Wide field camera: third frame

The camera arm has started to move in this frame, revealing a different part of the terrain: this is the first indication that the vehicle was functional after the landing.  At this stage there is no indication as to whether this movement was performed by the automated systems or not.  However since the image is sharp is it seems to be the case that the motion of the arm and the capture of images was coordinated: the automated systems had no facility for this.

The image shows clear indications both of sedimentary deposition and of later weathering, especially in the left part.  This terrain could only exist in the (possibly past) presence of water and atmosphere.  The overall orange colouration appears to be due to iron oxide – rust – as on Mars.

As before spectroscopy indicates that this image could have been made on no planet illuminated by our sun, and in fact certainly originated in a binary system.  This raises intriguing questions, and leads to some quite interesting speculation, needless to say.

Close examination of the small, weathered, fragments seem to lead to some quite astonishing conclusions.  I will not discuss these here.