I just have to remain skeptical in light of the fact that the timber is so prominent in the pic - and NASA is renowned for not letting the public see such things. It seems unlikely that something this obvious would slip past the "censors"... unless it was part of an agenda.

 

[Rick]

It looks like a hewn log, but I bet it's rock. It would have to be a fairly recent exposure otherwise the wind and sand would have smoothed the wood like sandpaper. The image comes from here .

"This cylindrical-projection view combines several frames from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The rover acquired these frames during its 115th martian day, or "sol," in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars, on May 21, 2004. The rover was near the edge of "Endurance Crater," which dominates the right half of this view. The crater is about 130 meters (about 430 feet) in diameter. "

 

[rs]

It looks like a hewn log, but I bet it's rock. It would have to be a fairly recent exposure otherwise the wind and sand would have smoothed the wood like sandpaper. The image comes from here .

"This cylindrical-projection view combines several frames from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The rover acquired these frames during its 115th martian day, or "sol," in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars, on May 21, 2004. The rover was near the edge of "Endurance Crater," which dominates the right half of this view. The crater is about 130 meters (about 430 feet) in diameter. "

The thing I find odd about the object is its obvious geometric regularity, regardless of exactly what it is. The other thing is that it is alone. There are no other objects like it in the image. It could very well be both rock and a log, "petrified wood" anybody? Here in the southwest we have examples of petrified wood that have survived millions of years because they are rock in every sense of the word, but are still immediately recognizable as "wood".

 

[Stowaway]

The original full size image is here: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040524a/site_B115_navcam_180_cyl_L-B118R1.jpg

As time goes by I have become increasingly skeptical of information emanating from NASA. Regardless of the object that looks like a piece of wood, I conclude that this is not an authentic image. Note the light reflections and shadows on the Opportunity rover in the foreground, indicating a light source that is to the right of and behind the camera; next note the shadows on the ground in front of the camera, indicating the light source is definitely in front of the camera and nearly overhead. This proves to me this is an overlayed composite image, which in turn totally discredits its authenticity.