Erebus/victoria Entry & Exploration, Would it be worth it? |
Erebus/victoria Entry & Exploration, Would it be worth it? |
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#1
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 510 Joined: 17-March 05 From: Southeast Michigan Member No.: 209 ![]() |
Last year, MER team decided to let Oppy go into Endurance because the value of the potential science gain outweighed the risks to the rover at that time. I remember Steve Squyres saying something like...if Oppy can't get back out, it would be like getting locked in a candy store.
I wonder if the same would be true when we get to Erebus and Victoria. If these craters show something significantly different than we've already seen, and there's a feasible entry/exit route, would they still risk sending Oppy in? If it were me, given the 18 month extended mission and the rover showing its age more and more, any target in Erebus or Victora would need to be very juicy. Then again, there's no guarantee that Oppy will live for the entire extension. Hmmm...depending on what we find when we get there, it could be a hard decision for the team to make! -------------------- --O'Dave
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#2
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 154 Joined: 17-March 05 Member No.: 206 ![]() |
You can see in this Navcam pic that as soon as Oppy hit the lighter colored soil it began to trench much deeper. Here's a theory: the darker soil supports Oppy much better because the blueberries tend to compress only just a little bit (being more like pebbles than sand). However, this lighter colored soil has fewer (or none) blueberries and is much more like very very fine sand that the wheels literally sink into.
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...DIP1999L0M1.JPG |
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#3
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 290 Joined: 26-March 04 From: Edam, The Netherlands Member No.: 65 ![]() |
QUOTE (Chmee @ Apr 27 2005, 02:18 PM) You can see in this Navcam pic that as soon as Oppy hit the lighter colored soil it began to trench much deeper. Here's a theory: the darker soil supports Oppy much better because the blueberries tend to compress only just a little bit (being more like pebbles than sand). However, this lighter colored soil has fewer (or none) blueberries and is much more like very very fine sand that the wheels literally sink into. http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...DIP1999L0M1.JPG Might be. There is a distinct difference in reflectivity (or colour) between the last 2 meters and the terrain before. BB might devide the load of the wheels more spread out through the profile of the toplayer. Maybe even somewhat sideways, while just the fine grains are pushed only downwards because there's less cohesion between the particles. Also, i think that the BB is associated to some other kind of feature: a crusty like toplayer. The last meter or so doesn't seem to have this property at all. Considering the load on one wheel (about 10 kg's), this stuff must be as soft as freshly fallen snow !! |
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