Endeavour Drive - Drivability analysis Options

[Shaka]

Cool, the way the image color scheme matches your avatar, JM!
You must have seen this task coming long ago.
What is your avatar BTW?

[climber]

What is your avatar BTW?

Research Triangle (Park) of some sort I guess

[Juramike]

What is your avatar BTW?

Pretty nerdly. It is a set of five elements: (from clockwise upper right) Air, Fire, Earth, Wind, and (center) Gaia (lifeforce).

-Mike


(Actually, at this point in my career I'm pretty pleased that I've used 45 of the elements of the Periodic table. Scoring Lanthanide points was tough .)

[Juramike]

Comparison images of UMSF terrain maps to date of area S of Victoria:



-Mike

[alan]

I think overlaying two HiRES images taken during different seasons could help identify terrain where the ground has a modest slope to the north-south. The areas where the elevation increases to the south should be brighter during the northern summer than during the norther winter.

[TheChemist]

Pretty nerdly. It is a set of five elements: (from clockwise upper right) Air, Fire, Earth, Wind, and (center) Gaia (lifeforce).

Gaia ? I thought Milla Jovovich was the 5th element !

[Juramike]

Pixel counts of the (full?) res HiRise version that have been linked in this thread:

Endurance = 634 pixels across = 200 m = 3.2 pixels/m
Eagle = 99 pixels across = 30 m = 3.3 pixels/m
Oppy rover = 12 pixels across (some could be shadow) = 2.3 m = <5.2 pixels/m

I'll use 3.3 pixels/m as an estimate for the full res HiRise images we've been dealing with. (This makes the big scary dune wavelength = 22 pixels = 6.6 m wavelength = 3 Oppy lengths)

In the S Victoria HiRise region there is a very cute crater that is about 180 pixels diameter = ca. 55 m. We can use this as a measuring stick for the 50 m corridor.
(Does this little guy have a name?)


-Mike

[Shaka]

That crater's not only cute, it looks like a classic cluster impact. Good place to look for pieces of impactor!
I'd give it a gold star.

[Beauford]

That crater's not only cute, it looks like a classic cluster impact. Good place to look for pieces of impactor!
I'd give it a gold star.

Yes, I agree that this "bad boy" deserves a closer look if it can be reached without excessive risk. (See posts #143, #209, and #222.)

If someone were to provide me with a nice image directly to the south of the one shown in post #222, I can show you how one person believes we can get there.

[CosmicRocker]

Gaia ? I thought Milla Jovovich was the 5th element !

While Sagan's Contact remains my all time favorite science fiction story; Leeloo, Bruce Willis, and the 5th Element are also on my favorites list.

[Juramike]

Trying to minimize the red/blue areas and maximize the green (smooth low-ripple sand), I whipped up some possible routes that have the longest corridors of "green" smooth sand. These are very risk averse. (Even minimizing pavement with possible dune ripples or cracks)

The boxes are ca. 50 m on a side. (4 boxes would be a good day of driving).

Black boxes show a preferred route, yellow acceptable routes, orange routes are still risk-averse but may cross a few tougher areas or be longer.


These were all checked by myself in the hi-res imagery. (Yup, smooth sand).

I also uploaded higher-resolution images and overlays on the speedyshare server (the colored boxes on the hi-res maps didn’t transfer over very well)::
Proposed routes overlaid on HiRise imagery at 12.5% resolution (30.2 Mb .tif file): http://www.speedyshare.com/569973455.html
Proposed routes overlaid on colorized differential shift graphic with terrain overlay at 12.5% resolution (30.2 Mb .tif file): http://www.speedyshare.com/378217128.html
Proposed routes overlaid on colorized differential-shift terrain map with no overlay at 12.5% resolution (30.2 Mb .tif file): http://www.speedyshare.com/125370328.html

-Mike

[Tesheiner]

Pixel counts of the (full?) res HiRise version that have been linked in this thread:

Endurance = 634 pixels across = 200 m = 3.2 pixels/m
Eagle = 99 pixels across = 30 m = 3.3 pixels/m
Oppy rover = 12 pixels across (some could be shadow) = 2.3 m = <5.2 pixels/m

I'll use 3.3 pixels/m as an estimate for the full res HiRise images we've been dealing with. (This makes the big scary dune wavelength = 22 pixels = 6.6 m wavelength = 3 Oppy lengths)

AFAIK, these map projected HiRISE pictures have a resolution of 25cm/pix (4 pix/m). Check the "observation toolbox" for e.g. PSP_001414_1780 and PSP_009141_1780.

[fredk]

I whipped up some possible routes that have the longest corridors of "green" smooth sand.

Did you take into account that driving directly north-south between larger ripples may be easier than driving diagonally across smaller ripples? I might have chosen a route that goes directly south where ripples are questionable and goes southeastish where the driving is good. But I guess the question of how small do ripples need to be before we can safely cross them diagonally is something a rover driver knows best...

[Phil Stooke]

Mike - as soon as you get off the green areas, you are limited in the direction you can move, with due south being preferred, and absolutely essential as the terrain gets rougher. I think your preferred route would actually be very difficult where you head eastwards off the Victoria ejecta.

There are three south-pointing extensions of the smooth ejecta, south of the crater. Any one will give you a good start, but I think the western one gives a shorter route through the worst area.


Phil

[Juramike]

The proposed routes were designed to allow maximum drive direction flexibility and safety within the 50 m box. I tried my best to avoid any dune crests. My goal was to find the most "parking lot"-like terrain possible. (....must...avoid...red...zones....)

While a straight S course through a bad section (red zone) might be easier (and faster), extra-careful planning will be necessary. And Oppy won't be able to deviate easily from inside a deep trough.

However one gets through the Victoria S debris apron, the intersection point of all the proposed paths looks like the natural "drain" leading towards the green parking lot terrain in the SE section of the image.


-Mike