It's no use H4, they just won't be persuaded.

I'm still hoping someone will answer briv's question about the size of Marquette. Would briefcase-sized be about right?

If a wealthy relative died and left you a million dollar cane covered with diamonds, would you ever, under any circumstances use it to tip over a rock? What if the cane was worth hundreds of millions of dollars?

Tonight's catchup - most of the R21 colour drive direction mosaics I missed while without internet (sols 2034 to 2054).

I'll just put one thumbnail in this post to save space, but follow the link and you'll see all ten.



James

After yestersol bump, the IDD is right in position to start another "science campaign".


Looking to the arm's attitude I'm wondering if this is an attempt to smash the rock.

This is one rugged rascally rock...



I sure wouldn't like to try and push it over...

I might, if I'd already been humping it around the desert for six years using it to scrape dirt off of rocks, and occasionally rolling it down a steep hill with no guarantee of getting it back up.

(Just kidding... please don't push the rock...)

OK. Not exactly an imposing monolith. More like the size of a chunky, medium large handbag.

It looks a little larger than the 26cm diameter wheel. Still a hazard to run into. If the wheel climbed up onto it, the rover could be hung up*. And putting any force on the rover's old arm with its gimpy joint would not be a good idea. (Are they still afraid to stow that thing?)

*edit: On the other hand, from wikipedia, the suspension system "allows the rover to go over obstacles... that are more than a wheel diameter". Hmmmm. Probably the best shot at tipping the rock would be if the wheel climbed up on it. Good idea?


http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...cam/2009-11-12/

A lot easier and a lot safer than attempting to turn over MI would be to turn over one of the smaller rubble pieces by driving over it. Presumably they are fragments of the same bigger rock and so are the same type of rock.

I'm not sure what we'd learn from that though. Is the idea that the surface not exposed to the wind would tell us something about weathering or maybe how long the rocks have sat here?

Well, we are *well* past warranty anyway, so why not to take some risk? Unless drivers decide to ram the rock at full speed, I don't see why it would be that dangerous to push it. Keep in mind that if the rock topples, it might be interesting to examine how soil beneath him differs from open plain. Maybe this give a clue how long the rock is there.

There's phyllosilicates between here and Endeavour; I'd rather see those. Unless Marquette is an example, of course.

The topling process might hit the rover. THe topling process may kick up so much dirt it obscures the solar arrays and the cameras, The topling process rips the IDD off. The topling process takes a solar array with it.

I'd keep a LOT of things in mind.

Ha, ha! Too much coffee?

I too don't like the idea of purposely pushing on that rock. But really, it's barely larger than rocks the rover was designed to roll over. Still, no reason to go out of our way looking for trouble.

Reasonable question ... my answer would start with, how far "past warranty" is an immaterial metric. Over 2000 sols are in the books and that doesn't hinge on any decision made now. Risk loses its sting not when the past is extensive, but when the future is short. What does matter is what can be achieved and how likely the achievement is. A reasonable, but not exhaustive metric would be to look at the high potential science return of an Endurance campaign times the probability of accomplishing that campaign if (1) Opportunity is driven in a discovery-responsive but cautious fashion, or (2) Opportunity is driven to maximize hypothetical upsides of current investigations without respect to the 'opportunity' cost of lost future investigations if we just say "what the heck, we're past warranty, let's take some risk". I would suggest, at a minimum you'd have to show that the potential value of your risk taking times probability of its success would exceed the probabilistic impact to the Endeavor journey and campaign.

So, my answer in this instance would be: you're looking at a low probability of achieving something of limited value while accepting some risks to science instrumentation, mobility, and vehicle, all of which jeopardize more likely and more valuable campaigns between here and Endeavor and at the crater. (My opinion, only, btw, not speaking for anyone.)

Sol 2063 L7/R1 pancam anaglyph of SW face of MI:

That's a statement worth remembering, folks; spoken like a true systems engineer! Hell, that's actually a very good heuristic.

Completely agree that, in this case, the risk/reward ratio yields a very straightforward answer of "no".