Endeavour Drive - Drivability analysis |
Endeavour Drive - Drivability analysis |
Sep 18 2008, 11:05 AM
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#1
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14433 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/200809191
You can listen via NPR, or via one of the web feeds that are listed on the site, but make sure you do listen if you can. |
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Sep 22 2008, 06:13 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 |
... Due south from Victoria is very feasible. The drifts never get as big as to the north, and after a few km they give way to surfaces nearly as smooth as the area near Endurance, but with more flat outcrops - this from the HiRISE image extending furthest south and east. So, south until the drifts disappear, and then southeast via the Endurance-like crater to the isolated hill on Endeavour's rim is very realistic. ... I spent most of the night reconsidering this, and I still agree with you and mhoward, Phil. Your array of HiRise crops was a genius idea for those people who don't have the IAS software or know of the viewer page previously posted for zooming and panning. That general route seems to almost be a no-brainer if the overriding goal to minimize risk, which I think it should be. As we've seen in the past, opportunistic science targets like the cobbles and meteorites are randomly distributed. Ancient craters like Erebus are seen everywhere that bedrock is exposed. Once the rover gets closer to Endeavor, there are some very interesting, previously buried craters that might be worth a visit. I also find the Anatolia-like fractures fascinating. It appears we will see many of them once Opportunity is as far south as mini-Endurance. I'm not sure how important they will be to the scientists unless we find some that are large enough and safe enough to drive down into where Oppy can study a vertical section of rock. Paolo: I hate to add another question to the many being thrown at you, but I think this is an easy one, being MER trivia. Some of us occasionally refer to Opportunity as Oppy, as I did above. It's partially an abbreviation convenience, but also an endearing expression. I always wondered if those of you on the MER team had any nicknames for the rovers, or if nicknames were considered to be in bad form. -------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
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Sep 22 2008, 06:19 AM
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#3
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Member Group: Members Posts: 813 Joined: 8-February 04 From: Arabia Terra Member No.: 12 |
A consensus is forming! South it is!
I like Phil's comparison shots. What I'm thinking of doing now is taking this and extending it by making a colour coded geologic map overlay for the HiRISE frames based purely on ripple types. I just want to check first to see if anyone else is already working on it because it seems to be the obvious next step. |
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