After Victoria..., .. what next? |
After Victoria..., .. what next? |
May 28 2007, 02:07 PM
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#1
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The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
I know we've had rather light-hearted discussions about this before, with most people agreeing that Oppy is likely to end her days inside or on the edge of Victoria Crater, simply because there's nothing else to investigate within reach, but has Steve S got it in his mind that Oppy will head off somewhere else after Victoria? This report could be read in a way that suggests that...
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May 29 2007, 11:59 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 4256 Joined: 17-January 05 Member No.: 152 |
You guys want completely uncalled for, brazen speculation? I'll give you completely uncalled for, brazen speculation!
Perhaps we need to think outside the box on this one. Let's suppose we reach a point where it's deemed there's little to be gained staying at Vicky, and that we're still mobile and funded. Let's suppose the "big crater" to the southeast is deemed an interesting target. Instead of driving southeastish, the most direct route there, through what appears to be purgatoryish dunes, perhaps it would actually be far quicker to drive northeast, back to the flat tarmac we had around Endurance, and then skirt east towards the north rim of Big. In this map I've sketched a route that gets us to the tarmac very quickly from an extension of Vicky's anulus. In total, we'd spend far less distance in dunes than we have in the past. Of course this all depends on how far the tarmac continues eastwards. The circle is roughly where we first got stuck in dunes. |
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May 30 2007, 12:28 AM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
...suppose we reach a point where it's deemed there's little to be gained staying at Vicky, and that we're still mobile and funded..... it would actually be far quicker to drive northeast, back to the flat tarmac we had around Endurance I'm with you on part of that Fred, though I'm still way too skeptical about the chances of travelling 20 or so km. But if we have exhausted the obvious science at Victoria, then I could imagine getting back to the "tarmac" as you call it and heading back North or Northeast. Among some of our tasks could be meteorite hunting (or global impact ejecta), since Meridiani has proven to be a sort of uber-Antarctica in its meteorite hunting opportunities. Once on the tarmac again we could head back around to Endurance and Eagle, studying the dust deposition and erosion rates on different portions of Oppy's old tracks where we have a very EXACT timeline and season count since the soil was disturbed at each spot. The chance to examine the chute and backshell site is also something that would excite the engineers among us. -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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May 30 2007, 12:48 AM
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#4
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
The chance to examine the chute and backshell site is also something that would excite the engineers among us. I'd go for that. EDL at Mars is so notoriously (and historically) difficult that it would be well worth the effort to dedicate some intensive study to the heat shield, backshell, and especially the parachute...valuable follow-up data for future missions. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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