Looking back...

Ripples on Sol 1792

Looking back on sol 1791

Here's the QuickTime VR for sol 1791 (3 MB)

No problem with the small craterlet then - and the sol 1793 view is almost featureless.

Seing Tesheiner's latest map I'm here thinking if Porcupine is still a valid hypothesis, I'm a bit distracted, has been any info that I missed pointing in another direction?
Anyway...according to my clairvoyant powers we're exactly two years from reaching Endeavour (forget that fact of my powers failed concerning the end of leg 01...), I'll celebrate it!

EDITED: Is Halfmoon an official name?

Like Ranger and Surveyor? Yes.

Thanks Tesheiner, I believe I found the original:
http://www.hrmm.org/halfmoon/halfmoon.htm

"Henry Hudson was the first European to explore the Hudson River throughout its navigable length and leave behind a detailed description of his voyage. In the fall of 1609, Henry Hudson and his ship, the Half Moon, with a crew of 20 Dutch and English sailors explored the Hudson River from New York harbor up to present day Albany, NY."

New official route map continues to show a projected route towards the southwest. I'm a bit baffled by that, since the direct route to the southeast looks fine at this point. I suppose there may be a specific target or interesting region to the SW that they want to taste.

Porcupine maybe? I can't see any other reason to continue SW. May be quite an interesting target - and photogenic as well, I'm getting bored of these endless ripples again now.

I think the route planners are trying to pass the west end of a big band of purgatoids that extend right up to the eastern edge of "Porcupine". They need to get past that before turning east.

Phil

Paolo, sorry but I haven't seen your question before, do you mean how am I doing regarding my prediction in terms of time for arrival?
Opportunity is 94 days behind the schedule (if there was no drive tosol), I expected her to reach the end of leg 01 in November but we're still about a hundred meters from reaching that goal, that will put us at Endeavour's shores around...April 14, 2010...


James and Phil...Porcupine...Porcupine...Where have I heard that name before?...

If all the terrain model predictions are right, once they bust out into the flats Oppy should just about be able to fly.....

Our route to Endeavour so far has tended to stick to exposed bedrock. Looking at the entire Victoria-Endeavour region, I can see a potentially tasty stretch of bedrock to our south/southwest, which I've circled in my image below. Perhaps the long-term plan is to maximize time spend on bedrock (easier driving, greater chance for interesting science).

I've sketched a potential route below, starting from our current location, that covers lots of bedrock and also allows for a peek into "mini-Endurance" (is that what people are calling it?)

no new images for the last four days ...
The latest I found on the JPL page from Sol 1793 shows apparently its backing up from a drift ...



Now I am a bit confused ... anyone any update on Oppy's current situation ?

Sure!
Some data already hit the pancam web and today's drive was a looong one. More than 150m southwards.