Winter Quarters, at Low Ridge Haven Options

[DFinfrock]

Since Spirit is no longer "Running for the Hills" and it appears that she will be staying at Low Ridge Haven for the next eight months or so, it seems like a good time to start a new topic.

I thought we could start with the great panorama stitched by jvandriel, and then altered by Tesheiner. We are going to become very familiar with this view in the coming months.

David


[attachment=5107:attachment] (286k)

[aldo12xu]

Cool image, Phil. Aesthetically and science wise. The Low Ridge layering seems to strike east-west below the rover and then changing to a more northeasterly strike. But the rocks exposed near Mitchelltree (which should be on strike) seem to have curved formed. Or is this an optical effect created by the polar projection? I'll try to sketch some images after the long weekend to clarify what I mean.

Here's a view of the Mitchelltree curvilinear bedding I was referring to, Navcam from sol 806.



By the way, is there any chance Spirit would be able to make a quick run to the north facing slopes of Pitcher's Mound during the winter months?

[RNeuhaus]

Pitcher's Mound is on the west side of Spirit, its official name is Von Braun (not sure). The distance from its position to Von Braun is around 129 meters in a straight line. That is a tough distance for 5 tired wheels and the rover drivers must select the best route with thiner sand surface and estimate carefully about the power required to reach on PM before it is dead. It would be a very dramatic story.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/tm-...from_sol594.jpg

Rodolfo

[Shaka]

129 meters is almost certainly too wide a gulf to 'sprint' across safely, but the point is that Low Ridge extends for some distance to the west from Spirit's present location. If we can map a sequence of safe north-sloping oases along the ridge, we might be able to narrow that gap significantly over the coming months. We might then be able to see enough isolated knolls across the gap to make the trip south feasible. Assuming we still have a significant interest in Von Braun, we might be prepared to take the risk. From there, in spring we would have a choice of directions, to south Home Plate or the Promised Land.
We need an energy map of Low Ridge first.