Bill:

No, not Anatolia - the odd feature near Comanche was the Gusev crack... ...and slope failure sounds interesting. I previously suggested that there might be underground pools of ice-rich soil in various spots, making a series of 'water tables' which would influence the material above. Such material might provide enough 'lubrication' to mediate slippage, especially on a slope which gathers more sunlight...

Bob Shaw

Ah, I see. _Those_ Gusev cracks. I was still thinking Meridiani.

I've seen that happen. This was a shopping center development, thinly-bedded rock with a 5 degree dip. They excavated the area of the lower parking lot (downdip), thereby removing the support of the upper parking lot. When it rained, it wetted the clay between the beds, providing lubrication. The upper parking lot started to slide down onto the lower parking lot. Solution was a row of drilled pilings to "pin" the strata down, and pave it with asphalt to keep the clay dry.

As Spirit moves away from El Dorado towards HomePlate, we'll get a good look at possible mini-craters.

--Bill

Like the dog that didn't bark in the night, this total lack of a finer dust in El Dorado must be telling us something. I can't recall a single MB imprint that was so 'clean'. Steve really needs to update his little blog, perhaps letting us know what the Mini-TES has been making of this material.

I'm sure Steve will update us once we're under way again.

Doug

Presumably the fines have been carried away by the wind - up and over Husband Hill and on to the rest of Mars. The granules left behind are too heavy to make it up the hill.
They have been worked and rolled around down here in Ultreya/Eldorado for n zillion years until they are "round and firm and fully packed"

I wish there was a way we could try to break up the particles. What would happen if you just put the RAT into the sand and 'spun' it for a while at full speed? World's most expensive eggbeater. Even without diamond abrasive it might reveal something about the interior of the grains.

Does anyone know the direction of the next drive? Into the 'Shadow Sea' or back onto 'dry land'?

Last "drive-direction" panorama was looking SSE downslope.
IMO, Spirit will drive back to safer (?) terrain before going downhill.

Quite spectacular, Doug. Great work!
I made it slightly brighter and introduced a shading in the horizon, with a simulated sun glow... hope you like it!

Guys, this is nothing but one of the most awsome unearthly spectacular views
ever seen on another world
... for me at least among the top 5 of the entire MER mission imagery
because of that alien, un-earth-like atmosphere ... one of those *really* great visions that show that Martian landscape is more than just dull rock-strewn plains but an entirely world of it's own exotic beauty

A hundred years from now on New Years Day, Nirgal Doaks and his 'Martian' family will schedule an annual picnic on the nearest Black Sand Slope. Good things to eat, building sand castles, and free-style skiing across those slippery little 'ball bearings'.

[insert smiley denoting 'sublime contentment']

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/pa...00P2430R2M1.JPG
JAWS CLVII "Get everyone out of the lake! Quick!"


O.K. New Photos out! C'mon Autostitchers; quit nursing your hangovers and get to work! A new sand MI view from a different dune area - less clean and well-sorted.

The mission was originally scheduled to go here, to The Inner Basin first, but for a couple of valid reasons they decided to climb Husband Hill first. We saw a lot of great geology on that hillclimb, but _this_ place is wondrous.

--Bill

Shaka:

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the Inner Basin...

That funny looking circular feature in the sand that was spotted a couple days ago...

It's where a sandworm had started to surface but didn't....

As Elmer Fudd, in duck-hunting role says: We must be werrry werrry quiet!

Hahaha! Sharks and sandworms...this place is more dangerous than I had suspected...time to move on.

This is truly a scenic spot though, with some nifty science observations to boot. Doug's lovely panorama was a nice New Year's gift. The colors are really beautiful and quite natural looking. I felt as if I was there.

Mike: Thanks for the daily MMB metadata updates. I have been checking for them regularly, and then spinning and zooming around through this developing panorama with joy. Doing that in 3D with the anaglyph panoramas has been delightful.

Damn, I love your MidnightMarsBrowser!

I'm guessing...but...

711 p1212.07 0 0 0 0 0 0 front_haz_ultimate_2_bpp_pri15
711 p1214.05 0 0 0 0 0 0 front_hazcam_ultimate_4_bpp
711 p1311.03 0 0 0 0 0 0 ultimate_rear_hazcam_pri_15
711 p1950.05 0 0 0 0 0 0 navcam_mtes_AzEl_0_neg45_1bpp_pri57
711 p2111.05 0 0 0 0 0 0 pancam_cal_targ_L234567Rall
711 p2535.15 0 0 0 0 0 0 pancam_shadow_L234567Rall
711 p2536.15 0 0 0 0 0 0 pancam_gallant_knight_edgar_L234567Rall
711 p2600.07 0 0 0 0 0 0 pancam_tau
711 p2600.07 0 0 0 0 0 0 pancam_tau
711 p2631.01 0 0 0 0 0 0 pancam_sky_spot_L234567R34567
712 p0695.03 0 0 0 0 0 0 navcam_5x1_az_162_3_bpp
712 p1212.07 0 0 0 0 0 0 front_haz_ultimate_2_bpp_pri15
712 p1311.03 0 0 0 0 0 0 ultimate_rear_hazcam_pri_15
712 p1795.01 0 0 0 0 0 0 navcam_5x1_az_342_1_bpp
712 p2631.01 0 0 0 0 0 0 pancam_sky_spot_L234567R34567


711 back off from the current site, and image it. 712 Head off out the dunes and take imagery for 713 driving which will be SSW

Doug