The Spirit Rover touched down on January 4th, 2004 in Gusev Crater. After the post landing sequence to set itself up, it began exploring. Principal Investigator for NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover project, Steve Squyers, selected James F. Bell III to manage the panoramic cameras on both Spirit and Opportunity rovers, and both decided on an unusual method to distribute the imagery to the world. From his 2006 book Postcards from Mars, Dr. Jim Bell describes how and why they selected the method:
This unusual method of posting imagery directly to Internet via Cornell University’s Pancam Homepage was the exact reason the following image of a biologically formed bone of some type of aquatic vertebrate was automatically posted to the Internet on June 27, 2005. This was the 527th Mars Solar Day (“SOL”) of the Spirit rover mission. It is known as the Mars “Eel”:
Biological remains of some type of vertebrate in Gusev Crater, Mars
https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/all/2/p/527/2P173156766EFFACA0P2440L7M1.HTML
What happened next is unclear. Initial reports stated that the feed to the Cornell server was suddenly cut whilst NASA figured out what to do – officially it was stated that in July 2005 Mars and Earth were both in aphelion and on opposite sides of the Sun, and this was the reason for the data loss. However, we find conflicts with data provided in the traverse track of Spirit rover on page 106 of Bell’s book, another scientific paper published by Bell, Squyers et. and also a log of the rover’s tasks in the days after SOL 527.
Page 106 traverse map versus 2008 science paper map (180 degrees opposite)
It’s not entirely easy to see in the above image (as they have North 180 degrees apart), but zooming in on Bell’s image from his book, we find the following track:
Something interesting in this area?
Clearly, there was something of intense interest around that area between SOL 527 and 541. The log of tasks for Spirit, however, gives the impression that it is just on a “leisurely drive” up the hill, with stops to look at interesting rocks named “Independence” and “Franklin”:
Spirit has had an extremely successful week. On June 24, 2005 (sol 524), the rover drove 26 meters (85 feet). The following two sols, Spirit performed remote sensing. On June 27 (sol 527), Spirit completed another tricky drive and progressed 22.5 meters (74 feet). At this new site, scientists found an intriguing rock target they informally named “Independence Rock.” Spirit will observe this layered rock with instruments on the robotic arm over the long Fourth of July weekend. The rover team commanded a small move positioning Spirit in front of this target, and the rover has begun the science observations. The first attempt to brush Independence Rock with the rock abrasion tool was unsuccessful because contact switches didn’t connect. However, the rover team picked a new target in the same general area for Spirit to brush with the rock abrasion tool and analyze with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and Moessbauer spectrometer over the weekend.
Sol-by-sol summaries:
Sol 524 (June 24, 2005): Spirit completed an extremely successful drive, advancing 26 meters (85 feet).
Sol 525: On this remote sensing sol, Spirit made observations with the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Sol 526: Spirit checked for dust devils with the navigation camera, took readings with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and observed the sunset with the panoramic camera.
Sol 527: Spirit drove 22.5 meters (74 feet), evidence of successful work by rover planners.
Sol 528: Spirit executed a small drive of 2.8 meters (9 feet) to position itself to have an interesting rock target, dubbed “Franklin,” within the work volume of the robotic arm.
Sol 529: The team planned a sol of using the microscopic imager, rock abrasion tool brush, and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer in preparation for the long weekend plan. However, the rock abrasion tool’s contact switches didn’t trip, and software responded properly by precluded the robotic arm from doing the subsequent work with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.
Sol 530: This plan was difficult and long because it was part of a three-sol plan in preparation for the weekend. Engineers had to re-enable the robotic arm quickly. Spirit performed a 22.5-hour Moessbauer spectrometer integration on Franklin.
Sol 531 (July 1, 2005): This will be the second sol of a three-sol plan, with another long Moessbauer spectrometer integration (23 hours) on Franklin.
Total odometry as of the end of sol 528 (June 28, 2005) is 4,583.38 meters (2.85 miles).
https://spaceref.com/status-report/nasa-mars-exploration-rover-status-1-july-2005/
Spirit tasks for RAT attachment SOL 527 – 535 “Independence” rock. Independent life?
Nothing of significance there…however on SOL 541, Spirit sends another image back to Cornell of this remnant of a biological lifeform:
SOL 541 imagery of the same object
https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/all/2/p/541/2P174390483EFFACB9P2298L6M1.HTML
Yet, in the paper that both Bell and Squyres helped write in 2008 titled “Spirit Mars Rover Mission to the Columbia Hills, Gusev Crater: Mission overview and selected results from the Cumberland Ridge to Home Plate”, there is absolutely no mention of this strange object that Spirit spent a Martian fortnight examining. It isn’t satisfactorily explained what the rock nicked-named “Franklin” was or what the “other targets” were. How could such an extraordinary rock be left out of scientific analysis?
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2008JE003183
Zero mention of the anomalous biologic object in scientific report on Gusev geology
How could this be possible?
Bell gives a clue on page 171:
It is unclear who the “some people” referenced might have been, but my best guess would be the CIA Directorate of Science and Technology. Bell clearly states he would be “extremely distressed” if news of his teams’ scientific discoveries could not be shared with the world – and yet this is exactly what appears to have happened.
On page 106, Bell gives another interesting breadcrumb regarding “fossils”:
It would be interesting to get some commentary from Drs Bell and Squyres on why this object was not part of their post-mission analysis. Both are still around:
http://jimbell.sese.asu.edu/about
Someone should drop them a line and ask. Perhaps they are still “extremely distressed” that the greatest scientific discovery our species has ever made is still suppressed two decades on?
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