To the Cape!, Quackmire and arm troubles Options

[Shaka]

Presumably Oppy would be in full shadow all morning, until some time around local noon. Do we have an estimated power input during this shadowed period? Then how many hours of direct sunlight would follow before shadow re-covered it? Can we estimate the southerly tilt of the solar arrays in the near-wall position?

[climber]

You all love calculations. I love pictures :
Let them take pictures of the place they want to go at different hours of the day.
Would be nice, eh ?

[Shaka]

A start has been made, courtesy of HHAW, for your edification, Climb: Shadow animation
However, we need watt-hour numbers to judge the hazard of a given location.

[Astro0]

That's some drive ahead of Oppy.


Anyone want to pick the route?

Astro0

[djellison]

Anyone want to pick the route?

left 40
go 10
right 90
go 5
end

MER works like a LOGO turtle right?



Doug

[helvick]

Judging by Horton's animation it seems that the Oppy's Solar panel deck is effectively already in shadow by 4:30-5:00PM local time. That makes sense as it is at around a 15 degree incline facing away from the setting sun which would correspond to about an hour or so of sunlight.

The shaded zone at Midday seems to be pretty close to the wall so I think that they can probably manoeuvre fairly close in and keep the rover in direct sunlight until ~3:00PM without too much trouble. That would keep the power impact below about a 5-7% reduction from the levels it currently achieves.

[Astro0]

Here's a revised version (third) of Oppy at Cape Verde based on some advice and a target.
The path is just my artist's thoughts, not actual. The position of the rover could be in a variety of orientations.
Not science, just art


Here's the revised panorama as a thumbnail. Large version will come once Oppy arrives at the Cape.


Enjoy
Astro0

[Astro0]

Based on the above...here's where we could be headed.
Some fantastic layering for Oppy's eyes and ours to bug out on.


Cool

Astro0

[MarsIsImportant]

If Oppy can actually get that close to the Cape safely, then it should be the highlight of the entire mission at Meridiani.

BTW, I would also like to see the rover traverse lower to inspect the deepest layers. I don't know whether that's possible because of the results of that test drive over the dust layer the other day. It looks like Oppy could safely get down to the lower levels, but I don't think it could make it back up the slope along that dust layer. Perhaps it could if it traverse in a Zig-Zag shaped route. I don't know. I hope the MER team finds a way to do it.

[nprev]

Perhaps it could if it traverse in a Zig-Zag shaped route. I don't know. I hope the MER team finds a way to do it.

Yeah, I have the same concerns...that deep. loose soil is scary to the nth.

Good thought on the zigzags, though. I'm assuming that the development team at some point determined sideslip coefficients? Would be interesting to know what the limits might be as a function of tilt angle, but they're probably predicated on a more rigid surface...

[edstrick]

I have not heard *anything* regarding the terrain handling ability of MSL vs MER's. Maximum slope up/down, maximum slope along-slope, soft-sand/dust, etc.

Of course, MSL should be able to handle dust that would be up to or over MER's hubcaps... it's hubcaps are higher!... but what's it's ability in proportionately deeper dust/sand?

Future missions will more and more need greater terrain handling capabilities beyond the baseline level of MSL and MER. Even if a wheel fails, as on Sprit, it should be possible to convert it to a free-wheeling mode, and not terribly cripple the rover on slopes or in soft terrain.

[Stu]

Going to have to tip-toe through this lot... should be some gorgeous pictures in the days and weeks ahead tho!

[Tesheiner]

Yeah, I have the same concerns...that deep. loose soil is scary to the nth.

I'm of the same opinion.
But if you have a look to today's lot of hazcam images, my felling is that the rover drivers don't share our same concerns. Opportunity drove straight down the slope over the scuff.

Here's tosol's (1491) navcam mosaic.

[Doc]

You hav to admit, cape verde is a compelling target. I would be interested to see the layers up close. Particularly those filled fractures. BTW any news on the status of the mini-tes on Oppy?

[jamescanvin]

This is just the start of the sol 1487 pan but as it shows the region we're all interested in I thought I'd process what is down so far.



Click image

James