Noooooo!!!!!
I want my, I want my, I want my QTV.... um, R.

Say no more!

(About time I did something around here... I hope I got the x and y settings right!)

Sol 2058 3.2 mb QTVR file

Marquette doesn't look like a typical Meridiani rock to me. Besides, does anyone think they would stop to do a science campaign on a loose piece of the local bedrock? If this was a fragment of ejecta from the nearby "fresh crater," it is unlikely to be anything new, since that impact could have only excavated relatively shallow rocks. It seems more likely that this is either bedrock ejecta from a distant impact, or it is a meteorite fragment.

I look forward to seeing more imagery of Marquette, especially MIs. I am intrigued by paxdan's observation noting similarities to shatter cones.

Any science campaign here -- as already noted* -- could owe a lot to the necessity of giving the current-sucking wheel a rest. But Marquette does look different to me as well.

*"The right-front wheel is now showing a return of elevated motor currents. The plan ahead is to rest the actuator during an extended stop for an in-situ (contact) science campaign."

So, we'll have plenty of MI's of MI

It also doesn't look typical Meridiani to me. The latest set of pancams are under very different illumination than the first closeups. Notice how Marquette, as well as what are presumably fragments of the same original rock, is now showing some specular reflection (black arrows in attached image). Not the extensive reflection we had from the Fe-Ni meteorites, but not like regular Meridiani rock either.

On the other hand, something caught my eye that looks kind of like a blueberry (white arrow). Of course the resolution isn't quite good enough to be sure, so I too am really looking forward to MIs of MI!

I noticed that the other day; there's a block of something at the base of MI that shows it pretty clearly...



I keep thinking back to 'Granada', on the edge of Victoria, where we saw two very different types of rock in close proximity to each other... one type shot through with fractures and cracks, the other much denser-looking...

If this rock does consist of local Meridiani base rock; i.e. what the "pavement" is made of, then it is not very old at all. As I recall the RATs on this stuff have gone in very easily. As such, in this wind and sand blown environment a vertically standing sharp edge like that would not last long before it was rounded down. So in that event we could indeed be looking at ejecta from Fresh Crater.

And that reminds me. Does anyone know if a hardness formula was ever developed (or even workable at all) for the RAT? Perhaps a ratio of the number of motor turns to current draw?

From what I can see on my latest 3D pic, there is rubble from here to the horizon...

http://twitpic.com/p07dk/full

And there's some very interesting new structure visible on the sky-facing side of the slab, if you anaglyphalise (is that a word? It shoudl be! ) today's pics...

http://twitpic.com/p08v2

Today's pics? Where are you seing today's pics? I can't see today's pics...
BTW and totally off topic...are you seated Stu?
Have you seen Alan Stern's latest status at FB?
"About to call a teacher and ask her to think about flying in space-- again."

Just got back from work and haven't seen them before, so they're "today's" for me

My attempt at the Marquette Island mosaic:



James

Oppy's tour of Marquette Island continues...

I think MI is out of the IDD workvolume after this drive, just a bit, so I would expect another step towards the rock before attempting any sniffing/imaging.

Edited: ... assuming the plan is to "touch" the rock and not only to do a 360º survey.

They might be planning a 360 before the IDD campaign to ensure they're in the best spot for an extended IDD campaign to give the FR a chance to catch its breath.