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 30 2007, 02:20 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 |
Heading due east from Victoria would indeed be a very bad idea, there is a huge dune field over there. On the other hand, a look at the HiRISE image suggests that there is a route which is initially due south, then curves east through a region which appears generally more traversable than what Oppy covered heading to Vicky.
[attachment=10605:attachment] There are still some touchy areas to cover, but much of this is relatively open stretches of evaporite. Typically, it looks a lot like this up close: [attachment=10606:attachment] [attachment=10607:attachment] The HiRISE coverage is insufficient to map the complete route in detail, but there's enough to show that Oppy can make it to the edge of coverage without too much difficulty, particularly factoring in the new nav software. As ustrax pointed out earlier, http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/HiRISE/hirise...SP_001414_1780/ The overview suggests that, once the HiRISE gap is filled-in, a navigable route to the west rim of Ithaca is entirely feasible. Boring? I think not as bad as prior to Vicky, and the destination is already visible. There will be various outcrops and craters along the way, and lot's of entertainment in projecting where Oppy will go next. Plus Oppy ought to be moving quickly enough to guarantee some regular changes in scenery. As to scientific value, this takes us into an entirely new geological realm, not only the Ithaca rim peaks themselves, but the interior of Ithaca as well - which the MOLA maps indicate is substantially (hundreds of meters, as I recall) lower than than Vicky, and thus having the potential of having once contained standing water. Taking Oppy in any other direction would just see more of the same fractured/layered evaporite - talk about boring. Assuming Oppy is healthy at the time, I see no reason why this would be as much as a 4 year trip. Given the new nav software, I could envision completing the traverse in a single driving season, as little as a year. To me, the journey to Ithaca seems to sanest option after Victoria. |
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May 30 2007, 03:04 PM
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#3
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14448 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
The overview suggests that, once the HiRISE gap is filled-in, a navigable route to the west rim of Ithaca is entirely feasible. The MOC imagery doesn't tell the story. The nothern rim of Erebus is an area of HUGE dunes. MOC doesn't show that. We need the actual HiRISE imagery to say what we're going to see. Anything else is conjecture. I don't doubt the scientific value of Ithaca - it would be extraordinary. I simply believe that looking at the HiRISE imagery we DO have - there are some very very large dune fields with very big dunes with no real way around them. The North seems a far less dune-laden area than the south. This new software isn't magical - it's not traction control - it doesnt mean Opportunity has sprouted wings - it doesn't make the vehicle less prone to digging in its wheels - it simply gives us the means to identify that loss of motion while under power and terminate drives early ( as we saw at Jammerbugt ). The vehicle would still hit dunes, still get stuck - it just wouldn't do so as dramatically as at Purgatory. There is nothing to suggest the journey of 20km from Victoria to Ithaca could be conducted any more swiftly than the 1.5km journey from Erebus to Beagle. Fairly sweeping phrases about the terrain to the East and South Algo - my crop of the HiRISE imagery of excellent terrain was from due East of Victoria ( where you say it's terrible ). My crop of terrible terrain was from the South where you say there's an easy way out. I'm as sure that Ithaca is a bad idea as you are it's a good idea. I think there is a very very strong case for getting HiRISE images (even 2x2 binned) of terrain NE, S and SE of Victoria. All this is essentially idle banter without it. Doug |
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May 30 2007, 03:36 PM
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#4
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Member Group: Members Posts: 656 Joined: 20-April 05 From: League City, Texas Member No.: 285 |
My crop of terrible terrain was from the South where you say there's an easy way out. I'm as sure that Ithaca is a bad idea as you are it's a good idea. Incidentally, there are 3 attached images with my last post which are not displayed. When I go into full-edit I clearly see the attachments, both the files and the associated tags in the post, however none of them are showing above. Something gone awry with the site? Here, I'll try again: The first image shows an overview. I used red to indicate regions of heavy dunes, between which is a region of mottled terrain, close-ups of which are shown in the two follow-up images. Yes, as you say, there are regions to the south where the terrain is very bad, yet in the midst of the bad are regions which are pretty good. I appreciate that we have very different notions as to the wisdom of heading to Ithaca . It is too early to commit to it, Oppy may not survive that long, and I agree that we definitely need HiRISE to pave the way. Still, it's a heck of a lot of fun to contemplate. |
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