http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...GBP1211L0M1.JPG

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...GBP1311L0M1.JPG

And confirmed, data is on the ground.



About 24m

Well according to the tracking data for tosol it is.

Oppy should be on the move again about now...

Yes there is, tucked under the front there.

Interesting question.

Here is a plot of change in drive number vs drive distance for all the changes in position listed in the tracking database since sol 781 (start of site 68):



I was quite surprised to see there is quite a strong correlation for a lot of the points, i'm guessing that indicates the 'drive so far then check for slippage' parameter. Also note the high black points from recent drives. It looks like they may be driving slightly more aggressively now the ripples arn't so big.

Also note all those points with large drive number changes but very small (even zero) drive distances - don't understand that.

Zooming in on that graph:



Shows the small changes in drive number which correspond to auto-nav drives. Very little correlation.

Note there are even some points with no drive number change but some movement, as well as points with no movement but a number change - now I'm confused!

Moving quickly on. Here is the same plot but with the total distance and drive number change for each sol:



Which is much more sane - giving this (very rough) rule of thumb: For a drive increment of 36 (which is for example xxDx to xxEx etc.) the rover will have moved approximately 6 meters. Of course a change in driving stratagy/aggressiveness could change all this overnight.

Here ends this pointless exersice, make driving distance estimates from drive numbers at you peril.

James

How diplomatic!

I think that is an artifact of my processing. Because there is a bit missing from the left side of the third image from the right, my software has got confused and tried to reduce the contrast in that image for a better match to the one to its left, this contrast change has then been propigated to all the images further to the right making them look more hazy. I should have told it to ignore that edge, but I was kind of hoping that the missing data would be down by now.

James

Wow!

I agree Pando, it looks like a goal for the far team tosol. But the game's not over yet...

28 more meters tosol, according to the tracking data.

How wrong is that this time Tesh?

Another week goes by - here's the latest on McMurdo.



James

That's a neat trick getting it to roll to a stop at the top of a nice hill!

Nice looking rover


EDIT:
Husband Hill summit in the background of this one if I'm not mistaken.

http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?b=b&keyw...&start=6&size=b

James

Doug came up with a good one here

It's a pity they took it within 30mins (LST) of the McMurdo pan then! (11:45 vs 12:15 for McMurdo) Not much change in the lighting between those times.

Yeah, I still don't fully understand what happens, sometimes the tracking data is bang on but every now and again it seems to be a little off. It's no substitue for your work.



Welcome Castor. Yes there is more to it, there is a wealth of information in the tracking database. Pity it's not accurate all the time! I'll PM you the details...

James

To pass the time during these long winter nights, i've been experimenting with different projections of the images (and combining pancam and navcam images) to get the rovers 'in shot'.

Here's what i've come up with so far...



Enjoy,

James

39m according to the tracking data.

The question is: Why another image of HH & El Dorado when we already have it in all filters in the McMurdo pan?

The answer, according to the tracking site is "846 p2411.15 4 4 0 0 1 9 pancam_ElDoradoChange_L27"

They are looking for changes in El Dorado. From this range! Seems unlikely we'll see anthing at this resolution but I guess if you don't look you don't see.

Maybe we're waiting to see the sand drain into the abyss we all know is under there.

I wouldn't want to miss this party...

Brilliant as usual Stu, great work.

James

Finally went to see Roving Mars last night, I know, I know, what took me so long?

Absolutely brilliant! For the 40mins that IMAX films all have to be squeezed into I don't see how it could have been any better.

Loved seeing all the closeups of the rovers I love so much before launch, especially all the bits we see so often, (the IDD and the deck) from different angles.

Loved the new Dan Maas animation, I've never been to a real launch, but I almost feel like I have after seeing it, hearing it, and feeling the room shake as Spirit launched.

I was almost as nervous watching the EDL as I was at the time! And watching the Sprit roll over Sleepy Hollow and stopping in just the right place was awsome. Same with Oppy, just seeing Eagle from 'the air' gave me a much better feeling of the place.

And talk about saving the best till last, the flyover of Endurance with tiny Oppy up there at Burns cliff was truly unforgettable! I can't wait to see somthing similar for Victoria.

I might have to go again now...

Hope you guys in Europe get it soon - for anyone who hangs out around here it is truly unmissible.

James

And the latest L7.

Nice view of the Gusev rim in the latest McMurdo images

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/pa...00P2293L7M1.JPG

Latest colour version...



James

Putting us about here...