My technical-leaning mind suspects something engineering or science related. Perhaps it's some kind of test related to the raised wheel current. Perhaps they've spotted a tasty looking cobble or piece of bedrock, though I can't see anything in the images.

Note the smiley at the end. I don't think there is a chance they did it for a nice picture. Maybe if the picture is more useful like this...

Some years ago I happened to find myself strolling along the Lisbon waterfront and came across this inspiring monument to exploration. Even from a distance, I realised what it represented... there are not many sculptures you can say that about. Close up, I found the detail amazing and captivating. I stayed looking at it for quite some time....

What I find most confusing is that the Resolution mosaic was taken after the drive. It would have been much better taken before the drive when Oppy was much closer to the crater. I'm sure all will become clear in due course.

Taken before the drive, it wouldn't have had the pretty tracks in it. I wonder if it was one of those 'happy accidents' like the Aviation Week Navcam Mosaic

Doug

A very tasty morsel has been tossed our way in the latest official route map.

It looks like projected routes, as well as colour coding (yellow) for terrain to avoid?

Speaking about projected/planned routes what I would love to see is the map section right below (south) this one.

Porcupine here we go!
Tesheiner, by the look of it it appears the turn East won't take too long after...the yellow line takes that direction...

Is it my imagination or are there radial 'splat' patterns (some light, some dark) centered at each of the last few stopping points?

I assume those are projections of panoramas/images to fit the map.

Still waiting for image downlink but according to the data from the PCDT Opportunity moved back closer to Resolution; almost at the same spot it was on sol 1820.

Splat! Yes, remcook is correct.

Phil

Thanks. Has this always been done? I don't remember noticing them before.

I've seen them plenty of times in the past, yes.

One thing I have noticed about Meridiani Planum is that there is little or no regolith. All the craters we see are rimmed by thrusted-up bedrock.

Compare those with the ones we have seen at the Apollo landing sites where there is a very deep regolith and we see no bedrock.




I think the regolith in Gustav Crater is comparable to the Apollo's landing sites (Maybe not as deep).

So why is the bedrock so close to the surface at Meridiani? Is it because the winds have kept it clean? Is Gustav's deep because it is inside a basin and eons of sediments have been deposited there? The Moon's is deep from eons of impactors churning up the surface over and over.

My thinking on Meridiani is that the base rock is easily eroded once it is exposed to the surface. It's like it dissolves into a fine powder that the wind carries away. It leaves behind the blueberry's.