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Unmanned Spaceflight.com _ Opportunity _ Perseverance valley

Posted by: Julius Jul 4 2017, 05:11 AM

Time for another topic, me thinks.

Posted by: atomoid Jul 13 2017, 01:43 AM

figuring this "Perseverance Valley" thread should populate with said content...https://media.tenor.com/images/c314fb41103bbc10dcad0fd6e52fad0a/tenor.gif??

Here are some stereo views from http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04786/1P553076526EFFCZZ0P2375L2M1.html images of presumably water-carved topography downslope of the spillway
(ICE didn't deal well with the contrast scope so at left is anaglyph of 3 pairs, crosseye of left portion, crosseye of right portion, at right is a parellel of most lumpy section).


Posted by: Floyd Jul 13 2017, 11:22 PM

The pancam images for the past several days show a ground texture that looks like it is cemented together and really interesting textures. Maybe some of the image wizards can put these images together for all to see. We won't be getting too much back for a while, but channel already looks very interesting.

Posted by: atomoid Jul 14 2017, 12:49 AM

nice to see MI images being taken again http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04787/1F553164576EDNCZZ0P1121L0M1.html, these look set up to stitch for stereo pairs so heres the stitch and one of its sub-pairs in crosseye/anaglyph


Posted by: RoverDriver Jul 14 2017, 01:57 PM

QUOTE (Floyd @ Jul 13 2017, 03:22 PM) *
The pancam images for the past several days show a ground texture that looks like it is cemented together and really interesting textures. Maybe some of the image wizards can put these images together for all to see. We won't be getting too much back for a while, but channel already looks very interesting.


I'm not so sure about the terrain being cemented. The RHAZ show quite visible cleat marks indicating the soil can be compressed by the cleats. To my untrained eye, this looks more like gravel. Anyway, parking brake is set, we even turned the RF wheel a bit to keep things according to MDOT (Martian Department of Transportation) regulations. See yoou in a couple of weeks.

Paolo

Posted by: Floyd Jul 16 2017, 12:39 PM



OK Maybe not cemented, but some of these slabs look polished--almost like glacial polish. Does this look like polish by running water to any of you?

Posted by: PDP8E Jul 16 2017, 03:27 PM

Hi floyd,
we have seen what a couple of million years of low density Mar's wind can do to 'fluted' rocks.
I think the environment there is alien enough that we cant quite appreciate the processes
On Earth you be hard pressed to find a dozen 'craters' due to fast (compared to mars) erosion (rain, winds, quakes, tectonics, oceans)
These could be stream cobbles or wind eroded ...
I am waiting on Grotzinger .et al to weigh in.
But it sure is fascinating! Awesome image!

See you around town, fellow Bostonian!


Posted by: monty python Jul 17 2017, 05:37 AM

That surface does look a little different to my untrained eye. There is work to do here!

Posted by: atomoid Jul 17 2017, 09:55 PM

Perseverance Valley indeed seems to differ somewhat significantly in the bedrock and consistency of the soils, comparing relatively similar filter#2 views from http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04122/1P494113565EFFCO03P2437R2M1.html with its more pillowy bedrock and angular shards versus the more pebbly and sheared surface seen here in http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04791/1P553518604EFFCZZ0P2378R2M1.html.

That observation, at least in this very limited sampling, doesn't completely hold up when perusing a sampling of MI images at Marathon http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04131/1M494925669EFFCO97P2975M2M1.html vs Perseverance http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04787/1M553162964EFFCZZ0P2976M2M1.html, but still some interesting differences are apparent and despite the better focus and exposure of the more recently acquired MI, it seems like the muddier fines have been cleaned away here. I'm curious whether any of this owes to winds in each locale, inferring that here in Perseverance we might expect better solar panel cleaning events? since if seasonal patterns are consistent the images linked are just about 1 Mars year apart.

Posted by: marsophile Jul 18 2017, 03:45 AM



Different all right. Parallel-eye stereo.

Are there some berries on that grooved fragment? It's hard for me to tell.

Posted by: serpens Jul 19 2017, 02:39 AM

Different, but attractive.

 

Posted by: nprev Jul 19 2017, 05:14 AM

Different indeed.

I wonder if we're seeing the effects of a few tens or hundreds of millions of years of wind scouring on harder than usual bedrock.

Posted by: fredk Jul 19 2017, 04:31 PM

We're starting to see some clouds as we head towards winter. Here's an navcam animation from 4793:


This is a stretched difference of each frame from the average of the frames.

Posted by: jvandriel Jul 23 2017, 06:49 PM

The road ahead.

The Pancam L2 images taken between Sol 4785 and Sol 4793 stitched together.

Jan van Driel


Posted by: PDP8E Jul 24 2017, 04:42 AM

QUOTE (fredk @ Jul 19 2017, 12:31 PM) *
We're starting to see some clouds as we head towards winter. Here's an navcam animation from 4793:
This is a stretched difference of each frame from the average of the frames.

Hi Fred,
The originals have that bright 'half moon' in the lower third of the frames (which I think you chopped off)
What is that bright area?

Posted by: RoverDriver Jul 24 2017, 02:02 PM

QUOTE (PDP8E @ Jul 23 2017, 09:42 PM) *
Hi Fred,
The originals have that bright 'half moon' in the lower third of the frames (which I think you chopped off)
What is that bright area?


It is caused by the dust of times. ;-) The small hood we have in front optical element only partly occludes the Sun. Therefore, even when the Sun is outside the field of view it will illuminate the dust which causes diffusion and enters the optical path. Most of the dust was accumulated around Sol 1200+ (2007) but during the years the wide have cleaned up the front elements quite a bit.

Paolo

Posted by: marsophile Jul 30 2017, 02:07 AM

https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/status.html#opportunity

Looks like Oppy has insisted on a two-week vacation during Solar Conjunction!

Posted by: fredk Aug 1 2017, 03:20 PM

Catching up on some night sky imaging from 4784. Here's a stack of three frames to increase the S/N by sqrt(3):


I don't recognize the field...

Posted by: Deimos Aug 1 2017, 04:22 PM

Taurus, just below pointy end of the Hyades. Kinda random. A rare night comm pass allowed free astronomy, but no moons were up. Still useful as practice and will add a night opacity datum..

Posted by: marsophile Aug 1 2017, 07:40 PM

http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/mer-updates/2017/07-mer-update-opportunity-enters-perseverance-valley.html

Monthly MER Update from the Planetary Society. Also has a nice star photo.

I'm wondering what all the proper motion streaks are, especially the sideways ones. Meteors in the Mars atmosphere?

Posted by: fredk Aug 1 2017, 08:08 PM

Thanks, Deimos.

Marsophile, the steaks directed from 11 o'clock to 5 o'clock are stars trailing during the exposure. Everything else should be cosmic ray hits.

Posted by: djellison Aug 2 2017, 05:38 PM

Here's the field as calculated by Astrometry.net
( http://nova.astrometry.net/user_images/1693971#annotated )



Posted by: marsophile Aug 5 2017, 04:14 AM

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/pancam/2017-08-04/1P555114370ESFCZZ0P2543L2M1.JPG

Near-perfect layering?

Posted by: Phil Stooke Aug 5 2017, 06:31 AM

My guess is that it's an erosional texture as seen in the MI images from the same sol.

Phil


Posted by: monty python Aug 9 2017, 05:55 AM

I guess, since oppy moved immediately after conjunction, the auto mode reset she had was no big deal.

Posted by: marsophile Aug 12 2017, 03:50 AM

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2017-08-11/1N555729108EFFD000P1956L0M1.JPG

This image may provide some perspective on the channels and their relationship to the surrounding landscape.

Posted by: atomoid Aug 15 2017, 12:31 AM

http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04809/1M555116136EFFCZZ0P2936M2M1.htmlMI stitch, with bonus anaglyph highlighting the obligatory ICE stitching artifacts.


Posted by: jvandriel Aug 16 2017, 01:33 PM

The Navcam L0 view on Sol 4816.

Jan van Driel


Posted by: jvandriel Aug 16 2017, 07:39 PM

Mi cam view taken on Sol 4809-4810.

Jan van Driel


Posted by: Phil Stooke Aug 16 2017, 10:53 PM

This is Jan's 4816 panorama reprojected into a roughly maplike geometry to give a view of the surroundings. The lower right (southeast) corner is still bad in this version. The tracks cross a small crater.

Phil


Posted by: jhagen Aug 17 2017, 06:27 PM

My take on the sol 4809 stereo mosaic.

Posted by: marsophile Aug 18 2017, 03:44 AM



Parallel-eye stereo.

Posted by: atomoid Aug 21 2017, 09:03 PM

pretty good view down the 'cascades' http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/sol/04825.html cross/anag


Posted by: PDP8E Aug 28 2017, 01:25 AM

Oppy is moving down into Perseverance Valley
Cant wait for the explanation about what we are looking at here....


Posted by: monty python Aug 28 2017, 05:52 AM

What a "groovy" picture.

Posted by: Phil Stooke Aug 28 2017, 07:07 PM

I concur. It IS groovy! Also it seems to contain some grooves. A stereo version will be particularly interesting.

Phil

Posted by: atomoid Aug 31 2017, 01:37 AM

a collection of sol4831 pancam crosseye/anaglyphs of http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04831/1P557073320EFFD048P2397R2M1.html, the http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04831/1N557073014EFFD048P1814R0M1.html, plus a http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04831/1P557070181EFFD000P2396L2M1.html of that from the previous http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/site/2080000.html.



Posted by: atomoid Sep 7 2017, 08:55 PM

downslope stereo view for http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04841/1P557961954EFFD0AKP2399L2M1.html


Posted by: atomoid Sep 8 2017, 11:04 PM

lengthly september edition of the http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/mer-updates/2017/08-mer-update-opportunity-ventures-deeper-into-perseverance.html goes into a lot of detail about driving and energy production challenges... plus a huge 15MB "http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/mer_updates/2017-08/20170901_2-Parting-view-Perseverance-Valley-Sol4765B_P2360_1_L257atc.jpg" (why so-named?).
I've never heard much discussion regarding the current state of Oppy's battery charge capacity after all these years, here we are almost 14 years in now using workarounds to so many ageing issues, yet (mercifully) there seem no worries with the batteries!

here's a http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04843/1P558139150EFFD0AKP2403R2M1.html stitch anaglyph and crosseye of one section of the upslope dusk images


Posted by: fredk Sep 9 2017, 03:55 AM

QUOTE (atomoid @ Sep 9 2017, 12:04 AM) *
(why so-named?).
Maybe because of the LF wheel problem up there?
QUOTE
I've never heard much discussion regarding the current state of Oppy's battery charge capacity after all these years, here we are almost 14 years in now using workarounds to so many ageing issues, yet (mercifully) there seem no worries with the batteries!
Check out some discussion in http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=7711&view=findpost&p=225427

Posted by: serpens Sep 25 2017, 12:33 AM

Possibly we are becoming blasé about Opportunity's performance, leaving the astounding achievement of the 45 kilometre mark unremarked. Looks like it is going to be a long slow winter for Opportunity with power generation hovering around 280 Watt hours at this time.

Posted by: atomoid Sep 25 2017, 08:23 PM

Thanks for reminding us, so Oppy slogs past another kilometerstone with no fanfare, not even in http://nmnaturalhistory.org/space-science/rover-field-reports-mars from last friday, i think thats equivalent to traversing about 70% around the entire Endeavor ridge, so i guess we got a while before we hit that one, i am perhaps too complacently confident that will happen! to help celebrate here is a stereo of the latest MI pairs from http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04857/1M559369578EFFD0AKP2936M2M1.html.
And thanks fredk, that info about the battery was very illuminating!



Posted by: charborob Sep 27 2017, 03:36 AM

Sol 4859 Lpancam panorama:
https://flic.kr/p/YTWVBi

Posted by: fredk Oct 10 2017, 03:21 PM

This new drive back uphill was discussed in the latest http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/mer-updates/2017/09-mer-update-opportunity-braves-winter.html

QUOTE
One option under consideration is to send the rover back uphill to an area near the first way station where the MER scientists have spotted some interesting bedrock.

“It looks like two different colored, bedrock units in direct proximity,” said Golombek. “One area that we’re imaging shows that one side has rocks of a lighter tone and the other has a browner, darker tone and the two units appear to be separated by what could be a fracture zone or something. It’s all dirt, maybe broken up rock that’s been filled in by sand, or who knows?”

Posted by: atomoid Oct 12 2017, 08:31 PM

cross/anaglyph/parellel views of the in-place weathering exhibit http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04875/1P560978624EFFD0CLP2420L2M1.html


Posted by: PDP8E Oct 15 2017, 08:24 PM

Oppy drove back uphill a bit in Perseverance Valley. Here is a stitch from Sol 4879 (10/15/2017?)
I ran it through a slight rinse in my De-Convolution Machine ...


Posted by: fredk Oct 19 2017, 06:47 PM

Popping a wheelie with the RR wheel after a short bump on 4883:


Posted by: monty python Oct 20 2017, 06:33 AM

Wow! That's radical. Don't think I've seen that before. I only see a trail from the wheel on the right. Was it pivoting?

Posted by: fredk Oct 20 2017, 03:13 PM

The 4883 drive looks like a very short bump upslope, towards the direction we're looking in the image I posted. We're sitting almost exactly on our tracks from the downslope drive on 4831 (check Phil's map) and the obvious track is from that drive. It's harder to see the track from the other wheels I guess because of the bigger rocks on that side.

Posted by: James Sorenson Oct 21 2017, 04:00 AM

It's been awhile since I have worked on images.

Sol-4884

https://flic.kr/p/YB5De6
Full Resolution
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/37823285461/sizes/o/

Falsecolor
https://flic.kr/p/ZCje2p
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/37152962043/sizes/o/

Posted by: James Sorenson Oct 22 2017, 11:57 PM

Sol-4886
https://flic.kr/p/ZivS2C
Full Resolution
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/37610542750/sizes/o/

Sol-4859
https://flic.kr/p/ZivTGS
Full Resolution
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/37610548390/sizes/o/

Falsocolor
https://flic.kr/p/ZDuBdJ
Full Resolution
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/37836627742/sizes/o/

Posted by: James Sorenson Oct 23 2017, 03:15 AM

Sol's 4878-4880

I used the wonderful already generated ASU falsecolor images for this, just mosaiced them all together.

https://flic.kr/p/ZiNgEs

Full Resolution
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/37613744050/sizes/o/






Posted by: lyford Oct 26 2017, 11:43 PM

QUOTE (James Sorenson @ Oct 20 2017, 08:00 PM) *
It's been awhile since I have worked on images.

It's been awhile since I posted - thanks for your wonderful work!

Posted by: Phil Stooke Oct 27 2017, 04:13 PM

Yes, James, thanks! I have been using your images to assemble a photomap base for more detailed mapping of this area. This is still an ad hoc mosaic, not controlled by HiRISE, but it will be warped to fit HiRISE control later, and then the detailed path can be plotted.

Phil


Posted by: fredk Nov 22 2017, 04:30 PM

Looks like what may be a DD on 4916:


Posted by: RoverDriver Nov 22 2017, 06:45 PM

QUOTE (fredk @ Nov 22 2017, 08:30 AM) *
Looks like what may be a DD on 4916:


We had quite a few cleaning events for the past few weeks. Paolo

Posted by: PaulM Dec 7 2017, 02:04 PM

QUOTE (fredk @ Nov 22 2017, 05:30 PM) *
Looks like what may be a DD on 4916:


Where opportunity is headed downhill there are active sand dunes which would ensure regular cleaning took place. That would be a good location to park opportunity when the wheels pack in. There is an argument for parking opportunity for two years there in any case because of the radio experiment that can be done to investigate the core from a parked lander. There is a plan to launch the insite mission next year to do this radio science experiment, but if this failed then opportunity could perform the radio science experiment whilst filming moving dunes

Posted by: RoverDriver Dec 7 2017, 02:56 PM

QUOTE (PaulM @ Dec 7 2017, 06:04 AM) *
Where opportunity is headed downhill there are active sand dunes which would ensure regular cleaning took place.


Hmmm... I think that where there's sand accumulation there's a dip in strength of winds. That's why the dunes get bigger and bigger. In the past we have seen cleaning events near clean bedrock.

QUOTE
There is an argument for parking opportunity for two years there in any case because of the radio experiment that can be done to investigate the core from a parked lander.


If there was one I never heard of it. SS never mentioned that. Parking the vehicle for two years would be a major operational nightmare. We have only FIVE rover planners left which would still need to earn a living for those two years, so we would need to find another job for two years. After this forced pause, resuming operations would be quite difficult. It was so when we had to park Spirit for months at a time. I can't imagine what it would be like to resume driving after two years.

I liked doing the radio experiment on Spirit, I found it mind bogglingly cool and was part of the team to support it but I hope we can postpone this to when Oppy's wheels fall off or the motors stop responding to our commands. We have tested driving our testbed with only four active drive actuators...

Paolo

Posted by: atomoid Dec 7 2017, 10:15 PM

stitched sequence of lossy pancams from http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/sol/04924.html, ICE only being able to deal with ten of the 27 frames but at least gives a useful uphill view of the channel.



ps.. lots of good stuff in http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/mer-updates/2017/11-mer-update-opportunity-returns-findings-from-perseverance.html on Planetary.org

Posted by: Phil Stooke Dec 14 2017, 10:54 PM

This is hideously distorted because I am not working from a topographic dataset to reproject the images - later, this will be projected onto HiRISE for control. But it gives an impression of the distribution of features around us in mid-December.

Phil


Posted by: atomoid Dec 18 2017, 10:57 PM

crosseye/anaglyph/parallel/parellel of cohesive regolith (pressed edge at lower right) taken from a pair of http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04941/1M566836574EFFD0IJP2956M2M1.html:


Posted by: atomoid Dec 20 2017, 02:44 AM

some cross/anag/parallel views of http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04942/1P566926793EFFD0IJP2370R2M1.html floater..


Posted by: charborob Dec 21 2017, 01:53 PM

Sols 4937-4943 Lpancam:
https://flic.kr/p/22Fc3ZG

Posted by: marsophile Dec 23 2017, 02:58 AM

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/pancam/2017-12-21/1P567105039EFFD0IJP2372L2M1.JPG

Possible meteorite?

Posted by: nprev Dec 23 2017, 05:37 AM

You mean those vesicular rocks? Doubtful. They look volcanic if anything, maybe scoria.

That said, I don't know if we've seen any igneous rocks around Meridiani before.

Posted by: James Sorenson Dec 24 2017, 07:26 AM

QUOTE (charborob @ Dec 21 2017, 05:53 AM) *
Sols 4937-4943 Lpancam


Great work! I have been working on this one as well. I have dibble dabbled with the previous color mosaics alittle bit as well but haven't posted them.
Here is what is down of the current one. smile.gif

https://flic.kr/p/21JjxQq
Full resolution:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/38547604484/sizes/o/

Falsecolor:
https://flic.kr/p/22NTapn
Full Resolution:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/39255590471/sizes/o/

Posted by: James Sorenson Dec 24 2017, 09:18 PM

A fly around screen capture of a 3D model that I'm working on of the "San Miguel" small rock outcrop in the near-field and surrounding area.

https://youtu.be/ArXj4fHkGgM

Posted by: atomoid Dec 27 2017, 10:54 PM

Thanks James, those 3D interpolator results are really impressive to see and looks like it must be a pretty involved process.
Here is some comparably lo-tech stereo output (StereoPhotoMaker) of SanMiguel http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04947/1P567371784EFFD0IJP2374R2M1.html (cross/anaglyph/parallel) with its curious vesicles, it's interesting how the apparent 'spattering' of vesicles cover only a portion of the rock that otherwise is of apparently consistent composition throughout..


Posted by: James Sorenson Dec 29 2017, 07:46 AM

For me, it isn't that bad but for my computer that I built eight years ago, it sure does take a beating sometimes but it pulls through. smile.gif

The Navcam mosaic on Sol-4934 and 4936.There was a big honkin lens flare that I had to remove in one of the frames. Spent a couple of hours on this, not sure how I feel about it. But I'll go with it. smile.gif

https://flic.kr/p/21CZ79z
Full Resolution
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/38487228465/sizes/o/

Posted by: atomoid Dec 29 2017, 08:51 PM

nice job removing the http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04936/1N566386979EFFD0IJP1986L0M1.html, that must have left very little dynamic range to work with and explains what I at first thought was a field of ripples just above to the left of the low gain antenna post.
here's stereo of the channel http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/04952/1P567815105EFFD0IJP2379L2M1.html complete with banding artifacts compliments of ICE and my inability to get better results from Hugin without a lens profile...


Posted by: charborob Jan 2 2018, 08:16 PM

Sols 4955-4956 Lpancam view:
https://flic.kr/p/22379d1

Posted by: fredk Jan 4 2018, 06:49 PM

Taking the north fork?

http://merpublic.s3.amazonaws.com/oss/merb/ops/ops/surface/tactical/sol/4958/opgs/edr/ncam/1N568341955EFFD0J8P1824R0M_.JPG

Posted by: serpens Jan 7 2018, 04:21 AM

Latest, most comprehensive update.

http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/mer-updates/2017/12-mer-update-opportunity-beats-winter.html

Posted by: charborob Jan 7 2018, 08:28 PM

Sol 4950 Lpancam:
https://flic.kr/p/21URyQF

Posted by: charborob Jan 8 2018, 12:04 PM

Sol 4961 Lpancam views:
https://flic.kr/p/21VV4MX

https://flic.kr/p/22duaHw

Posted by: vikingmars Jan 10 2018, 08:10 AM

QUOTE (charborob @ Jan 8 2018, 01:04 PM) *
Sol 4961 Lpancam views:

Thank you very much charborob for this nice work of yours smile.gif

Posted by: marsophile Jan 18 2018, 04:32 AM

http://merpublic.s3.amazonaws.com/oss/merb/ops/ops/surface/tactical/sol/4968/opgs/edr/ncam/1N569224248EFFD100P0124L0M_.JPG
http://merpublic.s3.amazonaws.com/oss/merb/ops/ops/surface/tactical/sol/4968/opgs/edr/ncam/1N569224406EFFD100P0124L0M_.JPG
http://merpublic.s3.amazonaws.com/oss/merb/ops/ops/surface/tactical/sol/4968/opgs/edr/ncam/1N569224565EFFD100P0124L0M_.JPG
http://merpublic.s3.amazonaws.com/oss/merb/ops/ops/surface/tactical/sol/4968/opgs/edr/ncam/1N569224565EFFD100P0124R0M_.JPG

Is there a smudge on the Navcam left eye lens? Not visible in the right eye.

Posted by: djellison Jan 18 2018, 05:06 AM

Yes - looks to be a new but of dust picked up on the optics. I'm currently on Paternity leave - but when I'm back on MER in a few weeks, I'll be attempting to acquire a set of NavCam flatfields using a technique already used on MSL that might end up being rather timely to calibrate this out.

Posted by: Floyd Jan 18 2018, 01:11 PM

Congratulations Doug and enjoy the family time.

Posted by: RoverDriver Jan 18 2018, 08:54 PM

It is not a bug, it is a feature. We got a nice cleaning event, about 100Wh more, so I'm not going to complain about it.

Paolo

Posted by: marsophile Jan 21 2018, 02:24 AM

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2018-01-19/1N569669487EFFD100P1826L0M1.JPG

Sol 4973. Dark spot seems to be gone now. More cleaning?

Posted by: MoreInput Jan 25 2018, 07:08 PM

And it is again: Happy Landing Day, Opportunity! It is unbelievable 14 years since landing in Meridiani Planum in the Eagle crater. 14 years, and still roving. wheel.gif wheel.gif wheel.gif
The rover has driven 45000 meters on the surface of mars. Currently it is the 4979th sol for Opportunity, and it is still functioning: hardware, batteries, software. Unbelievable!

And if no one notices: For Spirit it would be tomorrow the Sol 5000! (http://www.greuti.ch/oppy/html/filenames_ltst.htm)

 

Posted by: Phil Stooke Jan 25 2018, 09:06 PM

Nice! And here is a rough projection of Navcam images of the current location (rough because it is not made using a DEM to remove relief distortions) to show the very interesting features here.

Phil


Posted by: Phil Stooke Jan 28 2018, 07:15 AM

http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/space-science/rover-field-reports-mars

Thanks to Larry Crumpler, a new Rover Field Report from Mars - with a couple of new feature names.

Phil


Posted by: serpens Feb 3 2018, 09:46 PM

This channel seems to have been pretty much swept clear of regolith including large rocks.

 

Posted by: marsophile Feb 17 2018, 06:39 AM



Parallel eye. This rock seems more cavity than substance. Perhaps pumice but is there any volcanic terrain nearby?

Also note the upturned piece of surface in the background. I wonder if these insubstantial fragments are light enough to be blown by the wind? Perhaps in the past if Mars had a denser atmosphere.

(Congrats on that wonderful MI self-portrait, by the way.)

Posted by: James Sorenson Feb 20 2018, 03:17 PM

Hopefully more images come down for this over the next couple of sol's. smile.gif

https://flic.kr/p/GoDVRE
Full Resolution
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/26510633948/sizes/o/

False Color
https://flic.kr/p/23aassn
Full Resolution
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/39485099545/sizes/o/

Posted by: vikingmars Feb 20 2018, 04:19 PM

QUOTE (James Sorenson @ Feb 20 2018, 04:17 PM) *
Hopefully more images come down for this over the next couple of sol's. smile.gif

How nice !
Thanks a lot James for those nice processings wheel.gif wheel.gif wheel.gif wheel.gif

Posted by: James Sorenson Feb 20 2018, 07:49 PM

Thank you Olivier for the kind words. smile.gif

I extended the Opportunity color image of the tracks with the single Navcam image that was taken during the "Selfie" for more context.

https://flic.kr/p/Gp4byQ

Full Resolution
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/26515171008/sizes/o/

Posted by: jamescanvin Feb 21 2018, 11:15 AM

My attempt at the tracks from 5002 (plus 4998 as a bonus). First piece of processing I've done in about a year!


 

Posted by: marsophile Feb 28 2018, 07:01 AM



False color anaglyph from Sol 5000 pancam.
Perforated rocks and dark sand.

Posted by: marsophile Mar 4 2018, 10:04 PM

https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/all/opportunity.html
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/

From the image download sites, it might appear that Opportunity is taking a vacation to celebrate its Sol 5000 anniversary!
At the time of this post, the JPL site has no new images since Sol 5000 and the Exploratorium site has no update since Feb 28.

On the other hand, although the amazonaws json site has no images for Sols 5007 through 5010, it continues with images from 5011 onwards.
I would guess the gap might be due to the recent MRO safing event.

It may be that the JPL and Exploratorium servers are waiting to get images for Sol 5007.
If so, that wait may be forever unless the servers are manually restarted.

Perhaps the servers could be programmed to probe forward to see if the image dumps continue after a gap.

Posted by: James Sorenson Mar 5 2018, 05:25 AM

I use the JSON site all the time these days. It has been updated to sol-5015 and waiting on the downlink of sol-5016 images.
https://merpublic.s3.amazonaws.com/oss/merb/images/image_manifest.json

Posted by: Ant103 Mar 6 2018, 11:52 AM

Sol 5017 & 5018 Navcam panoramic. It's been a little time since no Opportunity images processing for me biggrin.gif

http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Opportunity/2018/Sol5017_pano.jpg

Posted by: vikingmars Mar 6 2018, 03:20 PM

QUOTE (Ant103 @ Mar 6 2018, 12:52 PM) *
Sol 5017 & 5018 Navcam panoramic. It's been a little time since no Opportunity images processing for me biggrin.gif

What a superb work, Ant103 ohmy.gif
Thanks a lot for sharing it with us wheel.gif

Posted by: Phil Stooke Mar 6 2018, 08:33 PM

Very nice panorama! This is a circular projection of it to show the location in a more map-like form.

Phil


Posted by: jamescanvin Mar 8 2018, 01:21 PM

Ysleta Del Sur from 5019



 

Posted by: marsophile Mar 9 2018, 06:36 AM



Parallel eye stereo. The dark (bluish) area on the front side of the rock---not a shadow.



Overturned rock? Or half-eroded from the top down?

Posted by: jamescanvin Mar 9 2018, 10:34 AM

Some more frames of Ysleta Del Sur on 5020.



 

Posted by: marsophile Mar 10 2018, 03:10 AM

X-eye

||-eye

Context

Posted by: marsophile Mar 12 2018, 09:56 PM

Wider context of previous scene (bottom right).

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2018-03-12/1N574103535EFFD1BQP1961L0M1.JPG

||-eye

Posted by: marsophile Mar 14 2018, 04:52 AM



From Sol 5024 MIs. RLR eyes for either X or || viewing.
The parallel eye is recommended for enhanced detail.

Posted by: marsophile Mar 15 2018, 11:25 PM



The same area after brushing. Most of the bright material has been swept away (towards the bottom of the image).

Posted by: Phil Stooke Mar 17 2018, 03:58 AM

http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/05027/1M574469592EFFD1BQP2907M2M1.html

A RAT grind on sol 5027. The RAT is so worn that it is reserved for the highest priority targets, so this one must be quite compelling.

Phil

Posted by: serpens Mar 18 2018, 01:35 AM

It seems to be a quite friable breccia. Suevite?


 

Posted by: Ant103 Mar 18 2018, 11:26 AM

Mosaic of the RAT from Sol 5028.

http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Opportunity/2018/Sol5028_MI.jpg

Posted by: Ant103 Mar 23 2018, 01:19 PM

Second RAT hole made by Opportunity smile.gif

http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Opportunity/2018/Sol5033_MI.jpg

Check out the anaglyph version : http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Opportunity/2018/Sol5033_MI_ana.jpg

Posted by: marsophile Mar 25 2018, 10:15 PM



These MIs from Sol5033 (right) and Sol5036 (left) form a pretty good X-eye stereo pair.

The fusion is not perfect because there are small differences between the two images, which may be due to dust movements.
[EDIT: Rotated 180 to match Ant's anaglyph. (This puts Sol5033 on the left.)]

Posted by: marsophile Mar 27 2018, 06:12 AM



Gif animation of the changes between Sol5033 and Sol5036.

Posted by: marsophile Apr 4 2018, 05:55 AM



New MIs from Sol 5045. Brightened first image, which was in shadow.

[EDIT: Got the left and right eyes reversed on the first image, which was meant to be X-eye. Now corrected. The second image is ||-eye. The dark areas are at holes, not clasts.]

Posted by: marsophile Apr 5 2018, 06:20 AM



A ||-eye closeup.

Posted by: marsophile Apr 8 2018, 06:43 AM

Some ||-eye L257-composite pics from Sol 5049:


Posted by: Phil Stooke Apr 11 2018, 02:24 AM

Here's a rough reprojection of Navcam images to show what this area looks like, with the tracks nicely laid out behind us.

Phil


Posted by: marsophile Apr 13 2018, 05:39 AM



Hand-stitched combination of Sol 5053 MIs. Rotated to aid perception of relief.

New Monthly MER Report:
http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/mer-updates/2018/03-mer-update-opportunity-presses-on-in-perseverance.html

Posted by: marsophile Apr 14 2018, 06:47 AM



Parallel-eye closeup of part of the MI target.

Posted by: marsophile Apr 17 2018, 02:38 AM



A comparison of the pancam L257 with the MI.

Posted by: Ant103 Apr 18 2018, 10:58 AM

Sol 5057 Navcam panoramic. A nice time to take a pano.

http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Opportunity/2018/Sol5057_pano.jpg

Posted by: Phil Stooke Apr 18 2018, 03:52 PM

Very nice panorama.

Here is a different version roughly projected into a map to show the 5057 area. Opportunity moved towards the rocks in the bottom left (southwest) corner on sol 5058.

Phil


Posted by: marsophile Apr 21 2018, 06:16 AM



Parallel-eye from Sol 5061.
This is in a pile that appears to have been in the rover path.
The left eye is an L456 composite.

Posted by: marsophile Apr 25 2018, 05:45 AM



Parallel-eye, unusual textures. From Sol 5055.

Posted by: serpens Apr 25 2018, 10:46 PM

Sol 5066. I wonder what process formed this ring.




 

Posted by: nprev Apr 25 2018, 10:52 PM

Huh. Wonder if the ring is aeolian deposition around a rock made of unusually soft material that weathered away over time.

Posted by: serpens Apr 26 2018, 01:16 AM

Vaguely reminiscent of Spirit's "rotten rocks". Water altered rind remaining as the softer interior eroded.

Posted by: Phil Stooke Apr 26 2018, 05:30 AM

Also reminiscent of this little beauty seen by Curiosity at Dingo Gap on sol 527:

http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00527/NRB_444283159EDR_F0260000NCAM00251M_.html

Phil

Posted by: serpens Apr 26 2018, 11:40 PM

Curiosity has seen quite a few attributed to gas escape (akin to a small mud volcano or diapir) in a sedimentary environment. Finding one here would provide a few insights into Perseverance Valley. Half crippled, sensor limited, operating on a shoestring budget in the shadow of her bigger relation at Gale Crater, Opportunity just keeps on giving.

Posted by: serpens Apr 28 2018, 06:22 AM

An outstanding update on Perseverance Valley on the Planetary Society page.

http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/mer-updates/2018/04-mer-update-special-perseverance-valley-lpsc-2018.html


Posted by: marsophile Apr 29 2018, 03:43 AM

Thanks for that link Serpens. Very enlightening.

The focus on the origin of Perseverance is understandable. The urge to explain this unique feature is what led them to this location. I would hope though that there would also be scope for Opportunity to live up to its name and do some opportunistic science that might have nothing to do with the origin.

In particular, I find the light-toned deposits on dark rocks fascinating. What is the chemistry of these deposits (as separate from the underlying rock)? Is there anything special about the distribution? Has this material blown down from Winnemucca plateau where there seems to be a large reservoir of the stuff? Is the composition essentially the same as the planet-wide wind-blown deposits? Perhaps some of the answers are to be found in the APXS results from the "Aguas Calientes" target. I guess we may have to await the next conference for those revelations.

Posted by: marsophile May 2 2018, 04:05 AM



New MIs. Not so easy to stitch seamlessly.
Here is an overlap 3d slice (X-eye).

[Or maybe ||-eye; it's hard to be sure since the surface is so irregular.]

Posted by: fredk May 2 2018, 05:38 PM

Stereo views of "rotten rock" from 5073. Anaglyph:


Cross-eyed:

Posted by: serpens May 2 2018, 11:34 PM

I wonder whether the same textured, nearby rocks are fragments of the circular rim.

 

Posted by: marsophile May 3 2018, 05:52 AM



My best effort at a stitch of the Sol 5072 MIs.



The 3d from my previous post rotated 180 degrees. Easier to interpret as an X-eye.

Posted by: marsophile May 5 2018, 05:44 AM

http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/mer-updates/2018/04-mer-update-2019-extension.html

The regular A.J.Rayl report for April.

Posted by: jvandriel May 5 2018, 01:44 PM

The Navcam L0 view on Sol 5074.

Jan van Driel


Posted by: marsophile May 6 2018, 05:55 PM

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2016GL072259

South Meridiani apparently hosted some of the valley networks that were formed before the Noachian/Hesperian boundary. If the impact that created Endeavour was into an existing fluvial system, I wonder if its location could explain the uniqueness of this section of the crater rim? Of course it would have been altered by subsequent processes but it might have influenced their evolution.

Posted by: charborob May 8 2018, 02:55 AM

Sol 5078 Lpancam:
https://flic.kr/p/26SqMmm

Posted by: marsophile May 8 2018, 05:21 AM

QUOTE (charborob @ May 7 2018, 07:55 PM) *
Sol 5078 Lpancam:

Thanks Charborob, for that mosaic.



Some Parallel-Eye 3D closeups from the same scene.

Posted by: marsophile May 9 2018, 06:15 AM

Overlap ||-eye 3D from Sol 5079 MI images.



These are rotated left compared to those above:

Posted by: jvandriel May 10 2018, 07:51 PM

The Navcam L0 view on Sol 5077.

Jan van Driel


Posted by: Phil Stooke May 12 2018, 06:01 AM

Very nice, Jan - We don't often see panoramas from Opportunity these days. Here is a circular view, lots of tracks visible.

Phil


Posted by: fredk May 12 2018, 07:15 PM

Deimos transit animation from 5082:

Posted by: charborob May 13 2018, 12:36 AM

Sols 5078 to 5082 Lpancam mosaic:
https://flic.kr/p/HrrMzX

Posted by: Bill May 13 2018, 02:53 PM

Interesting. It seems that vesicular rocks are not vesicular when buried...
http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/image/05083/1R579435455EFFD2FAP1311R0M1.html

Posted by: marsophile May 14 2018, 02:42 AM



||-eye stereo from Sol 5082.
I think the current location is near here, to the left of this crop.

Posted by: marsophile May 18 2018, 01:48 AM



Closeup ||-eye of the "mouth" (L456 color).

Posted by: marsophile May 19 2018, 02:50 AM



Parallel-eye, false color.

Posted by: jvandriel May 21 2018, 06:02 PM

The Navcam L0 view on Sol 5083.

Jan van Driel


Posted by: djellison May 21 2018, 07:01 PM

Fun fact.......5083 I was on shift - and not only did we conduct the first NavCam 360 in a single Sol that I've seen in >a year of Ops - but it's in part thanks to a ExoMars TGO pass on which some of these frames came down!

Still trying to sneak in an upper tier to get a proper 360 without a Horizon cut-off. Hard to convince the science team to spend what bits we have on that.

Posted by: jvandriel May 21 2018, 08:56 PM

The Pancam L2 view on Sol 5084-5085.

Jan van Driel


Posted by: marsophile May 22 2018, 03:48 AM



Parallel-eye overlap 3d slices from Sol 5091 MI images, rotated so that illumination is from the top.
(There are additional overlaps, not removed, between top and bottom, so the middle part of each image is seen twice, with slightly different lighting and perspective.)

Posted by: marsophile May 24 2018, 05:58 AM



Parallel-eye. Here it exaggerates the depth perception, which helps show the intricacies of the texture.

Posted by: serpens May 24 2018, 06:25 AM

What fascinates me is that Opportunity is showing us what was once the interior of jumbled, potentially overturned crater walls themselves made up of material from a Miyamoto ejecta blanket hundreds of metres thick. I look forward to seeing what the science team make of this particular jigsaw.

Posted by: marsophile May 25 2018, 01:09 AM



Some structure amid the jumble? Context (rotated left):
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/micro_imager/2018-05-23/1M580318374EFFD2FCP2965M2M1.JPG




Posted by: marsophile May 30 2018, 01:16 AM



New rock type. Parallel-eye 3d. Left eye is L456 composite.

Context:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/pancam/2018-05-29/1P580845905EFFD2FCP2565L2M1.JPG

Posted by: marsophile Jun 3 2018, 05:11 AM



This one, from a Sol 5103 pancam, is also a bit different: a darker coating with perhaps a slightly fluidized appearance.

Posted by: marsophile Jun 4 2018, 02:50 AM



||-eye from Sol 5103 MIs.

http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/mer-updates/2018/05-mer-update-opportunity-mystery-tour.html
TPS update for May.

Posted by: marsophile Jun 7 2018, 02:47 AM



A few images dribbled out from Sol 5105. In the above, the ground cover between the rocks may hold some interest.

Posted by: James Sorenson Jun 10 2018, 09:32 AM

I'm working on the 360 color panorama, It will take me a little while to finish pending if any more images come down when Oppy is able to do so. So here is kind of a rough quick peek of what it will look like using just the L2 filter, and rescaled to 25% of original resolution. pancam.gif

https://flic.kr/p/26YwvD3

Link to download
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/41990153224/sizes/l

Posted by: James Sorenson Jun 10 2018, 11:37 PM

Some pebble and dust grain movement from the wind over 3 sol's. The rock (which I am nicknaming "Jason's Mask") also moved, but this is likely caused by grain evacuation from under and around the rock.



Download link
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/40912214570/sizes/o/

Posted by: Sean Jun 13 2018, 03:19 PM

A HiRISE scaled Oppy in current position mapped to the Navcam view from sol 4682
https://flic.kr/p/275BrPy




Posted by: mcaplinger Jun 13 2018, 11:00 PM

Mods: are we going to discuss the dust storm and its aftermath in this thread or in the dust storm thread?

Posted by: elakdawalla Jun 13 2018, 11:03 PM

Good idea. Folks, I've now moved all the dust storm-related posts to the http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=8391. Keep posting image processing of images Opportunity returned to this thread, dust storm stuff over there. Best wishes to Oppy and the whole team that we'll have new images from Perseverance Valley to post here in the future.

Posted by: lyford Jun 14 2018, 02:57 AM

QUOTE (Sean @ Jun 13 2018, 08:19 AM) *
A HiRISE scaled Oppy in current position mapped to the Navcam view from sol 4682

Thank you for this image Sean.. I was always having trouble visualizing how steep a grade we are navigating. This really helps with scale.

Posted by: Sean Jun 14 2018, 11:44 AM

Thanks Lyford.

Detail...
https://flic.kr/p/275BrkC

Here are some other context shots I made...[4k at source]
https://flic.kr/p/2887zPG

https://flic.kr/p/2777JrN

https://flic.kr/p/2887zxE

Posted by: James Sorenson Jun 18 2018, 12:14 PM

Wonderful renderings Sean! smile.gif

I wanted to take my time on this one, in fact, it will probably make its way onto my living room wall. The last 360 panorama from Opportunity before contact was lost due to the storm and I'm hoping it won't be the last from the mission. pancam.gif

https://flic.kr/p/27egYjN

Full Resolution
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/42157063754/sizes/o/


False Color
https://flic.kr/p/27ehaTj

Full Resolution
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43581439@N08/42157102644/sizes/o/

Posted by: Sean Jun 18 2018, 01:52 PM

Thanks James & excellent work as usual. I often use your images to help me get my bearings and plan compositions.

Posted by: John Moore Jun 18 2018, 07:05 PM

Super, Seán...great perspective, and a feeling of where the rover is. I feel an animation coming on rolleyes.gif (but, no presh!).

John Moore

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