Ahh - someone mis-quoted the press pdf previously then - it seemed a bit low to me

Doug

Stanford was listening to MER because MER was also transmitting with its UHF antenna (to MGS), for which Stanford have a good facility, and indeed they caught Spirit, but not Opportunity as I understand it. No such transmission is planned for MRO as I understand it - just X-Band on the LGA which will be for the DSN to grab alone.

Doug

http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2004/0...Ellipse_25m.gif (many meg)

Not so hasty - the ellipse goes to the Southern edge of Erebus - I'd say we're within a hundred M of it perhaps - but I wouldnt say we've crossed it as yet.

If you go to the larger image ( the 10m res one ) - and overlay some good MOC imagery - it's a close call.

Doug

Of course - the reason for having such a low targetting point is because a periapsis that low invokes a fast orbital velocity - thus the ammount of engine braking required is less. If they targetted at say, 1500km, the orbital velocity at that altitude would be much slower so requiring much more delta V.

One day - I hope they'll be brave enough for Aero-capture at Mars. It's a very thin line to tred - +/- 10km will give you a bad day one way or the other, but they're getting to the point where it's possible, I'm sure.


Looking at this -
http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspace?t...orbs=1&showsc=1

Goldstone will be the primary, with Madrid just setting.

Doug

I think Zane Grey was the midpoint between here and Olympia - where we stopped up between drives.

Doug

Anatolia is very very different, a linear feature - I wouldnt put any relationship between the way in which Eagle formed and the way Anatolia formed.

When it comes to specific evidence identifying it as a crater - what evidence is there that it ISN'T a crater. There's little more to be said in arguing that it is other than "looks like one" - because that's all the evidence one could expect - there's nothing more one could really bring to the table given the MER payload.

Basically - it looks like one, and nothing suggests it isnt one, and we know Mars is covered in them, so it's fairly safe to say it IS one...isn't it?

Doug

There's a full filter sequence for one frame, but there was an L257 for all the frames in that little mosaic just about, that's the data I'm refering to. it's down at the tracking site in thumbnail form, nothing more yet.

Doug

Going on the orbital imagery - and the pointing - I'd say it's little bits of southern erebus, but there's lots of bits and pieces like it all around.

Doug

Looking back down to the tracks

Because it looks like one. That's about it. I mean - what do you WANT it to look like to classify it as a crater?

Tiny craters do have raised rims - even Fram had one. A small rise at its rim, but it's a small crater so you'd expect that. Eagle and it's sister a few hundreds meters SW - both appeared as raised rims from a distance.

Tjere are hundreds of thousands of these things around the planet - what makes you think they're NOT craters?
Doug

I'm hopefull that the colour will come thru a bit later.

Doug

Not far from perfectly circular
Rasied rim
Similar to many other round-raised-rimed-impactey-type-features.

I don't think the thought that it was anything else would have crossed peoples minds.

Doug

I assume that's the decision to be made - personally, I'd go CW, looks much more manageable.

Doug

When you're stitching one of these little previews off the Pancam track site, stop and think for a moment.

They're 200 x 200 pixels right

Pathfinder, in full res, was only 50 pixels bigger than that

Doug

The clockwise images are down, but not on EXP, ditto the post-brushing lookbacks


Doug

Welcome to Burns Cliff 2 surely? It looks JUST like the top metre of Burns Cliff ( hardly unexpected )

Doug

Bingo.


Doug

That was NEVER what this place was intended for. I'm having very serious thoughts at removing the political, observational and manned subforums as it is.

Doug

Nothing - they've said they're investigating it, but because the vast majority are having no trouble at all, they're working hypothesis is that it isnt their end, it's elsewhere.

Doug

Wont post my stitch of the full 360, it's cack compared to dilos - but here's my polar of it.

Doug

4 frames with a streth-a-thon of the horizon.

Doug

A subject you started, you posted many many times about - you really do make for entertainment, I'll give you that much.

Doug

The terrain models are there in the PDS for released data - but I don't know any way in which to use them, they're not in a format that can be dropped into any animation package I know of. If I could do that, then I would do it in a MOMENT ( I did it with MPF last year )

Doug

There's no choice to be made. The rover WILL DIE SOON if they stay here much longer. There's no question - it's a fact. They HAVE to go toward that good slope, and they HAVE to go SOON. When Spring comes, when the conditions are better, and there's every chance Spirit will survive winter, then they can revisit HP and do a proper job on it.

Doug

You have to be stern and strict with him or he wont learn....



Doug