Phoenix - spring images, HiRISE views of Phoenix after the long, long winter Options

[Phil Stooke]

Doug just said in another thread that he was looking for Phoenix in the new images and couldn't find it. Well, I love a challenge. So here it is:

Close-up:

(REMOVED - SEE LATER POST)

Context:

(REMOVED - SEE LATER POST)

Note that map-projected HiRISE images at this latitude are in polar stereographic projection, not a cylindrical projection. North is at the left.

You might not believe this, but by blinking layers like Clyde Tombaugh I think I can match numerous points, not just the hardware.

EDIT: I was a bit off. Correct locations are shown below.

Phil

[Deimos]

One principle that guides my expectations is that if one improbable thing happens, that does not imply all more probable things happen as well. So, the if the solar panels and all other critical path elements work, anything else might still fail. If the CCDs and imaging electronics work, the motors might still fail. But I do expect that if we ever take more pictures, we could likely point them. I think that would be critical--the camera is aimed down, fully stowed.

However, a lazarus mission would not allow new sequences each day. Planning for post-sol-151 ops was aimed at one or few repetitive monitoring sequences. First, the work that goes into a lazarus day is more than what a normal day needed, and could requires days on Earth--if the full ops team were restored. Getting a sequence on-board that can be read on wake-up is risky, and frankly a lot can be gained by well-designed repetitive work. Also, much of the onboard infrastructure that made sequencing do-able will not function. Second, the conditions of a lazarus day are poorly determined--when you plan, you do not know if the first activity is at 8 am or 11 am. You might have to wait 3 hours to move the camera without heating, or heat so long you risk damage if you guess wrong. The comm pass might come 5 hours after wake-up or 9 hours after wake-up. The same unknowns apply every day. Frankly, wake-up could happen more than once in a day, with non-graceful shutdowns in between, so you're recovering from an unknown state. Always. Third, any activity done has to be low cost and borrow people from other highly-stressed projects (and some are simply not available). We may not be able to change from what was planned in November 2008; of course, imaging modules are somewhat plug 'n' play (meaning they might change from November, not day-to-day).

So, you might be able to include a small panorama in the sequence--and then see that pan every day. There were more creative ideas floating around, but creative = risky and difficult. I suppose risk tolerance might be a wee bit higher these days... So, things we might see include (over-the-top optimist's list): MET, which would be able to use its own flash, giving PT data for most awake-time; TECP (air); daily RAC rgbn image at Alviss; SSI set (full-frame telltale, frost-spot(s), cal/magnet/illumination target, sky); lidar. Unlike normal ops, the camera is never stowed and never uses a solar filter.