Erebus/victoria Entry & Exploration, Would it be worth it? Options

[odave]

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!

[djellison]

The arm was built to carry the instruments, and the instruments only. It doesnt have the power in the motors, or the strength in its structure to lift the rover.

It's not like we're trying to climb up a 40 degree slope here - backing out is a very valid option I'd have thought.

Doug

[David]

It's not like we're trying to climb up a 40 degree slope here - backing out is a very valid option I'd have thought.

Doug

Then what? Try to maneuver into a trough rather than over the crest of a dune?

[lyford]

Then what?  Try to maneuver into a trough rather than over the crest of a dune?

I'd suggest a wedge with a slight divot shot.

It does appear that Oppy has stumbled upon some fundamentally different stuff - I don't recall ever seeing the treads on the wheels filled in so perfectly. Must be very fine powder like material... Odd, since we seem to have crested quite a few larger dunes before with minor sinking.

(Boy, I go on a road trip for 2 weeks and look what I miss: Spirit's Big Find and Opportunity's Big Trap!)

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

It does appear that Oppy has stumbled upon some fundamentally different stuff - I don't recall ever seeing the treads on the wheels filled in so perfectly.  Must be very fine powder like material... Odd, since we seem to have crested quite a few larger dunes before with minor sinking.

I've seen that in the wheels of boths rovers when they've got stuck in the soil....

Opportunity inside Enduance Crater: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...LP1214L0M1.HTML

In that picture, the left wheel is in even deeper than it is now, but the other wheels remained relatively clear.

[lyford]

It does appear that Oppy has stumbled upon some fundamentally different stuff - I don't recall ever seeing the treads on the wheels filled in so perfectly.  Must be very fine powder like material... Odd, since we seem to have crested quite a few larger dunes before with minor sinking.

I've seen that in the wheels of boths rovers when they've got stuck in the soil....
Opportunity inside Enduance Crater: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...LP1214L0M1.HTML
In that picture, the left wheel is in even deeper than it is now, but the other wheels remained relatively clear.

Thanks - I missed that - though you can still see the tread a bit in that pic. It's also hard to tell (at least to my eyes) whether we are facing up hill or down from the hazcam shots. Judging from the ripple lines, it looks to me that we are straddled over a crest, and may actually be tilted down slope a bit, in the "wrong" direction to back out. I hope I am mistaken about this as well.

Let me rephrase - I don't recall seeing all the wheels dug in so far before. But perhaps we are all panicking over nothing - could this be a new 6 wheel trenching routine?