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Posted by: Julius Dec 15 2010, 11:17 PM

think it deserves a topic on its own

Posted by: Stu Dec 15 2010, 11:58 PM

On the slope of Santa Maria...

Posted by: Sunspot Dec 16 2010, 12:46 AM

Hopefully we will get some close ups of Crocodile Tale rock.... so much to see though.

Posted by: belleraphon1 Dec 16 2010, 01:21 AM

WHOA!!!!

I was 23 when the Viking1 lander pad image scrolled down a screen.

These journies .... Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity.

Awesome, poignant... tears in my eyes and chills down my spine!

Craig

Posted by: fredk Dec 16 2010, 01:46 AM

Judging from the drive direction pans, we're headed pretty much in the direction in Stu's image next drive. Perhaps to the "saddle" along the rim behind the big rock in that image? These rocks are big enough that I'm sure they'd want to go around them, not over.

Posted by: nprev Dec 16 2010, 04:58 AM

Man, did I pick a heckuva day to move!!!

But at least we've achieved connectivity here at the new, improved Casa de Nprev ( A Robot Arms^tm LLC property), and apparently just in time....stunning!!!

Now I gotta bust open boxes to find my 3D specs

Posted by: Bobby Dec 16 2010, 06:38 AM

Anyone here see any Rocks the Rover Scientist will start investigating? I see a few including Crocodile Rock.

Maybe we should give this place a Christmas Theme? Which Rock will be named Rudolf??? Just joking

Posted by: dilo Dec 16 2010, 07:34 AM

First rough stitch of Navcam pictures (alignment on the crater rim, not on the foreground)

Posted by: walfy Dec 16 2010, 07:40 AM

This crater is way more fascinating than I expected. Thanks to everyone for posting the pictures. I don't mind sticking around here for awhile, if that's what they'll do.

Posted by: climber Dec 16 2010, 08:24 AM

So, the plan is to get closer and have a look at the inside, and rocks studies will comme afterward, right?

Posted by: Astro0 Dec 16 2010, 09:51 AM

From the most recent monthly Rover report on http://www.planetary.org/news/2010/1130_Mars_Exploration_Rovers_Update_Mission.html:

1) Although there is no detailed exploration plan for Santa Maria, Squyres said that he does not anticipate the rover will venture into the crater.
That's qualified of course with: “We may pull up to the rim of this thing and find something different.”

2) “We're very excited about Santa Maria, because it is the last really spectacular thing we expect we’ll come across before the rover gets to Endeavour,” said Squyres. “Because it's in the same size class as Endurance, but appears to be a little fresher, we think there might be some interesting things to see in the ejecta," he noted. "We'll go into it with eyes open, and we'll make our decision about how long we will spend there when we see it,” he said.

3) “One of the most valuable things we did at Endurance is we took big panoramas from a couple of points around the rim that enabled us to developed a very, very good 3-dimensional digital elevation model for that crater and terrific science has come from that,” Squyres pointed out. “We will probably want to do something very much like that at Santa Maria.”

So the plan is:
1) There is no firm plan until they get a closer look
2) They think that the ejecta will be interesting (and it looks like it is) so they'll be studying the rocks (big surprise there!)
3) Expect some really nice panoramas from a couple of angles (get your favorite stitching software ready)

Then of course, as we've all come to expect of the MER mission...something will catch the mission team's eye and everything will change.

Posted by: jamescanvin Dec 16 2010, 10:05 AM

Right. Scott said on Twitter yesterday that after the next drive Oppy should be ~3m from the edge!

Posted by: Floyd Dec 16 2010, 12:43 PM

Five years ago, http://marsandme.blogspot.com/was driving Spirit up to Comanche and who would have guessed that they would http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002540/there. So keep you eyes open everyone... I'm feeling lucky...

Posted by: climber Dec 16 2010, 12:59 PM

Thanks James and AstroNAUT, as for the route map, it's nice to see what's coming up.

Posted by: fredk Dec 16 2010, 03:58 PM

I was surprized to find some specific plans in the http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_opportunityAll.html#sol2445

Obviously the mention of the SE rim could only be based on orbital imagery. Perhaps they noticed the circled area in my image, and thought it might provide easier access to layers than the rest of the rim, which seems to drop into the crater pretty abruptly most other places:
[attachment=23311:MERB_Sol...0_1_crop.jpg]
Obviously we're about to find out how it looks from the ground...

Posted by: climber Dec 16 2010, 04:46 PM

I'd said this is positive. As you point out news from the sky changed the original plans in only 2 weeks or so. I'd guess a lot of speculations are going to be discussed here very soon!

Posted by: mars loon Dec 16 2010, 05:06 PM

see my Sol 2450 article and mosaic here plus several from UMSF folks:
http://www.universetoday.com/81738/landfall-at-santa-maria-for-opportunity-on-mars/

ken

Posted by: Stu Dec 16 2010, 05:16 PM

"Tail Rock"...

There are going to be many wonderful rocks here, I think...

Posted by: Toma B Dec 16 2010, 06:05 PM

There should be some amazing images coming soon to exploratorium...
Opportunity has moved closer to the rim of SM.

Posted by: charborob Dec 16 2010, 06:13 PM

We're like a pack of wolves waiting eagerly to pounce on poor helpless images as soon as they appear on Exploratorium.

Posted by: Stu Dec 16 2010, 06:17 PM

Some personal thoughts on our arrival at Santa Maria...

http://roadtoendeavour.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/arrival-at-santa-maria

Posted by: Stu Dec 16 2010, 06:26 PM

Well, we have our first name... and some colour shots coming up...

02451 13:13:47 p2557.26. 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 pancam_juan_de_la_cosa_L2567R12

Posted by: Julius Dec 16 2010, 06:48 PM

I know perfectly what you mean by the ecstatic feeling of being there in person and able to see something you've been hearing about and watching on tv for most of your lifve and then getting to be there for real.It happened to me on my first visit to London in 2000;blackpool tower i've seen as well and been to golden gate bridge in san fransisco last summer and just missed out on yosemite as we didnt have enough time..but thats a good reason for me to come back to california!!!

Posted by: Tesheiner Dec 16 2010, 07:34 PM

Based on the pointing info at the tracking web, that's the Croco Tail.

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Dec 16 2010, 07:40 PM

Juan de la Cosa (c.1460-1509) was a Spanish cartographer, conquistador and explorer. He made the earliest extant European world map to incorporate the territories of the Americas that were discovered in the 15th century, sailed first 3 voyages with Christopher Columbus, and was the owner/captain of the Santa María.

So did he have a reptilian-looking backside?

Posted by: Stu Dec 16 2010, 07:53 PM

Santa Maria crew names here...

http://www.immigrantships.net/v4/1400v4/santamaria_pinta_nina1492.html

Posted by: climber Dec 16 2010, 08:21 PM

a Queue de Pie it is:

Posted by: jamescanvin Dec 16 2010, 08:41 PM

Wow thats one big hole!

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2010-12-16/1N345781999EFFB0IEP1905L0M1.JPG
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2010-12-16/1N345782051EFFB0IEP1905L0M1.JPG

And some nice driving

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2010-12-16/1N345782322EFFB0IEP1905R0M1.JPG

Posted by: fredk Dec 16 2010, 08:42 PM

What a chasm!

And some mighty fine rover driving!
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2010-12-16/1N345782322EFFB0IEP1905R0M1.JPG?sol2451

Posted by: elakdawalla Dec 16 2010, 08:43 PM

WOW!

(that is all)

Posted by: Burmese Dec 16 2010, 08:46 PM

The interior, what we can already see, does indeed show some differences from Endurance.

Posted by: Explorer1 Dec 16 2010, 08:48 PM

Worth the wait, eh?

Any estimates how deep it is? We still can't see the bottom from this side.

Posted by: charborob Dec 16 2010, 08:51 PM

Partial pan.

Posted by: Tesheiner Dec 16 2010, 08:56 PM

Watch your step, baby!

PS: updated map, tomorrow.

Posted by: NickF Dec 16 2010, 08:57 PM

*peer*

Posted by: climber Dec 16 2010, 09:01 PM

Will not be very easy to get closer here or somewhere else.
The feeling of been a big hole is "higher" than what we've seen so far in the mission, I'd say.

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Dec 16 2010, 09:02 PM

Hey Scott remember to set the parking brake.

Posted by: climber Dec 16 2010, 09:02 PM

Don't worry, we're not gona get lost overnight

Posted by: jamescanvin Dec 16 2010, 09:12 PM

A quick stitch

Posted by: climber Dec 16 2010, 09:17 PM

We're driving forward again: http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/forward_hazcam/2010-12-16/1F345787308EFFB0IEP1212R0M1.JPG

Posted by: Stu Dec 16 2010, 09:18 PM

What a place...

Posted by: Julius Dec 16 2010, 09:22 PM

Magnificent Mars!

Posted by: PDP8E Dec 16 2010, 09:25 PM

Opportunity spun around this sol and started to drive forwards for the first time in a long time.
I suspect the drivers wanted a nice clean approach with the auto-hazard software (no Maxwell Shuffles near a crater)

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 16 2010, 09:30 PM

Partial Navcam view on Sol 2451.
I will add more images when they
are down.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: mhoward Dec 16 2010, 09:32 PM

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marscat/5266635145/sizes/l/in/set-72157625600473596/

Posted by: fredk Dec 16 2010, 09:38 PM

That fhaz view is absolutely stunning. It looks like she could be on the brink of the Grand Canyon.

Definitely brings back memories of Endurance, but a lot messier.

Posted by: jamescanvin Dec 16 2010, 09:44 PM

A quick attempt at matching features. My normally vertical lines aren't quite this time, largely because the ground position I took for Oppy as a basis for the reprojection of the HiRISE was a complete guess. In hindsight I think I guessed a little too close to the edge.

Posted by: climber Dec 16 2010, 10:28 PM

Looks like there are some "fractures":

Posted by: Hungry4info Dec 16 2010, 10:39 PM

Looks far too steep to take the rover in.

Posted by: fredk Dec 16 2010, 10:41 PM

Those ID's look good, James. Following your lines you can see what the potential easy-access study area looks like, that I circled on this image (attachment has mysteriously disappeared from my original post, so here it is again):

It's heavily foreshortened from our current viewpoint, but I could imagine Oppy driving in there.

Posted by: brellis Dec 16 2010, 10:46 PM

It's like a whole new mission! This time, I say, don't go in!!

Re: fracture marks - From Mars quakes? How recently could that have happened?

Posted by: Ant103 Dec 16 2010, 10:52 PM

AMAZING crater ! I didn't had the time to post here, but when I can, I do.

Approaching Santa Maria
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Opportunity/2010/Sol2449-pano.jpg


Closer…
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Opportunity/2010/Sol2450-pano.jpg

More closer, Sol 2451
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Opportunity/2010/Sol2451-pano.jpg
And at the opposite side :
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Opportunity/2010/Sol2451-pano2.jpg

After many sols of flat ground, it's a pleasure to see some "hills" and "caves".

Posted by: Stu Dec 16 2010, 10:52 PM

Really nice shout-out for UMSF from Jim Bell on Twitter...

Jim_Bell Rock and Roll Opportunity! Spectacular view of Santa Maria crater this morning. Thanks all at unmannedspaceflight.com: http://bit.ly/gCuiJD

Posted by: mhoward Dec 16 2010, 11:11 PM

Here's an http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhi_YmKD5Oc on YouTube. Available in 720p.

Posted by: ustrax Dec 16 2010, 11:14 PM

And Oppy did it again...what a D-A-Y!
Play the (not so quite) EPIC!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn1PASIZCK0

Juan de la Cosa?...Hmm...
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=6788&st=210&p=166965&hl=their%20names%20towns%20of%20origin&#entry166965

Posted by: MoreInput Dec 16 2010, 11:17 PM

Today is Christmas time ... can't wait any longer .

Posted by: Nirgal Dec 16 2010, 11:48 PM

just ... WOW !

Posted by: jasedm Dec 17 2010, 01:00 AM

It's really hard (for me at least ) to get a sense of scale on the brink of the rim here - could anyone please add a stick man for reference?
Much appreciated.

Jase

Posted by: SFJCody Dec 17 2010, 01:01 AM

What a beauty! This is far more picturesque than I had anticipated!

In other news http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=3215&view=findpost&p=68821

Posted by: Explorer1 Dec 17 2010, 01:25 AM

Gosh those were the days, before Endeavor was named; 'Big Crater' indeed!

Posted by: MERovingian Dec 17 2010, 02:21 AM

Oh my God! It's like Opportunity has landed all over again!
Tonight, I'm (nearly) seven years younger!
What a beautiful christmas gift for 2010 from Oppy and Mars!!!

Posted by: belleraphon1 Dec 17 2010, 02:23 AM

Ansel Adams .... resurrected on Mars.....just beautiful

Craig

Posted by: nprev Dec 17 2010, 03:09 AM

It's times like this that I feel lucky just to be alive right now.

Thank you for your skill & dedication, MER Team, and as always deepest gratitude & admiration for our enormously talented UMSF members who make Mars come alive for us all every day. In a just world, this first peek into SM would be on the front page of every paper on this planet.

Posted by: MERovingian Dec 17 2010, 03:33 AM

UNNECESSARY QUOTING REMOVED - ADMIN

That's just the way I feel Nprev; privileged!
So great to be living in 2010 and discover Mars in its primeval state! In 200 years from now, humans will be living out there and the planet will be no more the one that Oppy is showing us right now. Thanks so much to the MER team and the UMSF members for these wonderful seven years!!

Posted by: fredk Dec 17 2010, 04:19 AM

A bit more detail about the SE rim of Santa Maria http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20101216a.html

Posted by: lyford Dec 17 2010, 04:26 AM

OMG I CAN'T *clink* BELIEVE HOW *clink* BEAUTIFUL THE *clink* *clink* clink* *clink* VIEW!!!!

That's for the swear jar, not the http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=6832 thread

Posted by: Bobby Dec 17 2010, 04:48 AM

I think of all the Craters Opportunity has visited. This one might become my favorite. It's Amazing.

Way to Go Opportunity, JPL & Nasa and all the awesome people here at UMSF with all the great updates,
Pictures and more.

Merry Christmas early.

Posted by: Arkarch Dec 17 2010, 05:57 AM

Very Nice! Congrats to the MER Team. While the bigger prize is just over the hill, this is just amazing fantastic to reach here when a few years ago it was likely considered impossible. Yet more to catalog in the Great Voyage of Opportunity.

Karl B
long time daily spectator
and fan of everyone here at UMSF

Posted by: climber Dec 17 2010, 07:18 AM

Glad you're still there Ant, I was missing your input.

Posted by: neo56 Dec 17 2010, 07:52 AM

WHAO !!! That's the kind of landscape I was dreaming of during the era of Pathfinder and Sojourner. Congrats again to the MER team !

Posted by: remcook Dec 17 2010, 08:14 AM

Wow! And love the image of the 'opposite side' as well, with Oppy slaloming those rocks.

Posted by: vikingmars Dec 17 2010, 08:18 AM

Indeed ! This single image says it all... BEAUTIFUL Stu ! Thanks to the MER team (and for your nice processing)

Posted by: peter59 Dec 17 2010, 09:44 AM

Look to the left - sol 2451.

Posted by: kenny Dec 17 2010, 10:18 AM

Peter, did you mean to give us a better image or a link to that? It's tiny...

Posted by: Stu Dec 17 2010, 10:25 AM

That's the view I'm REALLY looking forward to Peter, thanks for the preview I think those dunes blown up against the northern wal are going to look stunning... l

Posted by: peter59 Dec 17 2010, 10:26 AM

I'm sorry, it's stamps. We have to wait for the transmission of full-sized images.

Posted by: Oersted Dec 17 2010, 11:23 AM

That's just what I felt two days ago (in the old thread):

"When I see this, I'm just thinking: "The Perfect Crater". I feel like a food critic who just tasted the perfect... ratatouille..

- Not too big, not too small,
interesting topography,
eminently navigable inclines,
easily approachable rocks,
untreachorous solid surface:

Perfection.

Add to that:
a rover team which has reached driving and science operation excellence,
a deep space network that's not just a network but is more like a Swiss clockwork,
and finally a fast-working second-to-none imaging team at UMSF!

These are good times indeed.

Now I just hope Mars doesn't throw us a curve-ball. But even if she does, the MER team will deal with that splendidly, I'm sure."

---- I must add that by eminently navigable inclines I meant the ones outside the crater itself, because I concur with what others are saying in this thread. We shouldn't try to go into this one!

BTW, do anybody remember the discussions the team first had back at Endurance? - "Should we go in for the science, even if we can't get out again?" I must say that Steve Squyres took the right approach: "no way, we must be able to get out!" I personally questioned that approach at Victoria, because I felt there was SO much to see, but I was wrong and this arrival at Santa Maria is the proof!

Posted by: dilo Dec 17 2010, 01:18 PM

I want to celebrate the event with a wallpaper!

Posted by: Stu Dec 17 2010, 03:12 PM

stamp images panorama...

Posted by: climber Dec 17 2010, 03:16 PM

Very high quality, Dilo, right on the mission's standard.
Gracie Mille!

Posted by: fredk Dec 17 2010, 03:50 PM

Thanks for the thumbnail pans, guys! (It's a sure sign things are getting interesting when people post thumbnails!)

Even though the resolution is very low, you can just make out the overhanging cliffs inside the northwest rim. I can't wait to see the full res images!

Posted by: elakdawalla Dec 17 2010, 05:54 PM

Scott http://twitter.com/marsroverdriver/statuses/15822723972341760 he has the images! Can't wait...

Posted by: peter59 Dec 17 2010, 06:05 PM

We know this.

1. What new EDRs from ANY sol were received on sol 2452?
Sol Seq.Ver ETH ESF EDN EFF ERP Tot Description
----- -------- --- --- --- --- --- ---- -----------
02451 p1905.04 0 0 0 3 0 3 navcam_10x1_az_13_mixed_compression
02452 p1212.09 2 0 0 2 0 4 front_haz_ultimate_2_bpp_pri15
02452 p1311.07 2 0 0 2 0 4 rear_haz_ultimate_1_bpp_crit15
02452 p1963.08 0 0 0 14 0 14 navcam_10x1_az_144_mixed
02452 p1964.10 0 0 0 6 0 6 navcam_4x1_az_90_mixed
02452 p1994.06 1 0 0 0 0 1 nav_1x1_MovieFrame_Leye_1bpp_pri72
02452 p2111.06 13 0 0 0 0 13 pancam_cal_targ_L234567Rall
02452 p2558.26 6 0 0 0 0 6 pancam_sancho_ruiz_L234567Rall
02452 p2601.05 4 0 0 0 0 4 pancam_tau_L78R48

Posted by: Tesheiner Dec 17 2010, 07:55 PM

T - 40 minutes and counting...

Posted by: Julius Dec 17 2010, 07:59 PM

whats the countdown for??must be missing something here!

Posted by: djellison Dec 17 2010, 08:02 PM

The normal refresh times for the image archive at the Exploratorium.

If we know the images are on the ground ( which we do) then the next scheduled refresh time for the Exploratorium ( something we're used to via experience ) will mean we get to see the images.

Posted by: Tesheiner Dec 17 2010, 08:16 PM

And, as far as I can see, we should get not only the missing navcams from yestersol's mosaic but the whole 360º of a new mosaic taken from a point 4m closer to the edge.

T - 20 and counting...

Posted by: climber Dec 17 2010, 08:29 PM

Now starts the 6 minutes of terror

Posted by: jamescanvin Dec 17 2010, 08:36 PM

OMG!
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2010-12-17/1N345861046EFFB0J3P1963L0M1.JPG
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2010-12-17/1N345861019EFFB0J3P1963L0M1.JPG
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2010-12-17/1N345860973EFFB0J3P1963R0M1.JPG
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2010-12-17/1N345861083EFFB0J3P1963L0M1.JPG

Posted by: MoreInput Dec 17 2010, 08:36 PM

End of Terror: http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2010-12-17/1N345860973EFFB0J3P1963R0M1.JPG

WOW!

Posted by: Julius Dec 17 2010, 08:43 PM

AWESOME!

Posted by: jamescanvin Dec 17 2010, 08:46 PM

And don't forget the front hazcams after gawping over the navcams, they are awesome and just little bit scary at the same time.

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/forward_hazcam/2010-12-17/1F345867992EFFB0J3P1212L0M1.JPG

Posted by: SteveM Dec 17 2010, 08:46 PM

What strikes me about these pictures -- or about my reaction to them -- is that the blueberries strewn across the ground, which seemed so alien not that long ago, now seem so normal.

Steve M

Posted by: brianc Dec 17 2010, 08:48 PM

Woah I'm staking a claim to this place to open the first Martian sand surfing arena!

Posted by: peter59 Dec 17 2010, 08:50 PM

The interior of the crater is not available for Opportunity, the walls are too steep.

Posted by: craigmcg Dec 17 2010, 08:50 PM

Steep and deep!

Posted by: Tesheiner Dec 17 2010, 08:51 PM

Beautiful!
Here's a quick mosaic.

Posted by: climber Dec 17 2010, 08:52 PM

Very very close from the edge indeed!
If you don't trust your brakes, turn the weels:

Posted by: NickF Dec 17 2010, 08:52 PM

Now that's a fine-looking crater

edit - newer version of pancam panorama moved to post #114

Posted by: Julius Dec 17 2010, 08:54 PM

This place is amazing...we have rock layers to study and that ledge on the opposite rim looks like an accessible safe parking space to do just that...sand dunes at the centre bottom of the crater..dark dunes on the side wall...not to mention the ejecta rocks around the crater itself!

Posted by: climber Dec 17 2010, 09:03 PM

By watching the dunes (the most beautiful variety so far) I can't decide the general wind direction. This is important to find the best place to get a solar panels clean up. I don't expect we'll find a better oppy for a while.

Posted by: Sunspot Dec 17 2010, 09:05 PM

We may get a wind cleaning event here too....hopefully.

Posted by: Julius Dec 17 2010, 09:06 PM

The darker dunes look like el dorado type at spirits landing site!

Posted by: OWW Dec 17 2010, 09:11 PM

I hope they start a full Pan this weekend. Some of those ejecta-blocks look very interesting. Different from the usual boring Meridiani layered rocks?

Posted by: djellison Dec 17 2010, 09:13 PM

That's the front right wheel. It's not steer-turned in > 5 years.

Posted by: Phil Stooke Dec 17 2010, 09:15 PM

Polar maps derived from Tesheiner's pan:

Phil

Posted by: mhoward Dec 17 2010, 09:27 PM

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marscat/5269102159/sizes/l/in/set-72157625600473596/

http://mmb.unmannedspaceflight.com/MERB2452NavcamLeft.mov (5.3MB)

Posted by: OWW Dec 17 2010, 09:34 PM

Gothrock:

Posted by: Poolio Dec 17 2010, 09:36 PM

The first thing that popped into my head when I saw http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2010-12-17/1N345861019EFFB0J3P1963L0M1.JPG was where's my toboggan?

Stunning. I think this is the most picturesque crater we've seen so far. What Victoria had in size, Santa Maria makes up for in pure drama.

Posted by: fredk Dec 17 2010, 09:38 PM

Fantastic! Here's the only anaglyph of the interior from the new set:

Posted by: Phil Stooke Dec 17 2010, 09:39 PM

And from mhoward's pan, just looking at the distance. Bopolu's gone now, presumably for ever.

Phil

Posted by: PaulM Dec 17 2010, 10:39 PM

Scott Maxwell has posted what is presumably his version of the sol 2451 Navcam view of Santa Maria:

http://twitpic.com/3gulwc

http://twitpic.com/3gulwc/full

Posted by: neo56 Dec 17 2010, 10:52 PM

With this dark sand dunes over its inner rim, Santa Maria is definitely different from the previous craters visited. These dunes are really smooth, I wonder what is the grains size... Should be like El Dorado. BTW, congrats to the navigators, driving Oppy so close to the crater rim is really impressive !

Posted by: NickF Dec 17 2010, 11:17 PM

Bit more processing on the Santa Maria pan from post #99

Posted by: fredk Dec 17 2010, 11:37 PM

http://twitter.com/marsroverdriver/status/15871423436292096:

Mmmm, long baseline stereo...

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 17 2010, 11:51 PM

Santa Maria

The Panoramic Navcam L0 view on Sol 2452.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: NickF Dec 17 2010, 11:58 PM

Adding a colourised pan, for fun.

Posted by: empebe Dec 18 2010, 12:03 AM

Mike

Posted by: Stu Dec 18 2010, 12:33 AM

Just catching up with things now (had to go to a pantomime... work thing... no, I wasn't the back end of a horse or donkey or anything...) and overwhelmed by the pictures everyone's been posting. Great work, Team UMSF! This is just a beautiful, beautiful place, isn't it? A fantastic array and variety of rocks and ejecta; geological gateau layering to study and drool over; Endeavour beckoning, siren-like, on the horizon (and has anyone else noticed how clear the hills of Endeavour look in these latest images?) Going to be an interesting couple of months or so...

I really like the wall of dark dunes, very reminiscent of our old friend El Dorado/Ultreya. This view has been sharpened and played about with to bring out some detail there...

Posted by: fredk Dec 18 2010, 01:06 AM

Does this look to anyone else like the lighter rubble is a landslide that's covered up the darker dunes? Hard to be sure - maybe the pancams will show us what happened here:

And perhaps my favourite crop from the new navcams:

Posted by: MarkG Dec 18 2010, 01:38 AM

It seems to look like the Santa Maria crater might have only exposed buried rubble (not layered sediment). If this turns out to be true, that the impactor slammed into a rubble deposit, not the layered sediments that we (well, Opportunity) have been traveling on, then we have some interesting things to think about.

Are we in the fill of an older crater represented by the broad depression we are on the West side of?

Have we crossed into the planed-flat zone of the rim ejecta from Endeavour? If deposition of the sediments continued after the Endeavour impact (likely), then some sediments would accumulate on the outer rim. If the whole thing then erodes flat, we would have an area of ancient rubble, planed flat, with perhaps a bit of additional sediment over it.

Better views, especially of the near (west) side interior crater wall, will help resolve this.

A sharp lookout for different rocks is a good idea.

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Dec 18 2010, 01:46 AM

Agree on the landslide Fred.

And this crop you made is where CRISM ID'd an http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20101216a/PIA13706-Fig1_RA-2-SantaMariaHiRISE-labeled_br.jpg (according to the http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20101216a.html.)

The red circle marked there on Figure 1 indicates the pixel size and location of an observation by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) .... The spectrum recorded by CRISM for this spot, unlike the spectrum recorded for the place indicated by the blue circle on the floor of the crater, suggests what might be a water-bearing sulfate mineral.

Posted by: elakdawalla Dec 18 2010, 03:14 AM

IIRC, this broken up rubble (or "breccia") is part of the crater formation process. Wasn't there a breccia layer atop the intact rocks at Victoria?

Posted by: Phil Stooke Dec 18 2010, 03:22 AM

Right, but is there any visible intact rock here? Pancams might show something in the bigger outcrops, but now it looks as if we might not see any intact 'bedrock' here.

Phil

Posted by: eoincampbell Dec 18 2010, 05:03 AM

Hey EGD is that crop not showing the 2 o'clock position whereas CRISMs interesting pixel was about 4 o'clock?
The dark grains in the bowl really are a joy to behold...

Posted by: CosmicRocker Dec 18 2010, 08:04 AM

I wanted to add a special note of thanks to Mike Howard for the frequent MidnightMarsBrowser metadata updates lately. It certainly is sweet to be able to spin around in the panoramas almost as soon as the images become available. Thanks.

I think we have seen pretty much the same, typical, impact cross section at Endurance, Victoria, and now at Santa Maria (although we haven't seen intact bedrock here, yet).

Top
-rubble and ejecta
-broken, but largely in-place bedrock
-intact bedrock
Bottom

Phil: Take a look at the cape on the east west side of the crater. It appears to be composed of "broken, but largely in-place bedrock." It seems that the side of the crater below where Opportunity is currently parked offers the best chance to have some intact or largely intact rock. The opposite side appears to be the most disrupted, with disruption possibly decreasing on either side as you come around toward the rover. Perhaps it's just a matter of how the crater has eroded. We'll have to wait until she goes around to another position in order to see, though. It would help to have some pancams to see if we can follow any bedding planes through some of the fractured blocks.

Posted by: peter59 Dec 18 2010, 09:08 AM

02453 p2297.07 49 0 0 49 2 100 pancam_santa_maria_13x1_L257R2
02453 p2298.07 49 0 0 49 21 119 pancam_santa_maria_13x1_L257R2

Posted by: NickF Dec 18 2010, 11:38 AM

Anglyphed crop from sol 2451 navcam data.

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 18 2010, 12:16 PM

Added 1 image.
Panorama Sol 2451 R0.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: sgendreau Dec 18 2010, 06:17 PM

The rim looks crumbly. How do they decide how close to go?

Posted by: Stu Dec 18 2010, 07:10 PM

Looking back at how Oppy rolled up to Santa Maria...

http://roadtoendeavour.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/how-oppy-rolled-up-to-santa-maria

(lots of pics so posting link to blog entry rather than the pix themselves)

Posted by: fredk Dec 18 2010, 07:25 PM

I think eoincampbell's right - the "landslide" is not the same as the CRISM spot - the CRISM spot is this area:


Looking back at the pics of Endurance, that crater had prominent layering visible around most of the circumference. Definitely a big difference from SM. But I don't see how it could be that we're looking into ejecta from Endeavour, as MarkG suggested - wouldn't that mean the rocks would be of completely different composition than the familiar Meridiani bedrock, since Endeavour predated the Meridiani deposits?

Could it just be that SM is fresher than Endurance or Victoria, both of which had prominent layering? Ie in a few million years (or whatever), maybe the broken up rubble/ejecta visible on the surface today will erode away, leaving intact layered bedrock underneath visible? Or do we expect any layered bedrock to be visible in a fresh crater?

Could this be a bit of layering starting to show through:

Posted by: centsworth_II Dec 18 2010, 07:35 PM

Sounds right.

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Dec 18 2010, 08:00 PM

I agree.

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 18 2010, 09:24 PM

Opportunity looks also at the Sun.

Here is a small animation taken on
Sol 2449 with the L8 Pancam.

What do we see?.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: ilbasso Dec 18 2010, 09:49 PM

It's too early for that to be Santa Claus... I can't think what would be as bright as the Sun. If it was something between Oppy and the Sun, it would have its dark side facing Oppy. If it was on the far side of the Sun, it would be fully illuminated but nothing should be as bright as the Sun. Maybe a bad spot on the CCD? It doesn't move the full height of the frame.

Posted by: Floyd Dec 18 2010, 09:53 PM

Venus went by around Dec 8th, but I don't think that is it. Maybe a hot pixl with the position of sun moving relative?

Posted by: PDP8E Dec 18 2010, 09:59 PM

a hot pixel - if it were a thing it would be as bright as the sun through that filter - As the sun 'moves' the orientation of the camera (and pixel) changes

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Dec 18 2010, 09:59 PM

Agreed. I glanced too quickly at your first crop.

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Dec 18 2010, 10:06 PM

It's too sharp and too bright to be any solar system body of any kind outside the Martian atmosphere. That's the sun we are gazing at. So I dunno maybe dust migrating across the filter between shots, some kind of cascading hot pixel (if such a thing is possible) that is knocking out neighboring pixels? Something like that I would bet.

Posted by: fredk Dec 18 2010, 10:20 PM

Definitely a hot pixel. You can tell because it's just one pixel. Any real source would be blurred by the optics to a few pixels at least. It appears to move because these solar frames are auto-cropped around the Sun, and for different shots the Sun is in different parts of the full frame. If you looked at the whole frame the hot pixel wouldn't move.

Posted by: Stu Dec 18 2010, 10:34 PM

Slow news night, isn't it..?

Posted by: Ant103 Dec 18 2010, 10:52 PM

This crater is absolutely mindblowing ! This is the most tortured impact formation ever seen on Mars by the MER, as far as I know.

During the trip to my parent's home (in Dordogne, Climber or Vikingmars should know) in train, I made the complete panoramic. A very stunning place.
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Opportunity/2010/Sol2452-pano.jpg

Can't wait more for the color frames…

Posted by: Mirek Dec 19 2010, 12:35 AM

They are here!!! for your lives...

Posted by: empebe Dec 19 2010, 01:33 AM

I am Red/Green colour blind, and usually have problems with Anglyphed pictures, but this one came out Great. Thanks
Mike

Posted by: djellison Dec 19 2010, 06:59 AM

Exactly what it is - unless you've spent 7 years with your eyes closed, it's a familiar sight to every MER fan clicking through an MMB update.

Posted by: peter59 Dec 19 2010, 08:54 AM

What can we expect?

Pancam stamps.

We leave this place before completion of panorama?
02454 p1212.09 2 0 0 2 0 4 front_haz_ultimate_2_bpp_pri15
02454 p1254.02 2 0 0 2 0 4 front_haz_fault_pri15_4bpp
02454 p1311.07 2 0 0 2 0 4 rear_haz_ultimate_1_bpp_crit15
02454 p1354.01 2 0 0 2 0 4 rear_haz_fault_pri15_4bpp
02454 p1966.09 20 0 0 20 0 40 navcam_10x1_az_162_mixed
02454 p1971.05 4 0 0 4 0 8 nav_2x1_rvraz_0_1_bpp_pri17
02454 p2129.02 4 4 0 0 2 10 pancam_cal_targ_L257R2
02454 p2129.02 4 4 0 0 2 10 pancam_cal_targ_L257R2
02454 p2129.02 4 4 0 0 2 10 pancam_cal_targ_L257R2
02454 p2260.08 7 0 0 7 2 16 pancam_santa_maria_2x1_L257R2
02454 p2299.07 52 0 0 52 2 106 pancam_santa_maria_14x1_L257R2

Posted by: vikingmars Dec 19 2010, 09:03 AM

Dear Ant103, thanks for the quote. Your pan is just GREAAAAT and deserves 5 Mars wheels !

Posted by: Stu Dec 19 2010, 09:12 AM

Ant, best pan I've seen for a long time, that's going up on my blog for sure (if that's still ok?).

But you made that on a train? On A Train?!? I sit here making my efforts in Mars Corner, struggling with alignments and rotations and vignetting and you just knock that out on a laptop, in a rattling train carriage, on a table covered with coffee cups and Twix wrappers, with a student snoring opposite you with his "tsss yss yssss" iPod playing in his ears?

Posted by: Tesheiner Dec 19 2010, 09:13 AM

Not really. I'm pretty sure the following shots will be taken before driving.
02454 p2260.08 7 0 0 7 2 16 pancam_santa_maria_2x1_L257R2
02454 p2299.07 52 0 0 52 2 106 pancam_santa_maria_14x1_L257R2

Posted by: walfy Dec 19 2010, 09:46 AM

We have a much higher viewpoint from the crater's rim now. New distant features across the plains should come into view with the pancam, yes?

Posted by: Stu Dec 19 2010, 09:48 AM

... and we're going to drive around the crater a lot, don't forget, giving it a thorough photographic examination.

Posted by: NickF Dec 19 2010, 10:18 AM

You're welcome

(If anyone's wondering, I use a little shareware program called 'RedGreen' on OS X to make my anaglyphs. It allows the creation of red/blue, red/cyan or red/green 'glyphs. I use red/cyan by default).

Posted by: Ant103 Dec 19 2010, 10:29 AM

Thanks Vikingmars

@Stu : yes, it still okay . And you were pretty right about the train, except the noisy student. It was in fact my little brother .

Posted by: Stu Dec 19 2010, 12:09 PM

Oh boy... look at that...

Posted by: Ant103 Dec 19 2010, 12:19 PM

This is becomming GREAT by looking at the preview thumbail pan of Stu

I've made this picture from the navcam pan, put it in a wide angle-like camera view. Add synthetic sky and colorized it.

http://www.db-prods.net/blog/2010/12/19/opportunity-au-cratere-santa-maria/
http://translate.google.fr/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.db-prods.net%2Fblog%2F2010%2F12%2F19%2Fopportunity-au-cratere-santa-maria%2F&sl=fr&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

Posted by: jamescanvin Dec 19 2010, 01:59 PM

Wow you can tell something exciting is happening when people start playing with the stamps.

I can play that game too.

Posted by: fredk Dec 19 2010, 03:47 PM

Unfortunately we've dropped quite a bit more in the last few weeks than we gain climbing up the rim of SM. Our best view of the far horizon is past, until we reach Endeavour and start climbing the rim, of course!

Posted by: Stu Dec 19 2010, 04:31 PM

Very nice, James. Makes mine look like it was done with crayons!

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Dec 19 2010, 05:04 PM

Just think of what we'll be able to do when the uncompressed versions of the stamps are released on the PDS next year! I can't wait.

Posted by: fredk Dec 19 2010, 05:33 PM

And if they do a superres pan, we could maybe double the resolution of the thumbnails!

But seriously, a truly hard-core rover panorama maker would take the hue and saturation information from James' thumbnail pan and drape it onto the higher resolution lightness of a navcam pan...

Posted by: Bobby Dec 19 2010, 08:54 PM

I would like to say thanks to all the awesome people in this room discussing what's going on here at Santa Marie. I also would like to say to all the photo guru's that your all doing a great job with the Pictures I'm seeing here. I'm looking for a background image for my laptop here. Any suggestion to what image might fit a laptop screen perfect?

My next question. Has there been any discussion regarding what type of science we might do here. I have a feeling we are going to drive around the whole crater and I see only one area on the far side where we could drive in just a little. I can see us looking at a few rocks, bedrock, soil sample and more. I think we will be here until March before we head east? Should I start another post called Science at Santa Marie?

Thanks and Happy Holidays everyone.

Posted by: Stu Dec 19 2010, 09:04 PM

Crocodile Tail in 3D...

Posted by: Stu Dec 19 2010, 09:15 PM

Stunning, just stunning...

Posted by: Stu Dec 19 2010, 09:22 PM

Oppy livin' close to the edge..!

Posted by: mhoward Dec 19 2010, 10:06 PM

Looking back at the sol 2452 position from sol 2454:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marscat/5274835099/sizes/l/in/set-72157625600473596/

Looking at the sol 2454 position from 2452:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marscat/5274835787/sizes/l/in/set-72157625600473596/

Posted by: Ant103 Dec 19 2010, 10:15 PM

Yes, STUNING is the right word.

Sol 2454 full pan
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Opportunity/2010/Sol2454-pano.jpg

I like the lightings, with the shadow of the mast .

Posted by: Stu Dec 19 2010, 10:25 PM

Awww, you've ruined it now... in my mind it would look more like this...

Posted by: Stu Dec 19 2010, 10:27 PM

Wow... Please tell me you didn't just knock THAT out on a train...

Posted by: Ant103 Dec 19 2010, 10:35 PM

Ha ha ha Stu, no. Not this time. Just with the laptop on a desk (in the dark of this night)

Posted by: Stu Dec 19 2010, 10:39 PM

Hands up everyone who'd like to go and kneel down beside this beautiful thing and take a closer look at it right now...

Posted by: Oersted Dec 19 2010, 11:13 PM

Stu, that lovely 3D really tells me like few other images from Mars what a deeply alien place we are exploring. And why? Because of the details. Look at all those small pinnacles and filaments jutting out, looking almost like excretions. In an Earthly desert they wouldn't last for a month, they'd be worn down by sand blowing along the ground. So, as the big picture seems somewhat familiar, the details give away the fact that we are FAR away from home. That more than anything else is why we need super-res colour pans. If you'd find ubiquitous walls covered in such mega-panoramas more people would support exploration of Mars.

Posted by: nprev Dec 19 2010, 11:27 PM

@Stu: Me! Me! Me!

Seriously. I think that I see some of those crystal casts like we saw 'way back when in Eagle Crater, albeit a bit larger. Bet this critter might be a bit crumbly.

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Dec 20 2010, 12:00 AM

Just gorgeous aren't they?

How I gazed upon thee in wonder,
Oh beautiful otherworldly excretions!

(Hmmm we should probably leave the poetic language to Stu.)

Posted by: NickF Dec 20 2010, 12:07 AM

Navcam crop and anaglyphed. An impressive view!

Posted by: Mirek Dec 20 2010, 12:14 AM

My Sol 2454 panorama:

Posted by: NickF Dec 20 2010, 12:16 AM

Another fine viewpoint

Posted by: mars loon Dec 20 2010, 12:35 AM

perhaps my article may be of interest. ken

Powerful Mars Orbiter Directs Opportunity to Clays and Hydrated Minerals
http://www.universetoday.com/81789/powerful-mars-orbiter-directs-opportunity-to-clays-and-hydrated-minerals/

Posted by: DFinfrock Dec 20 2010, 12:47 AM

Bobby, try Ant 103's gorgeous color pan on the page above your question. C'est magnifique!.

And Stu, I love your close-ups of Crocodile Tail. It appears that little block on the ground to the left of the main rock was dislodged from the brighter spot on the upper left of Crocoldile Tail. It evidently didn't come off when the rock first fell there. The weathering is much lighter where it came off. So it must have broken off much later. But as Oersted pointed out, erosion and weathering are very slow on Mars. What would have caused that piece of the rock to break off? Could a minor meteoroid have done the trick? Or is it the Occam's Razor hypothesis: it was weakened and perhaps fractured when it first landed, and the eons of erosion finally caused it to separate from the parent rock?

David

Posted by: Stu Dec 20 2010, 08:29 AM

New blog update with a couple of pics too big to post here...

http://roadtoendeavour.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/the-glory-of-santa-maria

Posted by: antipode Dec 20 2010, 09:44 AM

So are we going south or north around this sucker

P

Posted by: Stu Dec 20 2010, 10:06 AM

Looks like we're heading south, around the crater rim, going from the "drive direction" notes.

Posted by: peter59 Dec 20 2010, 11:18 AM

When will they be able to transmit such a huge batch of photos?

Posted by: jamescanvin Dec 20 2010, 01:17 PM

Here is a thumbnail preview of the complete first Santa Maria pan:

James

Posted by: Stu Dec 20 2010, 01:50 PM

Well, clearly nothing to see here, is there? Let's move on...

James... seriously...

Posted by: Stu Dec 20 2010, 02:49 PM

I've made a lot of 3D pix during the MER mission, but this view is definitely up there with my favourites ever... amazing detail on the slopes opposite, and the foreground rocks are so rugged it's like being there...

http://twitpic.com/3hru3g

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Dec 20 2010, 04:15 PM

You're overdue for some verse here Stu . . . (please ignore my suggestions above)

Posted by: Stu Dec 20 2010, 04:23 PM

Oh, it'll come; the martian muse hasn't tapped me on the shoulder just yet. She will tho; I can sense her nearby. I think she's just behind that rock over there...

Posted by: djellison Dec 20 2010, 05:17 PM

In the exact same way they've done for nearly 7 years as demonstrated here
http://pancam.astro.cornell.edu/pancam_instrument/panoramas.html
or here http://pancam.astro.cornell.edu/pancam_instrument/mosaics.html

Over the next few sols, as they do every time they take a large mosaic.

Posted by: elakdawalla Dec 20 2010, 07:16 PM

Mike's simulated views with rovers in post #166 are really cool. I'm putting together my Year in Pictures feature for the Society website now -- to be posted early next week -- and clearly I need to include a piece of a pan from Santa Maria. There's lots of good stuff to choose from already posted here, but I think it'd be really fun to have a view with a rover model artfully dropped in. Is anybody interested in volunteering to put something like that together for me? Or a group effort?

Posted by: jamescanvin Dec 20 2010, 10:51 PM

Guilty!

Found myself with a spare hour this evening and seeing as I'm going to be away for Christmas (if we can get out through the snow!) and probably wont get to have a crack at the real thing for a week or so, I thought I'd see what I could do with what we have:

http://www.nivnac.co.uk/mer/index.php/b2453_navcam

Emily, if we don't get the real pancams soon it might look nice with a rover model at Oppy's current location on the right if someone wanted to drop one in.

James

Posted by: elakdawalla Dec 20 2010, 11:03 PM

Ooh, that would make a nice Christmas card! Seems like a great spot for a UMSF holiday party too (it's been a long time since our http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=2921).

Posted by: Astro0 Dec 20 2010, 11:45 PM

I'd love to have a go at that SFX image of Oppy on the rim of Santa Maria, but unfortunately I'm away from my computer/software until well after Christmas
Hmm, and Emily, thanks for the reminder...I'll have to restore those links to the UMSF BBQ when I get back as well.

Loved watching all the work being done by others at this amazing stop on Oppy's journey.

Posted by: fredk Dec 21 2010, 02:11 AM

James, that's stunning!

I know people have done MI + pancam colour, but is this the first navcam + pancam thumbnail colour?

Posted by: fredk Dec 21 2010, 02:58 AM

Spectacular new navcams from 2451 are down. I love the longer shadows and depth in the cliffs on this one:

Posted by: remcook Dec 21 2010, 08:07 AM

Had to look up my 3D glasses again, but well worth it fred and stu!

Posted by: jamescanvin Dec 21 2010, 08:55 AM

Thanks.

I'm not sure, I have a vague memory of doing something similar a long time ago, but it might just have been the idea rather than actually doing it!

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 21 2010, 10:05 AM

Added 4 images to the Navcam Ro view
of Sol 2451.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: Ant103 Dec 21 2010, 11:07 AM

Vikingmars aka Olivier de Goursac has done the same process with Vikings pictures : low res color pans overlayed onto a hires black & white pan. The result is just simply beautiful .

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 21 2010, 11:53 AM

The Pancam view in the drive direction
on Sol 2454.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: charborob Dec 21 2010, 02:37 PM

Pancam view of the NE rim.

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 21 2010, 02:45 PM

Here is the complete Sol 2451 L0 Navcam view.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: Julius Dec 21 2010, 04:21 PM

I'm just wondering why the northern rim looks so different from the rest of the crater wall...seems to be less eroded and better preserved.The darker dunes on this side of the crater seem to be indicative of prevailing wind conditions and erosion??

Posted by: mhoward Dec 21 2010, 07:15 PM

Well the first full frame is nice...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marscat/5280467939/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Posted by: Phil Stooke Dec 21 2010, 08:19 PM

I'm travelling (in Vancouver) so only sporadically checking in, but these pics are great. Thanks everybody!

Phil

Posted by: Oersted Dec 21 2010, 09:39 PM

The way the rocky broken-up crust delimits the smooth slope is remarkable. Never quite saw anything like it. Mars throws us another curve-ball...

Posted by: Oersted Dec 21 2010, 09:41 PM

That is excellent, thanks James!

Going back in the mission, I'm sure there must be many other b/w images that could benefit from the same treatment.

Thanks so much for this preview of Santa Maria in all its glory.

Posted by: djellison Dec 21 2010, 09:44 PM

The only reason that treatment made sense here is that we're still waiting for the full pancam frames to come down. Once they are - that composite of thumbnail-color over full frame Navcam will be rendered redundant by the full frame Pancam color.

Posted by: Oersted Dec 22 2010, 12:00 AM

But haven't we sometimes moved along before a full-colour set was in? I seem to remember that happening many times.

Just a thought for the glossy full-colour coffee-table book that UMSF will edit and sell after the mission is over. (I had the idea first!)

Could cover the running costs of the web site for a couple of decades...

Posted by: djellison Dec 22 2010, 12:02 AM

If there's thumbnails to color the Navcam with, it means the full Pancam is on the way (as is the case with this observation)

The UMSF book idea has been around for pretty much as long as UMSF has been around.

Posted by: nprev Dec 22 2010, 12:49 AM

I think that AmateurSpaceImages.com will be the UMSF virtual coffee-table book.

Posted by: walfy Dec 22 2010, 05:58 AM

I love the receding plane in this anaglyph, especially when you move several feet back from the screen, putting it more in perspective, as if standing on the other side of the crater looking across. (I might be fooling myself, but I think I can see the depression/ancient crater that is to the east of S.M....?)

Posted by: walfy Dec 22 2010, 06:14 AM

Wonderfully convoluted Mars rocks:

and nicely framed crumbling rocks:

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 22 2010, 11:10 AM

Partial Pancam view on Sol 2452.
Taken with the L2 Pancam.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: Fozzie Dec 22 2010, 11:58 AM

Light sand in the bottom and dark sand up the sides!

Posted by: Stu Dec 22 2010, 02:54 PM

Great pics everyone. Looking forward to the hi-res colour views. In the meantime, a couple of my colourisations...

Lots more new stuff at: http://roadtoendeavour.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/catching-up

Posted by: SpaceListener Dec 22 2010, 03:29 PM

After gazing around the crater "Santa Maria", what strikes me the most is the leveling flat rocks on the edges. I have no idea how these could be modeled to give a fairly smoothed surface without major herring. Perhaps, it may be due to wind erosion after eons years. That is my only possible assumption.

Posted by: Ant103 Dec 22 2010, 05:06 PM

Very incomplete color pan of the Sol 2453.
http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Opportunity/2010/Sol2453-pancam.jpg

Posted by: peter59 Dec 22 2010, 07:59 PM

Next very interesting pancam imaging sequence must wait for transmision.

Sol 2456 - pancam_Santa_Maria_Palos_LBS1_pos2a_L2R2

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Dec 22 2010, 08:23 PM

Probably programming those images into the navigation "KEEP OUT" zone.

Posted by: Oersted Dec 22 2010, 11:55 PM

The drama! - This is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gerrit_van_Honthorst_-_De_koppelaarster.jpg and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Caspar_David_Friedrich_032.jpg all mixed up in one fabulous image.

Posted by: serpens Dec 23 2010, 12:09 AM

Actually I think that Jim Bell should be encouraged to bring out part 2 of Postcards From Mars. That work was spectacular.

Posted by: fredk Dec 23 2010, 03:58 AM

Have we seen "bleeding" patterns before like these?

They remind me of something, perhaps in Victoria? Presumably they're streaks of dust running out of the outcrop.

Posted by: Fran Ontanaya Dec 23 2010, 04:10 AM

They look a bit like these:
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_007962_2635

Posted by: Stu Dec 23 2010, 06:47 AM

Some really lovely detail visible over on that opposite side now...

Posted by: fredk Dec 23 2010, 02:22 PM

There appears to be a gust of wind just below the right side of the horizon in this L5 frame:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/pancam/2010-12-23/1P345957678EFFB0J3P2298L5M1.JPG?sol2453
It's not visible in the other frames just before or after the L5, eg
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/pancam/2010-12-23/1P345957647EFFB0J3P2298L2M1.JPG?sol2453
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/pancam/2010-12-23/1P345957752EFFB0J3P2298L7M1.JPG?sol2453
Gusts are always welcome!

Posted by: jasedm Dec 23 2010, 03:14 PM

Very well spotted!

Posted by: SpaceListener Dec 23 2010, 03:35 PM

Good spot. I think the dust are debris from above rock fissures due to its rock color (dark).

Posted by: Phil Stooke Dec 23 2010, 10:29 PM

Those 'bleeding patterns' look to me very much like features we saw in LROC images of fresh lunar crater walls. Quite a few examples showed up right here on UMSF, I think. I'm not saying they are identical, they just look similar. On the Moon I would have expected them to be made of fine dust, but here fine dust would blow away, so maybe it has to be a larger grain size.

Phil

Posted by: Deimos Dec 23 2010, 10:43 PM

I know people had a crack at the 2411 sunset and 2415 Phobos transit back when it was still "on to Santa Maria", but I thought I'd put in a plug for these: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=953, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=955.

Posted by: centsworth_II Dec 23 2010, 10:44 PM

Using Stu's image, the foreground (circled blue) seems to show dark grains trapped in crevasses. I think the dark streaks in the background (yellow circle) are the same. They may appear to be downfalls (rivulets) of dust but probably are dark grains blown into crevasses over time, just like in the foreground.

Posted by: Fran Ontanaya Dec 24 2010, 06:43 AM

The area marked in yellow seems partly hollow, as if only the hematite duricrust that surrounded the blocks was left behind and was being eroded now.

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 24 2010, 09:50 AM

Almost complete.

The Pancam panoramic view of Santa Maria
taken on Sol 2453 with the L0 Pancam.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: centsworth_II Dec 24 2010, 11:58 AM

I've never heard of this. I thought the hematite was only found in the berries.

Posted by: Stu Dec 24 2010, 02:24 PM

Don't turn around, but there seems to be some kind of enormous petrified martian falcon... thing... slowly breaking out of the wall of Santa Maria...

Posted by: Fran Ontanaya Dec 24 2010, 02:50 PM

Well, whatever this coating was made of.
http://geology.com/nasa/mars-mystery-rock/

Posted by: BrianL Dec 24 2010, 04:51 PM

Maybe going after that lizard at VC, Stu.

Posted by: mars loon Dec 24 2010, 05:29 PM

FYI: link to my newest Rover article at Universe Today. Merry Christmas from Mars ! ken

Opportunity shoots Awesome Views of Santa Maria Crater‎
http://www.universetoday.com/81838/opportunity-shoots-awesome-views-of-santa-maria-crater/

includes mosaics from Sols 2451 to 2454 by several UMSF members Marco, Jan, James & Ken

new from Marco & Ken (reduced in size)

Posted by: Pertinax Dec 24 2010, 06:05 PM

Thank you Deimos, that is beautiful work. The Phobos transit is particularly evocitive!

-- Pertinax

Posted by: Bobby Dec 24 2010, 10:39 PM

Stu's new discovery of a Feathered Dinosaur deserves a name. Should we call it a Stuosaurus???

Posted by: KrisK Dec 24 2010, 11:55 PM

I had a nice time stitching this color panorama.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55907406@N08/5288577247/sizes/l/

Posted by: CosmicRocker Dec 25 2010, 06:46 AM

That is very nice, KrisK. When they fill in those data dropouts, that will become quite an amazing view. Keep up the good work.

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 25 2010, 09:57 AM

Pancam view Sol 2453 L2.

Added 9 images.
Quality is poor due to strong compression.
The original pano is 19.128 MB.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: NickF Dec 25 2010, 11:45 AM

Merry Christmas UMSF! While the sprouts are boiling, here's a partial panorama of Santa Maria from pancam L2 images.

Posted by: Floyd Dec 25 2010, 03:44 PM

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/pancam/2010-12-24/1P346036865EFFB0J3P2299L2M9.JPGtook 9 tries, but finally came through complete.

Posted by: stevesliva Dec 25 2010, 04:05 PM

Somehow appropriate that we're at Santa Maria, even though it's named for a boat.

Feliz Navidad!

Posted by: algorimancer Dec 25 2010, 09:18 PM

Is it just my imagination, or is there actually an unusual profusion of hematite nodules (blueberries) around here? I'm wondering whether this relates to the "bleeding" effect on the far side.

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 26 2010, 10:03 AM

Santa Maria Partial Panorama Sol 2453 L2.

Added 6 images and still not complete.
The quality is a little better now due to
another way of compression.
The original image is 22 MB.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: NickF Dec 26 2010, 01:12 PM

Another pancam L2 pano.

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 26 2010, 02:36 PM

Because its Christmas.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: NickF Dec 26 2010, 04:04 PM

That's terrific Jack!

Posted by: Stu Dec 26 2010, 11:12 PM

Hope everyone had a good Christmas!

Loving Oppy's view now...

Posted by: fredk Dec 27 2010, 12:36 AM

What's Boxing Day without staring into a gaping hole in the ground on another planet, in 3D?

Posted by: fredk Dec 27 2010, 12:59 AM

To help celebrate our arrival at Santa Maria, the most impressive topography since Victoria, the remarkably timid Mystery Men have come out of hiding to greet us once more. They should help to give a sense of scale to the scene - each man is 2 metres tall from foot to top of waving hand. Distances are calculated from the orbital images. The panorama is James's superb navcam + thumbnail colour.

Posted by: nprev Dec 27 2010, 01:06 AM

I for one welcome the return of our Mysterious overlords!

Thanks, Fred; always love these!!!

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Dec 27 2010, 01:33 AM

Thanks Fred. We really need MM to pay a visit whenever we have a new vista like this. Glad to see he's got his whole family visiting for the Holidays. Even his French cousins the Mystery Climbers have arrived.

Posted by: CosmicRocker Dec 27 2010, 06:23 AM

Those Mystery Men look suspiciously familiar.

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 27 2010, 11:39 AM

Santa Maria on Sol 2453 en 2454.
2 Images not complete
Very strong compression.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: alan Dec 27 2010, 04:25 PM

There were some along Burns Cliff
http://pancam.astro.cornell.edu/pancam_instrument/burnscliff_new.html
http://pancam.astro.cornell.edu/pancam_instrument/images/False/Sol288B_P2271_1_False_L257_pos_3.jpg
http://pancam.astro.cornell.edu/pancam_instrument/images/False/Sol248B_P2269_1_False_L256_pos_3.jpg

Posted by: fredk Dec 27 2010, 06:56 PM

That's it! Thanks, Alan, I knew we'd seen something similar before. Looking closely, you can see that most of the dark "bleeding" streaks are associated with cracks, but some aren't - they're just dark dust spilling down from above.

CosmicRocker - I have been known to wear a similar hat...

Posted by: mhoward Dec 28 2010, 05:20 AM

Sol 2462

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marscat/5299323558/sizes/l/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marscat/5299321908/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 28 2010, 09:55 AM

The Navcam L0 view on Sol 2462.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: Stu Dec 28 2010, 11:28 AM

At last, I've figured out what makes Santa Maria such a striking and attractive place...

...finally, FINALLY, we have a proper crater, a crater with a raised rim that looks just like the craters we used to draw as kids, and see on the TV...!!

Posted by: Nirgal Dec 28 2010, 12:14 PM

Thanks Michael !

IMO, this (especially the anaglyph version) is among the most beautiful/epic MER panorama vistas yet.... with the bizarre rock-gardens strewn accross the elevated, rugged crater rim, lonely rover tracks and the Endeavour silhouette looming in the hazy background.... phantastic

Posted by: Tesheiner Dec 28 2010, 02:13 PM

Here's MHoward's mosaic in polar form.

Posted by: mhoward Dec 28 2010, 05:18 PM

I thought so too; that's why I couldn't resist doing the anaglyph.

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Dec 28 2010, 06:27 PM

Like everyone else I was blown away by this image Mike, but it had that "driving in a parking garage" feel that was distracting from the full effect. So I created a synthetic sky using random red and blue noise to subtly tie in with the rest of the anaglyph.

(This is half resolution, if anyone wants the full res version let me know)

Posted by: mhoward Dec 28 2010, 07:49 PM

Good point - I was rushing to finish it last night, and forgot about the sky. I went back and did a simple fill in my version, but yours is much better.

Posted by: James Sorenson Dec 29 2010, 04:56 AM

My unfinished version of the Santa Maria panorama. Still some data dropouts, and a missing image. Boy what a great place!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/5302495404/

Posted by: climber Dec 29 2010, 04:00 PM

Hi from French cousins...a sense of scale is nice to have from time to time
Fred, I can't distinguish the Mystery men at Endeavour's but, well, I hope climbers will be usefull once there.

Posted by: Stu Dec 29 2010, 09:05 PM

Absolutely loving the chaotic rock walls and spills here...

Posted by: climber Dec 29 2010, 10:21 PM

I also like the fine details within the dunes.
BTW, what the hell Darth Vader's doing there?

Posted by: Bobby Dec 30 2010, 04:11 AM

Hi Climber. Darth Vader is saying this: "I sense something, a presence I've not felt since......."
and as soon as he see's Santa Marie. He says: "The force is strong with this one."

Posted by: Julius Dec 30 2010, 08:32 AM

I know probably that the rover drivers are having a well desereved xmas break but when do we get moving again??Cant wait to get to the opposite wall where the water bearing sulphate rocks are !

Posted by: jvandriel Dec 30 2010, 10:33 AM

The Sol 2464 Navcam L0 view of Santa Maria.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: PaulM Dec 30 2010, 05:48 PM

I would not dream of jumping to conclusions, however it encourages me to note that Oppy travelled 5 km across parking lot in 171 sols. I believe that Oppy has only to cross a further 6.5 km of parking lot to reach Endeavour crater. I would like to congratulate the Mars rover drivers on their achievement.

Posted by: mars loon Dec 30 2010, 07:08 PM

see my new Oppy 3 D story online at Universe Today

Gorgeous 3 D Vistas of Martian Crater and Hydrate Minerals at Santa Maria
http://www.universetoday.com/81963/gorgeous-3-d-vistas-of-martian-crater-and-hydrates-at-santa-maria/

includes part 1 my interview with Ray Arvidson with new info

also 3 D images, mosaics & mystery men from UMSF folk ... Stu, James, Walfy, ElkDanGrove, FredK, NickF, Marco & Ken

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Dec 30 2010, 09:47 PM

LOL, thanks for the nod Ken.

Posted by: nprev Dec 31 2010, 01:52 AM

Nice article, Ken, and well-deserved nods to our amazing imagemages!

(Weird how I keep seeing more & more images credited to UMSF in some way or another...)

Posted by: djellison Dec 31 2010, 04:56 AM

Progress is downlink limited at the moment, not Xmas break limited. There's a LOT of data to collect on the rim of this thing - PLUS, we need to be basically empty going into Solar Conjunction in a few short weeks.

Note - the day you wrote this, there was a drive.

Posted by: Julius Dec 31 2010, 09:04 AM

yeah i've seen that from jvandriels panorama that the rover moved..plan is to get to se rim round mid January.

Posted by: walfy Dec 31 2010, 09:31 AM

More fantastic formations in 3D of blueberry birthing grounds, coaxed into the world by the Martian winds. This one shows an interesting shadow with a slit of sunlight:

Another:

Posted by: walfy Dec 31 2010, 09:45 AM

Some more:

Interesting sinkhole feature:


Turtle-head rock sticking out of sand:)

Posted by: NickF Dec 31 2010, 11:51 AM

Sol 2461 L2 pancams.

Posted by: Julius Dec 31 2010, 05:26 PM

looking at 3d detailed views of some rocks really show up some fine razor sharp edges there!

Posted by: Nirgal Jan 1 2011, 12:16 PM

thanks for those really fascinating rock detail studies, walfy ... bizarre "Alien Micro Landscapes" !

Posted by: jamescanvin Jan 1 2011, 01:22 PM

This is only a draft version as there are still a few data dropouts and it is just the output from my automated system before doing any fine tuning or touchups that I'll do to the final version. However the view is so spectacular I couldn't sit on this any longer waiting for the last bits.

http://www.nivnac.co.uk/mer/index.php/b2453_draft

James

Posted by: jvandriel Jan 1 2011, 02:04 PM

The road ahead.
Destination in the background.
Endeavour Crater.
Pancam L2 view on Sol 2464.

Jan van Driel

Posted by: vikingmars Jan 1 2011, 05:13 PM

My interpretation of the view of Santa Maria at Sol 2454 done today for some friends at French magazines.
Happy New Year 2011 to UMSF Forum Members and Planetary Society Members !!! Enjoy

ADMIN: Please be mindful of posting images with large file sizes in consideration of users with limited speed and download capacity.
Image replaced with smaller version. Original version is available for download http://astro0.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/santa_maria_final.jpg (note 4.67mb)

Posted by: brellis Jan 1 2011, 06:28 PM

Opportunity needs an oppera written for it. Stu, get that libretto together!

Posted by: walfy Jan 1 2011, 08:19 PM

My pleasure. And thanks to many fine stitchers who share their work here, really awesome stuff lately.

Posted by: belleraphon1 Jan 1 2011, 10:54 PM

Happy New Year UMSFers!

Finally getting a chance to just look at these image products.... wow! Fantastic work, folks.

walfy... I get lost in all those micro-niches of sharp berry pebbled edges and dust ledges ....
I just want to reach out and feel the textures......

Never gets boring!

Craig

Posted by: Astro0 Jan 2 2011, 04:34 AM

Wow, James! So much great detail here.
Just look at this small section of the http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=6852&view=findpost&p=168944...it has it all!
Craters, layering, blueberries, rocks, ejecta, sky, distant Endeavour's rim (Iazu too) and a wind gust for good measure.

AWESOME

ON MARS, ON MARS, ON MARS!

Posted by: jvandriel Jan 2 2011, 02:11 PM

The panoramic view on Sol 2453 en Sol 2454.
Taken with the L2 pancam.
Some data missing of 1 image.

Jan van Driel.

Posted by: Stu Jan 3 2011, 12:12 AM

Maestro Diego...

Posted by: mars loon Jan 3 2011, 03:55 AM

nice views

Posted by: Stu Jan 3 2011, 10:31 AM

Rodrigo Sanchez...

Posted by: jvandriel Jan 3 2011, 10:42 AM

The Navcam view on Sol 2467.
Added 2 images in front of Opportunity. ( See also navcam view Sol 2464 )
For better driving forwards?

Jan van Driel

Posted by: Stu Jan 3 2011, 11:07 AM

So.... I'm guessing we're getting closer to the small crater on the south side of Santa Maria..?

3D pancam view: http://twitpic.com/3mn295/full

Posted by: jvandriel Jan 3 2011, 11:41 AM

The Navcam view on Sol 2468.

Jan van Driel