Paolo's Plunge, First dip into Victoria |
Paolo's Plunge, First dip into Victoria |
Sep 11 2007, 07:53 AM
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 4279 Joined: 19-April 05 From: .br at .es Member No.: 253 |
Hi all,
Like every morning, I've just checked the latest info on the pancam web looking for the current and immediate future imaging plan and ... Stay tuned and start Alt-F5'ing the exploratorium page at 19:35 UTC or so because today might be the day. Sol 1291 is a driving sol! |
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Sep 16 2007, 06:39 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 |
As far as I can tell, the most we know about where Opportunity will go and what she will investigate comes from this Aviation Week article. They point out that, after the toe dip...
QUOTE The plan is for the rover, heading south, to then drive 100 ft. into the crater. This will take several days. It will then be commanded tens of meters parallel along the crater wall. The objective will be to reach about a 1-meter-thick white rock layer that cuts through the wall of the entire crater--but at a point where it's easily sampled, not where it's also visible in the high promontories. I can't see how they can travel parallel to the light band of rock for tens of meters unless Opportunity turns to the south to follow it across the bay.I think the article also makes clear the initial scientific objective. QUOTE With Victoria, "we will really be making the first good vertical slice through an impact ejecta blanket and crater walls on another planet," says Squyres. Then they go on to say...QUOTE This is the original Martian surface layer before the meteorite hit, burying and preserving the layer that was originally directly exposed to the Martian environment. At a minimum, the area is expected to provide direct data on the Martian climate billions of years ago. And even more, it could be (the) "bathtub ring," showing the Martin surface or ground water level at the time. If it's a surface or ground water signature, it will be important to Martian life assessments.
-------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
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Sep 19 2007, 03:38 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 4251 Joined: 17-January 05 Member No.: 152 |
I can't see how they can travel parallel to the light band of rock for tens of meters unless Opportunity turns to the south to follow it across the bay. I agree with Rocker here. This is the route that makes the most sense, by keeping away from the cliffs and sampling the best defined part of the white layer (at the end of the arrows in my image). From Alan's map, here are two possible routes, the white was my initial guess, but the yellow is a possibility based on the drive direction imagery Tesheiner pointed to:Or, you never know, since they're driving downhill, maybe they'll drive straight through the patch of sand in front of us! |
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