Home Plate (second round) Options

[Tesheiner]

Well I think that Spirit has finally left Silica Valley for good --please don't tell me that we should go back again to Silica Valley because of another turned up soil deposit or cracked rock-- and is about to start another science campaign at Home Plate, so it would be time to start a new thread devoted to this period of time.

I said on a previous post on the older thread that it looks like the plan is to traverse the top. Digging on an old MER report (at TPS) I found this reference:

"The general desire is to stay on top of Home Plate, but follow the outcrop exposures around to the portion that everybody really wants to get to -- the far end or southwestern portion of Home Plate," said Yen.

Edited: This even older report might apply too.

At that time, the team will have to decide if Spirit will cross the diameter of Home Plate, roving radially toward the center and across the feature to look at what might be exposed. "If this feature is bowl-shaped, as the rover goes to the center, it will go higher and higher stratigraphically even though it's not going up in elevation," explained Banerdt. "That's one of the primary arguments for spending some time on top of Home Plate." There's no clear evidence of this stratification from MRO's HiRISE images. "But it could be there and just covered by surface dust," he suggested.

[BrianL]

Have they said what it is about the SW corner that interests them? Is there a specific feature there that can be highlighted on the HiRISE shot?

Thanks
Brian

[Stu]

Perhaps Stu feels a poem coming on.

Hmm, perhaps he does...



SPIRIT PREVAILS…

I’ll admit there was a time back then –
when Sol’s golden light flickered and died –
that I thought Homeplate would be
my grave; as the sunlight faded
and my sight grew dim, a thin
and bony hand touched lightly on my beetle back
and turning I saw Death beside me,
smiling sadly as the salmon-tinted sky
was slowly fouled by clouds of swirling cinnamon
dust; rust-hued circuit-smothering fines
covered the Sun and plunged
me into Kuiperian gloom. Soon I shivered
in the frigid dark, sensing the spark
of my life sputtering, my heartflame guttering,
and weary beyond words I heard my Makers say
“Stay!” so I obeyed, and drove no more…

Sols passed, and like a dusty statue standing
on a plinth of sediment and stone I watched
the Sun phase in and out of view. Each new
sunrise shone fainter than the last; each brooding
sunset burned darker than the one that went
before and more than once I thought I felt
the breeze from death’s sharp and sweeping scythe –

- but I survived! and now the sky above grows bright
again, and even though dark dust has smothered me
and covers me, and my eyes are scratched and sore
I’ll tarry here no more. Not with fresh red rock to rove
and roam and rich lasagne-layers of ancient Gusev stone
to study and explore!

Homeplate’s mysteries and myths await –
and Man’s Spirit yearns to learn again…!

© Stuart Atkinson 2007

[Tesheiner]

> Have they said what it is about the SW corner that interests them?

IIRC, at that corner is where they expect to find layers lower then at the NW one.

Stu, great words as usual.
Mmm, lasagne-layers?!?

[Tesheiner]

Ah! Spirit finally did what I would call a drive; 11m during sol 1310 towards the SW corner.

[Stu]

Top of HP with lots of rocks for Spirit to play with...

[Tesheiner]

... and for the MER team to name after.

Gumbo and goulash are among them.

CODE

01310::p2587::18::3::0::0::3::1::7::pancam_gumbo_L257
01310::p2588::18::3::0::0::3::1::7::pancam_goulash_L257

[kenny]

Gumbo and Goulash - they're now naming things for what comes in bowls ...

Opportunity Update Sept 10

"Because Home Plate is bowl-shaped, scientists have decided to name features on top of Home Plate after things served in bowls. Stay tuned for upcoming yummy descriptions! "

[climber]

"Because Home Plate is bowl-shaped, scientists have decided to name features on top of Home Plate after things served in bowls. Stay tuned for upcoming yummy descriptions! "

Don't forget "Cassoulet"...

[Juramike]

Or "Cap'n Crunch"...

[vikingmars]

Don't forget "Cassoulet"...

...and don't forget : "Choucroute" (Sauerkraut), "Couscous", "Tajine", "Potée aux Choux", "Raviolis", "Lasagnes", "Boeuf Bourguignon", "Blanquette de Veau"...
Just take a French Cuisine book and paste the names on the Mars rocks to save time...
And take this extra time for lunch or dinner to savour real cuisine with nice sauces in a French (or Italian) restaurant !

[Ant103]

Or "Ratatouille", "Bouillabaisse", "Ecorces vermeilles sauce Grand Veneur" (les carrotes rapées...)... In a plate who have the apparence of Home... Plate .

"-Mmmhh... french food...
- Homer!
- But Marge, I want to eat all!
- You are eating ALL at this moment!
- D'ohh!"

[ElkGroveDan]

How about some American dishes? nachos, ravioli, chow mein

[BrianL]

C'mon it's the Red Planet, let's name something after a big bowl of Texas Red... Chili, that is.

Brian

[Phil Stooke]

Me Mam used to put a bowl over my head and cut around it to give me a Beatles haircut. So I nominate "My Head"

Phil

(actually this is an outrageous lie)