Moving south to Victoria Options

[Tesheiner]

Bye, bye, Erebus!
The journey south has started and I think it's time to start a new thread.

This is a very first estimation of the current position after sol 760 drive, plotted on top of a previous route proposal; I will double-check that once the back-looking navcams are downlinked.

(141k)
(Sol 758 "drive-direction" pancam mosaic)

Edited: I measured the net drive to that point; it's about 31-33m35m.

PS: Algorimancer, your Photogrammetry and RangeFinder Application is simply great!!!

This post has been edited by Tesheiner: Mar 15 2006, 10:16 AM

[Bill Harris]

Yes, onward bound! I hope Oppy gets Pancam images of the bedrock exposures as she moves away from away from this field of eroded craters. We need to document lateral changes in the Burns formation.

--Bill

[avkillick]

Seeing Oppy leaving Erebus is almost as good as seeing it arrive at Victoria (sometime this year we hope)

[RedSky]

Wasn't there supposed to be a certain point where the terrain begins to slope to the south and there was to be a "hell of a view" of the plains (and Victoria) spread out in view before us? Where was this to occur in relation to where Oppy currently is? Or am I recalling something else?

[Phil Stooke]

That's right, but it's probably a few hundred meters ahead.

Phil

[centsworth_II]

Wasn't there supposed to be a certain point where the terrain begins to slope to the south and there was to be a "hell of a view" of the plains (and Victoria) spread out in view before us? Where was this to occur in relation to where Oppy currently is? Or am I recalling something else?

As I recall it's near the midpoint between Erebus and Victoria. That should be an interesting point for 360 degree panarama. (Has anyone thought of that?)

[Burmese]

Interesting horizontal 'layering' in a dune here, I can't recall seeing it so clearly elsewhere(until this side of Erebus):

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...KEP0695L0M1.JPG

[atomoid]

Interesting horizontal 'layering' in a dune here, I can't recall seeing it so clearly elsewhere(until this side of Erebus):
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...KEP0695L0M1.JPG

I remember seeing a lot of this most of the way between Endurance and now, but this is probably the most consistent and smoothest example before us. I assume this layering depicts the cyclic changes in weather patterns related to sand deposition. As the dunen get eroded, it reveals the strata created by earlier episodes where dunes get cemented by relatively stable weather and then covered during by episodes of higher sand transport.

The question which I hope someone here could answer, is how long these episodes are likely to be (are talking about episodes separated by decades long weather changes, or much longer changes due to pole procession?) Or maybe this hypothesis is off-base, just a guess...

[Bob Shaw]

I remember seeing a lot of this most of the way between Endurance and now, but this is probably the most consistent and smoothest example before us. I assume this layering depicts the cyclic changes in weather patterns related to sand deposition. As the dunen get eroded, it reveals the strata created by earlier episodes where dunes get cemented by relatively stable weather and then covered during by episodes of higher sand transport.

The question which I hope someone here could answer, is how long these episodes are likely to be (are talking about episodes separated by decades long weather changes, or much longer changes due to pole procession?) Or maybe this hypothesis is off-base, just a guess...

Opinions seem to vary between slow and very slow movement - I'd buy even s-l-l-l-o-o-o-o-w-e-r. Precession of the poles and similar global changes strike me as being about right, but I'm sure there are other opinions.

BTW, I noticed an interesting article in New Scientist today regarding crater distribution and so forth - I'll post in the LPSC thread rather than here, though!

Bob Shaw

[Ant103]

Interesting horizontal 'layering' in a dune here, I can't recall seeing it so clearly elsewhere(until this side of Erebus):

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...KEP0695L0M1.JPG

I've ever seen this sort of "layering" dune. On my website, there is a color example of this dune (who are everywher around the landing site) :

[Bob Shaw]

I've ever seen this sort of "layering" dune. On my website, there is a color example of this dune (who are everywher around the landing site) :

Thinking about it, the 'layering' may be an artefact of the psaltation of the particles involved, with - putting it crudely - bigger lumps simply failing to climb the hill.

Bob Shaw

[Tesheiner]

Oppy drove some 50m southwards (heading ~160º) on sol 762 and is currently at aprox. 25m of the outcrop on the center of this navcam pano.

(195k)

[djellison]

Need to see some of the look-back-Navcams to really call it, but the driving actually looks a lot easier than I was expecting around here

Doug

[Tesheiner]

Seems they are simply following the "valleys". The dunes in this area have a mean heading of 160º-170º, so that's the direction they are driving.

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

Alot of the image is missing, but do these dunes look alot smaller than the ones Opportunity encountered on it's way to Erebus? I thought they would be much bigger.

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...RXP2370L2M1.JPG