Going To Mogollon..., ...and points South |
Going To Mogollon..., ...and points South |
Jan 20 2006, 02:30 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3008 Joined: 30-October 04 Member No.: 105 |
QUOTE (Tesheiner @ Jan 20 2006, 05:38 AM) It was already said that those structures seen on previous hazcam pics (well, in all sort of cameras and filters...) were delicate. [attachment=3535:attachment] (138k) But what about these ones? It looks like the smallest touch could broke them. [attachment=3536:attachment] (138k) PS: It's time to open a new thread, don't you think so? Good idea. That topic was "tired" and had the cord showing. Delicate, to be sure. One thing I've noticed is that the "ledge-forming" rocks are a layer and extend to the right and left of where we camped out. I wonder if that feature is related to the bluff at Mogollon Rim? We need to check out the "mobile dust" at that site and see if there has been more movement during the stopover. --Bill -------------------- |
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Feb 20 2006, 12:20 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3008 Joined: 30-October 04 Member No.: 105 |
QUOTE They need to find a way to stow it and get moving again. I can see the rationale for their current actions: the IDD may fail soon and become history, so they are trying to get most detailed information on the wonderful sedimentary structures while they can. But Jimminy Cricket, we've been at this site forever-and-a-day and we need to get to the next outcrop which might well be the Holy Grail of this region. QUOTE ...is the purpose of this mission to look for support for the hypothesis that there was once standing water on Mars, or is it to characterize the surface of Mars as well as possible? I'd say that they are (or should be) studying the Geology to find evidence of water. --Bill -------------------- |
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Feb 20 2006, 07:28 PM
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 71 Joined: 11-May 05 From: Colorado USA Member No.: 386 |
Unfortunately, we haven't found anything new with Opportunity in about a year. I can set up my geology shop at a random 2-foot exposure of layered rock near my house, study it ad nauseum for months and not really learn anything about the big picture of even the local area, let alone the whole planet. I probably won't be able to tell if there is water on the Earth, unless it rains while I am there. Are we trying to prove that if you look long enough at a single grain of sand, you can derive the whole structure of the universe?
There has to be a balance between moving on to new things and making sure you don't miss anything. If Lewis and Clarke were so focused on not missing any detail, they would have never got more than a few miles outside of St. Louis. They missed a lot of things. They knew that they had to miss them if they wanted to get the big picture. By studying every single rock that appears interesting, you are thowing away the chance at finding great new things -- especially at this stage of the mission where the local area has already been characterized in detail. The basic philosophy over the last 10 months has been a grave error -- a waste of 10 vital months on Mars. The rovers have wheels for a reason. You are likely to increase the knowledge gained by orders of magnitude for every mile you drive. In this type of exploration you must understand, acknowledge, and accept that you will miss some things. But on average, what you gain from looking at new things will vastly surpass what you miss. Scott . |
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