err - very very very large solar panels. The transmitters on DSN assets are in the tens to hundreds of KW ( and the recievers cooled using LN2 in some cases I believe )

Doug

Part one of the Duck Bay pan starts tomorrow (953) - so I declare 952 as the arrrival sol.

Rakhir is indeed - THE WINNER



Doug

14 frames... 7 x 2 perhaps... I would call that part 1 of the arrival pan, thus making 952 the arrival sol.

Doug

Another finger into the pie of decision making

Would you want to leave your rover for two weeks parked on a slope, or parked on the flat.

Doug

What we thought might be 2x2's are obviously going to be those 2 4x1's in L257.... for planning ( i.e. highest res terrain mesh ) the L7/R1's came down first, and if there's another UHF pass today, the 2's and 5's might come down....pretty

Doug

Moving the topic onto Duck Bay....

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=3257

Now yes - while it's fair to say we have arrived at the rim of Vic - the rule were that the 'arrival' date would be the sol at which the rover arrives at the point from which the mother-of-all-pans is taken... so we're not there yet. (i.e. We'll probably take photos when we arrive in Valencia on Sat PM - but personally, I wont feel I've arrived till the following morning when I have a look out the window....and you're right Fred - it's that FIRST big MOAP that is the important one )

But that doesn't mean we can't have a new thread

Doug

Not quite as sexy as SS1 - but still a cool looking vehicle.

Doug

You mean take TDRS and turn it interplanetary.

Doug

I think it was a one off - there were latches involved etc. Even if it could be - the mass of the mast compared to the mass of the vehicle - I can't imagine there being a great deal of benefit.

And - as with all such things (i.e. fold up the arrays to clean them etc ) imagine if it didn't deploy back up again...what sort of mission would you have then.

Doug

Oh - it's good - and probably navigable - but the MOC imagery would suggest the SE side is therefore even more navigable.

Doug

I wouldn't put that as a certain entry point....it looks like it might be 30ish degrees. BUT...given that the MOC work shows the far side to be less steep than this side....I would be very hopefull of an ingress AND egress point on the SE side.

Doug

Pi D = circum.

So PI x 25cm = 78ish cm

(Wheels are 250mm face diam, 262 to the cleat)

So - two cleat marks can be anything from 78 - 80cm basically.

On tracking data - I make the drive approx 4m, which would tie in with the number of visible cleat marks in this http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...EVP1312R0M1.JPG

Doug

I tell you what, the guys at the conference in Valencia next week will get a kick out of that

Doug

I quite agree - which is why we have to look at the entire crater to identify the best place to do it, from a navigability, sun slope, and exposure accesability perspective. I would be amazed if we ploughed straight in at Duck bay without seing it from something like 90-120 degrees around the crater first. And in actul fact, I don't think we WILL go in at Duck bay - I think the safest place for entry is on the SE side. The slopes are less, the outcrop is more exposed, the slope would be good for winter, and UHF comms should be a little better.

The same treatment as with Endurance is the very least I would expect.

Doug

The UMSF 'arrival' definition has been known for months and months. You all know the rules, you all had the chance to change your predictions....and you all know it's engineered so we 'arrive' during my Glog week (Not really - but that's how it's looking to me at the moment )

Doug

I think a partial circumnavigation ( even if it includes toe-dipping excursions ) is vital to get as good a view as we can ( from both Pancam AND Mini-TES ) of the whole crater interior.

If we were to drive straight in from where we are now - we'd have no idea what we were driving in to, as we've not seen it in the way we can see the far side now. It is possible and perhaps even likely that the drive into Victoria crater is a one off...each metre driven into the crater might very well be the last chance to study that metre of layering. So it would be madness in my opinion, to not study the crater as fully as possible from the outside, before identifying the best location to study it from the inside.

And yes, the rover might die tomorrow - but realistically, I think Opportunity is going to be around for a little while yet - consider the hell that Spirit has and is going through - Opportunity has had it very very easy.

Doug

Oops - cunning remote image link blocking...but I know the scene you mean.....yes, a little bit like that

Doug

I think we could be several sols from it yet.

Doug

1/3rd G and <1% drag....Tiger could clear it with a 5 iron

Doug

****

L7 is the normal 'drive dir' pancam filter. They used L2 for a while as it shows outcrop as a better contrast - but spacially, L7 is the sharpest.... one of the Pancam updates with JB tackles this issue in full.

Doug

I am purveyor of arrival - I will give the word

Doug

I think we might be needing this.



Doug