Post Conjunction: Santa Maria to Cape York, The Journey to 'Spirit Point' Options

[jamescanvin]

What are you unsure about? I think we can see all of CY now with the feature Fred ID'd as being Spirit Point at the end. To the right of that are mounds/ripples on the edge of Botany Bay.

[marswiggle]

Gentlemen! Have a look at this anaglyph, in 50 % size. I would estimate that the crater of Spirit Point is many meters lower than us and as yet hidden by the downwards curving south tip of CY. Also note how the central upper surface of CY truly seems to be an almost seamlessly level continuation of the Meridiani plain (only that there is a seam). The destination crater would be located clearly lower than the upper surface and plain.

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[mhoward]

If that's Cape York, from this angle Cape York looks nothing like I thought it would. Not expressing disappointment there, more like fascination.

[jamescanvin]

I agree marswiggle, I was just looking at Peter's contour map again and I think that while we are now seeing the SP end of CY we can't quite see the crater itself as it on the inside slope (i.e. it's on the other side of the mound Fred pointed at)

[algorimancer]

From the Cape York DEM thread, here's a west(Left)-to-east(Right) transect of Spirit Point crater. Not much vertical topography associated with the rim, and it appears that we may see the far rim before the near.

[ustrax]

What a big difference this 120 meter drive makes. Whole crater seems to open up.
2 Philovisioned panoramas, taken on sol2671 and sol2674 switching in this animated GIF.

Toma B...that is just breathtaking, I quitted asking if we are there yet. we are HERE, and HERE...is awesome.

[Stu]

What a big difference this 120 meter drive makes. ... 2 Philovisioned panoramas, taken on sol2671 and sol2674 switching in this animated GIF.

Wow... that must be one of the most striking things I've seen on UMSF since I joined, back in medieval times. That's just... stunning. Good work, Toma!

[climber]

... it appears that we may see the far rim before the near.

Actually it could be that we'll first see the "big" rock visible there on the HiRise... sort of Beacon on the far rim

[Toma B]

Thank you Rui and Stuart. Just trying to make myself worthy of THIS WONDERFUL PLACE that we call UMSF.

[tedstryk]

Oh my God. I haven't been following Oppy for ages...she's made it! Too awesome!

[fredk]

Yep, that was too early to call Spirit Point crater. I don't think we can see Spirit Point yet. Here's what I'm now (almost certain!) the mound visible in pancam is:

There are several converging lines of evidence for this identification: Absolute heading is correct. Width of feature is correct. Connection to foreground features in pancam correct. Position consistent with start of steep dropoff into Botany Bay, as others have pointed out.

What's the saying? "Measure twice, cut once."

[pgrindrod]

Not sure if this helps, but I made a little movie of the view from and rising above Opportunity at the moment, looking towards Spirit Point.

Made using my HiRISE DEM, so it comes with the usual caveats, plus the added bonus of I'm not sure if even I've put the view in the right place!

It's too big for here (~5 Mb), so here's the link to the animated gif: http://twitpic.com/60e5f7

And a single frame to entice you on over...or not



Pete

Edit: fredk - I think you're spot on. The movie suggests that there is something in the way of Spirit Point at the moment. Not for long though I'm sure.

[fredk]

2 Philovisioned panoramas, taken on sol2671 and sol2674 switching in this animated GIF.

Wow, I have to add to what others have already said. That's incredibly cool for a bunch of reasons:

Dramatic horizon drop.

You can tell we've moved almost directly towards Trib - in fact, you can see it getting bigger, and especially Solander point!

The far rim and Iazu get hazier. (Bad in a sense, but it gives a better sense of distance.)

Definitely one of the most striking images of the mission!

[algorimancer]

...made a little movie...

Any chance you could post a version slowed-down by a factor of 10 or 20? This is great, but rotates too fast for me to see clearly what the horizon should look like.

[Ipparchus]

Does anyone know what kind of rock type is Oppy going to IDD first, when she reaches Spirit Point? Is she going to IDD first a rock target at Botany Bay? What are these rocks (at Botany Bay) made of exactly (sulfate rocks, as seen in Meridiani Plains)?