Diane,
Not at all, not all all! I've got another exemple. You know I'm not a geologist but I've got some experience hiking the mountains and I want to share this one. My wildess dream will be to actualy Rat the cliffs and I believe it IS possible because I hope we can get to the "horizontal feature".
Let me show you what I mean. This horizontal feature is still very far and I guess it could look a little bit like this (I'm talking of the upper part since we know that the lower is different from this) :


Pretty steep eh? Now, look how it looks like when you're actualy there :


Convinced ?
I'll dedicate my time looking pictures to find out a place where Oppy will have a chance to get there.
That's the big difference as compared to Endurance. The feature could be a kind of terrace. They call this "Faja" in Spain. These pictures come (once again) from el "Parque National de Ordessa y del Monte Perdido" and it's called "Faja de las Flores".
What about 2007 UMSF meeting there?

Now that's the kind of meeting I've been thinking about to be honest. I'd just love a gathering of UMSF'ers in a rough mountain area combined with an overnight stay at high altitude to look at the sky at night.

It's maybe not that realistic but I'd LOVE it..

Nico

Uh, beer is out of the question then...

Practical limitations of site selection notwithstanding, you have an entire planet to explore and you would go back to what is essentially the same neighbourhood? I don't want to sound like I'm bored with this area, but I certainly hope the next rover goes somewhere drastically different from either MER site.

Brian

I'd like to let you know that I NEVER get hiking with friends without bringing a bottle(s) of wine

Uh, no-go..must have a few beers along. a few

Nico

Singing fish indeed, I got vertigo just looking at the pics at full scale. Then realising you'd walked along that narrow sloping scree-covered ledge to take the second picture... *shudder* You were roped up for that, right? No, wait, I don't want to know!!

Anyway, I can't imagine Oppy could navigate such a ledge, even if VC did have such a feature.

(Edit, having read the next few posts) You did that whilst drinking?? Now I really am going to be ill!

You know what rovers drivers are able to do, don't you?
About myself, I just don't drink when I go there

Can we please have the barbecue at a safer spot?

OTOH, this is the only site on the entire planet where we have spend 2 years studying several meters of the sedimentary record and continuing the traverse downhill and down-section makes perfect sense.

--Bill

I won't dare step into a geologist's boots, but here's an image which shows that the scalloping of VC is not unique:

Unfortunately I do not know what the source is, only that I believe it came from this forum a couple of years ago and I recall it was located in the vicinity of Meridiani.

Hopefully this "alternate Vicky" could inspire the geo-minded to understand the processes involved.

As far as what the interior of Victoria will look like, I think Pando has nailed pretty well what we might expect to see with a low-res navcam view. The response of the navcams matches fairly well that of the MOC I believe, which explains why we can match features on the far rim so well between orbital and navcam. I expect the same for the interior.

Even the L7's won't give much of an improvement on our current L2 view of the far rim. What is very hard to predict is what the closeups of the inside rim will look like. I can only give the interior of Endurance as a prototype, but of course VC will be much more dramatic.

So Pando, could you give us a nice simulated full-resolution L7 view from Cabo Verde looking across Duck Bay to Cabo Frio?

Not convinced, but always open-minded. There's no way to know until we're there. I do worry about Oppy's footing. (Perhaps not quite the right word.... Maybe what Oppy needs is monster truck tires.)

Anyway, I'll look forward to your expeditionary reports! This forum is so addictive because of the wealth of knowledge and viewpoints that everyone brings.

Stay in the Serengeti for a month, then venture off. If you go back later on, during the wet season, and things will look a lot different.
Or look at Halley's Comet. Quite a number of probes from several countries flew past it. Different equipment can get different or better data.


But at this point, I'd be happy to see MSL just land somewhere safe and interesting.
Though it might be cool to go back to see Opportunity or Spirit in their final resting places, camouflaged with a layering of dust, permanent monuments to their achievements.

I would say Mud Flap Gal & Mysetery Man will be inside of Victoria but I think it will look like Endurance but much larger