MSL at Rocknest, First scoop samples - sols 57-101 |
MSL at Rocknest, First scoop samples - sols 57-101 |
![]()
Post
#201
|
|
![]() Administrator ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Admin Posts: 5172 Joined: 4-August 05 From: Pasadena, CA, USA, Earth Member No.: 454 ![]() |
Curiosity has put more than 400 meters on the odometer and tosol (sol 56) she bumped up to a sand drift that we now know (via Twitter) is named Rocknest and will be the site of the first sample grab. In last week's press briefing, John Grotzinger warned that we will be here for "what seems like a very long time," 2-3 weeks. They will have to run several samples through the SA-SPaH (Sample Acquisition, Processing and Handling subsystem, pronounced "Saw-spa") and in particular CHIMRA (Collection and Handling for In situ Martian Rock Analysis, pronounced "chimera") in order to "clean" it of any remaining Earthly contamination with good Mars dirt before they deliver the first sample to SAM or Chemin. So this seems like a good place to start a new thread.
As usual, discuss stuff that happened through sol 56 in the previous thread. -------------------- My website - My Patreon - @elakdawalla on Twitter - Please support unmannedspaceflight.com by donating here.
|
|
|
![]() |
![]()
Post
#202
|
||
![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 ![]() |
... Never too soon for reasoned guesses... I've become fascinated by the thought of the rover gingerly traversing the polygonal ridges on the way to the top of the mountain. It will be a long time into the future before MSL gets near these things, but I couldn't help but estimate the scales of things.The planned routes that I have seen for Curiosity's explorations show her in the vicinity of the polygonal ridges somewhere between sols 700 and 800. That may be optimistic, but it is clear that it will be a long time before we may get to see these ridges from the ground. Among the amazing images this rover will eventually return to earth, those of the polygonal ridges may challenge those of the canyons and precipices we expect to see as some of the most astounding extraplanetary visions our exploratory robots will capture from one of the inner planets. To be fair, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I can't help but wonder what this rover will look like from orbit as she approaches these features. In the attached image I have grabbed a HiRISE image of some of the more impressive, large-scale boxwork structures at full scale and overlayed a blue ellipse at roughly the same scale to represent the rover, were she to venture into this vicinity. -------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
|
|
||
![]() ![]() |
![]() |
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 21st June 2024 - 08:20 AM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |
![]() |