Sol 258


Sol 259


Wonder what the value of a stain remover is on the surface of mars in terms of payload

Looks like whatever they did to get some off - also put some more on

Doug

Solar Conjunction is OVER and there have been new pictures since then that have appeared at JPL - but not at the Exploratorium. It's not a problem - it's just a bit dissapointing as the exploratorium was always faster and first with the newer images.

See here - http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/spirit.html - notice the sol 258 FHZ image - the couple of Navcam images taken every day during conjunction, ditto Pancam. It's the same deal with Opportunity - which has actually been driven since SC finished!

We all know what Solar Conjunction is and means - and infact both rovers continued to take some images on a daily basis during that time which have since been returned to earth.

Oddly - the automated script that generates the press folder every day for the exploratorum is still functioning

Doug

I noticed that- the exploratorium was always so much faster as well - and to be honest- easier to navigate

Might be worth an email to find out if they really are stopping it now we're on the super-exension.

Doug

18m/pixel imagery from THEMIS is the best I could find of Victoria crater - and I've REALLY hunted for it at MSSS - but nothing.

I wonder when the next data release of MOC imagery will occur -i t'll include a LOT of MER targetted obs - some of which will surely include Victoria?

Doug

Stitched up from Themis and MOC imagery

I cant find any MOC imagery of it at all - but you can be sure as hell that Malin's got it sat on the MSSS server. He should take a lesson out of the THEMIS release book. regular, rapid, and accesable resources.

Doug

$5 says that MGS has imaged it by now - we just dont have it in the public domain yet. Mike Malin likes to hide his little picture away for as long as he can get away with Where are the images showing the rovers on the move that he promised etc etc

Victoria looks like a BEAUTY And the Heatshield as well.

At 100m a day, every other day, that 3 miles is an equiv of about 100 sols of driving - for 6 months, Opportunity has been the rover that was scared to go too far from home. Now it's middle aged - it's getting a mid life crisis and sports-car performance to match

Doug

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/opportunity.html

New Images from during and after the Conj

Doug

Well - the pictures can only be as sharp as Pancam can take. Not ever increasingly so.

We're yet to see the full Clovis panorama from Pancam, but I'm fairly sure that if they do make it a little further up the hill before they camp, that we'll see a full panorama from that point of view. Pancam Ops are not particularly power intensive.

And as for that link - meh - thats just a crappy Navam Pan

Not sure if you're talking about winter, or opposition though.

During Opposition - I know that both were programmed to uplink to Odyssey at UHF opportunities - thus reducing clutter on the rover memory. This will be being downlinked in the next few days I'd imagine.

Doug

Now THAT - is cool

Reminds me of the anim gif of the moons orbit where it wobbles too and from the viewpoint

Hopefully - we'll be seing images long enough to see it get bigger again

Doug

Both those issues are calculated, very verbosely, in the internal report document.

Terminal velocity would be much higher because of the thinner atmosphere - even thought the genesis SRC was about 7 times heavier than B2.

iirc - the expected impact crater for B2 is between 2 and 6 metres.

Doug

Wonder if the impact might look a little something like this?





Doug

Soon for Spirit - power is getting marginal for opperations @ Gusev - much worse than for Oppy at the moment.

They intend to park up a few more m's up the hill where theres a nice slope facing north - and some interesting rock. They can spend 3, 4 months there, investigating the rock, watching the season shift, then hopefully - assuming a helathy rover come spring - off we go again


Not sure of Opportunity plans. Heading out onto the plain wont be too usefull energy wise - it's good where it is, and slopes down toward the heatsheifl are the other way which isnt good.

Doug

Not got a chance to try it at the moment - but a MAJOR MAJOR Thankyou for this - if I ever manage to get a book published of Mer imagery - the credits will include Steve Squires, Jim Bell, Justin Maki, and You.

Doug

Spot the glint?

Doug

Good god it's the scarey RAT MONSTER



Not seen them use Hazcam to take images of the IDD that close up

Doug

Exceedingly clever, attractive, creative and succesfull people always do



(been using it since it first came on the scene, and Mozilla before it Couldnt use IE if you made me )

Doug

Dead links (hmph - what are you doing forum) - but yeah - I know the ones you mean - looks like half a rat and half a brush

I THINK it's a brush - not flat enough to be a rat

They often brush - APXS/MB/MI - RAT - APXS/MB/MI - back off - remote sensing, and leave.

Doug

Oh - it's no problem - lots of praise from the NM group I'll pop my head around the door - no one's spoted the big 5 x 3 mosaic I just did yet

Doug

Not mentioned since the last press conf - but it would seem the jam on the RAT is cleared

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...GP2138L7M1.HTML

Doug

I think there's two or three images between this view - and the view to the NE I did before. Similarly there's probably 3 or 4 frames between this view, and the previous view to the SW (which nasa has already done)

Doug

Attached - Large Image - 2.5 Meg.

Attached - Medium size image - 800kb

Live - the camera is TINY - about 20x20x20mm - with an 100mm wire arial

doug

I've been busy mucking about with some toys

http://bbm.rlproject.com

I'll try and do a 3 x 2 of the tracks around the foot of the hill over the w'end

Doug