Cape York - Northern Havens, Sol 2780 - 2947 Options

[Stu]

Oppy seems to have stopped to catch her breath at Turkey Haven, and the latest Hazcams show she is preparing to spend some time studying the rocks there, so this seems like a good time to start a new topic.

If you have any images/observations to share relating to Oppy's approach to Turkey Haven, please post them in the previous thread.

To start us going, here's my take on Oppy's view of Turkey Haven - not suggesting the colours are particularly realistic, but they do show, I think, the great variety of tones and hues visible on the rocks at this intriguing place...

[Stu]

All true, Bill. We'll get what we get, when we get it, when it's possible to get it to us. End of story. If anyone starts to suffer withdrawl symptoms from images, there's a new release of Oppy images to the PDS on the 28th - sols 2521-2610, the section ofher trek which included those small craters named after historical NASA manned spacecraft, etc - to trawl through and make pretty pictures out of.

( And if anyone dares to moan this year about the MER team having the Thanksgiving holidays off, or doing less during this period, or accuses them of slacking, I will personally go round to their house and give them a Benny Hill-style slap on the head whilst shouting "Shut up!!!!" They deserve and need a break from their jobs now and again, just like the rest of us. )

[ronatu]

All true, Bill. We'll get what we get, when we get it, when it's possible to get it to us. End of story. If anyone starts to suffer withdrawl symptoms from images, there's a new release of Oppy images to the PDS on the 28th - sols 2521-2610, the section ofher trek which included those small craters named after historical NASA manned spacecraft, etc - to trawl through and make pretty pictures out of.

( And if anyone dares to moan this year about the MER team having the Thanksgiving holidays off, or doing less during this period, or accuses them of slacking, I will personally go round to their house and give them a Benny Hill-style slap on the head whilst shouting "Shut up!!!!" They deserve and need a break from their jobs now and again, just like the rest of us. )

Do you know if Opportunity will drive a little more before winter? And if not - when driving will resume?

[centsworth_II]

Do you know if Opportunity will drive a little more before winter? And if not - when driving will resume?

From Stu's interview with James Wray:
"...mainly we’re just hoping to survive the winter! If we find a good north-facing slope, we might be able to make brief 'sorties' throughout the winter to nearby targets of geologic interest..."

And from Matt Lenda's blog:
"We still have some trekking to do to find all the best slopes, and to see what slopes also have good science targets.... I expect activity to dwindle down throughout December, with January-April being 'hunker down' months with occasional science activities."

I'm sure no one knows the actual driving plans for the winter/spring. A cleaning event would certainly change things, as would an unfortunate dusting event.

[Matt Lenda]

All true, Bill. We'll get what we get, when we get it, when it's possible to get it to us. End of story. If anyone starts to suffer withdrawl symptoms from images, there's a new release of Oppy images to the PDS on the 28th - sols 2521-2610, the section ofher trek which included those small craters named after historical NASA manned spacecraft, etc - to trawl through and make pretty pictures out of.

( And if anyone dares to moan this year about the MER team having the Thanksgiving holidays off, or doing less during this period, or accuses them of slacking, I will personally go round to their house and give them a Benny Hill-style slap on the head whilst shouting "Shut up!!!!" They deserve and need a break from their jobs now and again, just like the rest of us. )

Honestly, part of me wants to fly back to Pasadena (I'm home in CO for vacay!) right now and sweat out that high-calorie Thanksgiving meal with a good tactical planning day!

I'm sure no one knows the actual driving plans for the winter/spring. A cleaning event would certainly change things, as would an unfortunate dusting event.

Pretty much -- it's still a week-to-week assessment. It's just flat-out impossible to predict dust factor or Tau with anything less than completely unreasonable error bars. Historically we see many Tau and DF trends, none of which are useful on a tactical basis. They are what they are, we deal with it as it comes along.

-m