Post Conjunction: Santa Maria to Cape York, The Journey to 'Spirit Point' |
Post Conjunction: Santa Maria to Cape York, The Journey to 'Spirit Point' |
Feb 8 2011, 03:35 PM
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
Starting a new topic to include Eduardo's Google overlay for the rest of the journey to Cape York:
http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/gmars_ma...41_1775_RED.kml Follow the link above and it should load right in to your Google Mars features. I took a low crow's flight along the final 6km this morning. Below in green is what I think the final route will look like. Also an interesting feature along the way that appears to be a cluster of rocks, possibly Santa Maria ejecta, or large meteorite fragments. Note how the dune has evolved around the three (or more) objects. Object is at -2.199395°, -5.396676° -- roughly 3km down range from Santa Maria. EDIT: bad link replaced, wider context image added for three rocks. -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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May 1 2011, 12:56 PM
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The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
This was very interesting, I thought...
The course charted will take Opportunity up to Endeavour's Cape York by way of Botany Bay, Arvidson confirmed. "Botany Bay through CRISM data shows hydrated sulfates and it's an easier approach to the southern side of Cape York where the phyllosilicates are exposed." Sooooo, looks like Oppy will actually drive past Cape York then double back and roll up onto it from the south. They really want a look at that rubble-surrounded crater, don't they? Can't wait to see those pics, as at least one of the blocks is bigger than Oppy herself... New Cape York pic up on: http://roadtoendeavour.wordpress.com/2011/...te-to-cape-york -------------------- |
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May 1 2011, 04:13 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2173 Joined: 28-December 04 From: Florida, USA Member No.: 132 |
What confuses me is that the darker green that is labeled as "clay minerals" at Cape Tribulation is not seen at Cape York, while the significance of the lighter, yellowish green seen around Cape York and elsewhere is not mentioned. (Does it indicate a weaker signal, or phyllosilicates of different mineralogy?)
Neither this latest image or the previous image from http://www.planetary.brown.edu/pdfs/3954.pdf shows any phyllosilicate signal around the crater on the South tip of Cape York. Perhaps all that ejecta will just be blocks of basalt. In fact, I don't see any phyllosilicate signal at the South end of Cape York in the latest image, so I don't know where they intend to look. The ejecta doesn't look like a good bet to me but of course it would be a good idea to investigate the ejecta regardless of whether it contains phyllosilicates or not. |
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May 2 2011, 03:08 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1055 Joined: 17-February 09 Member No.: 4605 |
In fact, I don't see any phyllosilicate signal at the South end of Cape York in the latest image, so I don't know where they intend to look. Actually the phyllosilicates at Cape York seem to originate with the ejecta from the now filled crater in the centre and were possibly dug out of a deeper, protected deposit by the impact. |
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