Getting to 'Big Crater', A little premature speculation |
Getting to 'Big Crater', A little premature speculation |
Sep 21 2006, 11:57 AM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 813 Joined: 8-February 04 From: Arabia Terra Member No.: 12 |
Opportunity is not quite at Victoria yet, but on the horizon is a tantalising goal for the future- the big eroded crater to the south-east, the rim of which is already visible. This is the first 'large scale' topography of the mission so far. Wouldn't it be great if Opportunity could get to these hills and uncover their secrets?
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/sfjcody2/route_to_big.jpg |
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Sep 23 2006, 08:27 PM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 656 Joined: 20-April 05 From: League City, Texas Member No.: 285 |
I found an MOC image that goes right through the middle of Big Crater (BC):
http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/e07_e12/im...1/E1101328.html Here's the hi-res version (not map projected). The north edge of the crater is a little above half-way down the image strip (wedge-shaped ridge, with point towards the left), the south edge is a crescent shaped ridge near the bottom of the image. http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/e07_e12/fu...11/E1101328.jpg And finally, here's a labeled clip of that same image, clipped to exclude most of the region beyond BC. There's some weird stuff going on in the southern portion of BC. The material is darker than elsewhere. What the heck are those black, channel-like features? I would guess shadows of ridges and fault lines, but I'd like to hear from someone with more geology experience than I have. Further to the south are hints of extensive layering. This place gets more interesting the more I look at it. We may just need to send MSL here if Oppy can't make it. |
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Sep 24 2006, 03:53 AM
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#3
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Member Group: Senior Member Posts: 136 Joined: 8-August 06 Member No.: 1022 |
I found an MOC image that goes right through the middle of Big Crater (BC): http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/e07_e12/im...1/E1101328.html Here's the hi-res version (not map projected). The north edge of the crater is a little above half-way down the image strip (wedge-shaped ridge, with point towards the left), the south edge is a crescent shaped ridge near the bottom of the image. http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/e07_e12/fu...11/E1101328.jpg And finally, here's a labeled clip of that same image, clipped to exclude most of the region beyond BC. There's some weird stuff going on in the southern portion of BC. The material is darker than elsewhere. What the heck are those black, channel-like features? I would guess shadows of ridges and fault lines, but I'd like to hear from someone with more geology experience than I have. Further to the south are hints of extensive layering. This place gets more interesting the more I look at it. We may just need to send MSL here if Oppy can't make it. The portion that's darkest is on the slope of the "outcrop" where it drops off about 400 meters from the center of the crater to the south floor. THe dark features are dunes. -Tim. |
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Sep 24 2006, 11:33 AM
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#4
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Member Group: Members Posts: 813 Joined: 8-February 04 From: Arabia Terra Member No.: 12 |
I think the trickiest issue for the planners would be coming up with a driving strategy for the etched terrain that is suitably aggressive but can also avoid/correct for getting stuck in drifts.
It would take the rover 400 sols to cover 12km if it moves at an average speed of 30m per sol. Can this be done on the etched terrain? Maybe with a cycle of single sol 90m 'mostly blind' drives followed by two sols allocated to drift extraction (if needed). |
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