East side of Cape York, Sol 3040 - 3056 Options

[Tesheiner]

Well, my impression is that the trek south, crossing by the east side of Cape York, has started.
Here's a crude navcam mosaic taken on sol 3040. Don't you think this side of the planet is also beautiful?

[Phil Stooke]

That looks like the next little crater south of the Creek.

Phil

[Tesheiner]

Exactly!

[climber]

We're about 800m or half a mile (as Oppy flies) to Botany Bay.

[Tesheiner]

Here's the "drive direction" pancam mosaic from sol 3040. Path clear.

[SFJCody]

Cape York seems somehow... diminished. The flashiness of Gale has spoilt me for other parts of Mars!

[climber]

Re drive direction. I don't know if they are little cliffs or just rocks but some interesting features can be already seens ahead.

[MahFL]

Cape York seems somehow... diminished. The flashiness of Gale has spoilt me for other parts of Mars!

One of the reasons Gale was choosen, and I am sure it was a pretty low down on the list reason...., was the shear spectacular scenery Joe Public could get excited about at Gale.

Still Endeavour is nice and when we climb up a bit it will get better.

[Stu]

Cape York seems somehow... diminished. The flashiness of Gale has spoilt me for other parts of Mars!

'Diminished'? Hmmm. Tempting maybe to feel that way when we're suddenly faced with a jagged and undulating horizon curving around us, and a towering mountain looming right ahead of us, compared to the gentler hills and slopes of Endeavour. But if you catch yourself feeling that way just remember what Oppy went through to get here. Remember the trials and tribulations she overcame to reach this place. Remember her Lewis and Clark trek across Meridiani, driving from crater to crater, increasingly thick with dust. Then think of the months ahead for Oppy - driving down the flank of Cape York, then rolling off the Cape and across Botany Bay to the foot of Cape Tribulation, and then up...and up... until she's looking down on Endeavour, the crater she was never meant to reach.

Then, trust me, the magic of Endeavour will return to you...

[CosmicRocker]

Then too, Opportunity has a fair chance to spot clay minerals before Curiosity.

[stevesliva]

^ Yeah! I actually didn't think "diminished" so much as, "It's awesome that we're seeing these two fantastic crater vistas at the same time."

[SFJCody]

Then, trust me, the magic of Endeavour will return to you...

Just a little humour really. Endeavour still has its not inconsiderable charms. I remain rightly astonished that a machine that all good sense told us would spend a few months trundling around around a sports stadium sized patch of one of the flattest places on Mars is now completely outside its landing ellipse and chasing clay minerals in the rim of a 20km crater with more hilliness than her EDL system was deemed suitable for. Long may whichever Martian deities smile on her continue to do so!

[fredk]

And that's a monster-sized MER landing ellipse, not one of those tiny MSL ones!

I love this parting shot of the creek:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol3041

[Errol Coder]

The recent drives seem to really bring out the crater rim. Seems a bit more distinctive then recent Pancam shots. Would be interesting to see the color composites from 3040+ of the area.

[Joffan]

I love this parting shot of the creek:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol3041

That's a good one. Here's a x-eye view...


and here's one across the crater to show that Endeavour can stand comparison with Gale...

[fredk]

It looks like a drive SSE to the next little crater on 3042:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol3042

[Phil Stooke]

That's a nice one... do we have names for these two craters yet?

Phil

[Tesheiner]

The one spot on sol 3040 was named "São Rafael". This last one just N of the current site has no name yet on the DB.

[fredk]

Our first look at the east-facing outcrops on the inboard side of CY:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...6M1.JPG?sol3043
These are the kind of outcrops where the clays will hopefully be found, though probably farther south.

[RoverDriver]

Our first look at the east-facing outcrops on the inboard side of CY:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...6M1.JPG?sol3043
These are the kind of outcrops where the clays will hopefully be found, though probably farther south.

Darn it, now that the scenery begins to look interesting I'm on the side of the planet that looks a pancake! :-(

Paolo

[walfy]

A bit more of a drop off than I expected. And that ever-shining beacon of a rock outcrop on the distant mountain!

[Tesheiner]

Some more info about the craters in the vicinity. This last one, seen on sol 3042, was named "Bérrio" so now it's clear that São Gabriel, São Rafael, and Bérrio were named after the ships of Vasco da Gama's armada on his first voyage to India.

[fredk]

A bit more of a drop off than I expected.

Agreed. And dead centre in your anaglyph we can see what looks like another mini Whim Creek feature - a "notch" aligned roughly along the circumference of Endeavour:

If you use your imagination, you can find other similar features farther south.

[Julius]

I recall from CRISM data that there should be phyllosilicates somewhere along the eastern rim of Cape York. How far would Opportunity be from this point in reaching such rocks? Anyone has any idea?

[fredk]

The crism data is pretty low resolution, so the estimates I've heard are very roughly half way down CY.

[Julius]

The crism data is pretty low resolution, so the estimates I've heard are very roughly half way down CY.

a couple hundred metres away?

[Stu]

Colour view of the east-facing outcrops...



Go get 'em Oppy...

[brellis]

Wow, it's going to get very interesting if Curiosity examines rocks from those time periods while Oppy is looking at equivalent examples a great distance away.

[marsophile]

a couple hundred metres away?

It might be that we have already reached outcrops with some phyllosilicates, but the signatures are too weak to be detected by CRISM. The outcrop in view now seems to bear some similarity to those further down.

[PDP8E]

Here are some rocky outcrops on Cape York (Sol 3043) as Oppy and JPL continue the exploration southward at Endevour Crater. The dusty red draped rocks are very inviting...



... In the lower center, is that a gypsum precipitate ?

[Bill Harris]

That would be my guess, too. I've seen a couple of gypsum veins on this leg of the traverse.

Interesting outcrop area.

--Bill

[fredk]

The east side of CY is turning out to be very scenic:

[RoverDriver]

Colour view of the east-facing outcrops...
....
Go get 'em Oppy...

Stu SS and I just spend a good 10 minutes in awe at this image. Really cool!

Paolo

[Stu]

Wow, thanks Paolo, great to know that!

[TheAnt]

I'd say thank you for those images also. I do appreciate your work guys!

[fredk]

Maybe a meteorite?
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol3046
It's been a while since we've encountered one.

[nprev]

Maybe. Could be a whole lot of other more mundane things, though. Wonder if they'll think it's worth a stop.

[climber]

Maybe a meteorite?
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol3046
It's been a while since we've encountered one.

Hide it, quick, quick, before Stu notice it
Anyway, looking at Eduardo's map, it seams we already passed the outcrop area. Doesn't mean we cannot get back there since SS and Paolo...

[Stu]

Hide it, quick, quick, before Stu notice it

Too late, already seen it and already planning to add it to the "Meteorites of Meridiani" collection over at the Road to Endeavour Meteorite Museum!

[Tesheiner]

... it seams we already passed the outcrop area.

Not really. That picture is from a new position (yesterday's drive) which is not yet on the map. Tactical decisions about what to do next will not be taken until tomorrow.

[Tesheiner]

Maybe a meteorite?
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol3046
It's been a while since we've encountered one.

Here's the navcam mosaic of this nice site. A meteorite(?) ahead and a gypsum vein just behind.


BTW, this was a loooong 100m drive!

[RoverDriver]

...
BTW, this was a loooong 100m drive!

SS was SOWG chair on Friday. I wonder if this has anything to do with it

Paolo

[MoreInput]

Added a little more drama by rotating Tesheiners by 6.5 degrees, so that the far horizon is flat. I think Oppy is driving on the steep slope of Cape York, so this view may give a hint how it is feeling to stand there.

EDIT: Why does this meteorite not roll down?

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[Burmese]

Article on Opportunity, including pic of Ashley Stroupe planning a drive.

Curiosity is new Mars star, but Opportunity's still knocking

[fredk]

Why does this meteorite not roll down?

I think you've answered the question yourself - 5 or 10 degrees is not very steep.

[NickF]

Here's the L2 panorama from sol 3044.

[SFJCody]

A drive sol on 3049. If this is another 100m+er they'll put themselves about halfway down Cape York.

[Antonb]

Now that Oppy is rolling again, she's getting close to 35km total odometry. That's 95% of the current 37km record for the longest distance of surface travel of any extra-terrestrial vehicle, set by the Russian rover Lunokhod 2 in 1973.

This quick sketch (cropped from a NASA Geological Map) shows that Oppy will reach 36km around Nobby's Head, and set a new record somewhere near the base of Solander Point.

Although Oppy has just raced over 100m/sol, putting the record in theory within 20 sols, there's bound to be interesting targets along the way. An average of 25m/sol means the record will be broken on sol 3130. Anyone else care to hazard a guess?

[Antonb]

That's 95% of the current 37km record

By the way, I do hope that breaking this record is on the list of remaining targets for Oppy to achieve. She richly deserves to hold this distance record, and it throws the gauntlet down to Curiosity just as her own wheels start to roll.

[climber]

Thank you Antonb. For the one that looks for more infos, see in "Statistics thread (post #223)": http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...3705&st=210

[centsworth_II]

By the way, I do hope that breaking this record is on the list of remaining targets for Oppy to achieve....

In achieving the stated science goal of studying Cape Tribulation, Opportunity will surpass 40km.

"...the planned exploration route goes south along the rim fragment "Solander Point," to "Cape Tribulation," where clay minerals have been detected."


http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/mult...y/pia13708.html

[Antonb]

In achieving the stated science goal of studying Cape Tribulation, Opportunity will surpass 40km.

That's excellent, many thanks, I hadn't seen that.

(BTW, I apologise for my faux pas on guessing, which I've been made aware of. It won't happen again.)

[fredk]

Remember that there potentially are clays not far away here on CY, which are our primary goal. If we found something, you can bet we'd spend a long time studying them. So it's extremely hard to predict when we'd hit the distance record.

[Tesheiner]

A drive sol on 3049. If this is another 100m+er they'll put themselves about halfway down Cape York.

40m, according to the "telemetry". Can't verify that with the navcams because they look "underexposed" (JPEG stretching thing) and are of no use.

I though they would stop to have a look at the rock (meteorite?) or the vein but that was not the case. However, it looks like there are some pancam shots on the downlink queue: Muruntau (the vein), Goldstrike (the rock) and a color mosaic of Shoemaker Ridge.

[RoverDriver]

40m, according to the "telemetry". Can't verify that with the navcams because they look "underexposed" (JPEG stretching thing) and are of no use.

I though they would stop to have a look at the rock (meteorite?) or the vein but that was not the case. However, it looks like there are some pancam shots on the downlink queue: Muruntau (the vein), Goldstrike (the rock) and a color mosaic of Shoemaker Ridge.

The odometry for B 3049 is about 40.8 meters. The drive was intended to be longer but I think we failed the second slip check because the terrain is so featureless that VO did not have anything to latch on and there are no rover tracks left because the soil is so hard. It doesn't look to me that glare in the NAVCAM was a problem (no glare in the VO Navcam thumbnails).

Paolo

[Tesheiner]

Oh, I was refering to the "post-drive" navcam mosaic images not the ones used for VO. They look too dark, at least the public JPEGs, to register the mosaic with the map background and "refine" the current position.

[fredk]

there are no rover tracks left because the soil is so hard

Wow, those tracks sure are hard to see:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol3049
Made even harder by low sun (conspiring with tilt of surface here), perhaps.

[RoverDriver]

Oh, I was refering to the "post-drive" navcam mosaic images not the ones used for VO. They look too dark, at least the public JPEGs, to register the mosaic with the map background and "refine" the current position.

Yes, the post drive NAVCAM are really dark because the SUN is shining into the field of view. What I meant to say is that the VO failure should not be attributed to glare. Sorry I was in a hurry to go and see the excitement of the first drive on the other side of the planet. ;-)

Paolo

[neorobo]

Forgive me if this has already been posted (I did a quick search but can't seem to track down the specific posts), but I have a question about the glare. Has there been any publications or information NASA has published about the effects of glare on the visual odometry for Opportunity or Spirit? Has this been much of an issue on Mars for MER visodom? I have an understanding why glare affects feature tracking, I'm more interested in how it has affected Oppy or Spirit specifically. I'm in the process of writing a research proposal and this information would be very valuable. Even if it's just something qualitative to get the wheels turning, no pun intended Thanks.

Rob

[RoverDriver]

I have never seen any VO image that was affected by glare from either rover. And tosol VO failure is not due to glare either. Typically we point the cameras down at about 30 deg below the horizon to
have a good view of the tracks. With such a low elevation angle it is difficult to have glare. Even Autonav pointing is pretty low as well. Here, as I was saying earlier, there were no features to track (remember the on-board processing uses 256x256 pixel images) and there were no track markings on the ground. Even if we had pointed teh NAVCAMs straight down it would have been likely that VO would have failed.

The glare in the post-drive NAVCAMs is mostly due to the dust deposition on the lens. Post drive NAVs are usually taken at -17 deg elevation and in early afternoon. Leave a digital camera for 8+ years in the desert, lens cap off, then try to take a picture late in the afternoon while pointing the camera at the horizon to the West. Assuming the shutter release still works after 8 years, that is.

One of the optical engineers (Reg Wilson) published a paper on the effects of dust deposits on the lens and CCD sensor. I don't have a reference, but if you look up Reg Wilson on the JPL web site very likely he has that paper listed.

Paolo

[belleraphon1]

Have we ever been on such hard ground?
Lower dust fraction possibly exposing clays minerals making then faintly visible from orbit?

Craig

[RoverDriver]

Have we ever been on such hard ground?
Lower dust fraction possibly exposing clays minerals making then faintly visible from orbit?

Craig

We have been on really hard packed soil but usually we leave at least some markings. Here we are leaving hardly any! Never seen anything like it.

Paolo

[marsophile]

In reply 430 in the Exploration of Cape York thread of the MarsRoverBlog open forum, Hortonheardawho has an animation showing tracks that apparently faded in the space of only 3 minutes.

[Tesheiner]

Here's (part of) the mosaic taken by the navcam on sol 3049 i.e. the current position. There's a piece of ejecta (?) on sight, better seen on this pancam picture.

[fredk]

This is another cool view. And we're starting to get a better look at the two dark smudges coming up:

In stereo, you can see that they're depressions, but very different from the crater in between them:

Perhaps they're related to Whim Creek?

And a closeup of Goldstrike (meteorite?) is down too:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...2M1.JPG?sol3049

[RoverDriver]

In reply 430 in the Exploration of Cape York thread of the MarsRoverBlog open forum, Hortonheardawho has an animation showing tracks that apparently faded in the space of only 3 minutes.

Thanks for pointing me to this forum. I was not aware of it. The animation seems to be relative to Sol 3044, so it is the same kind of material we are currently driving on and there are barely any tracks visible. Oppy is driving on cement!

Paolo

[stevesliva]

The yellow forum had the unfortunate tendency to degenerate into xenopomorphizing rocks. High noise to signal.

[belleraphon1]

In reply 430 in the Exploration of Cape York thread of the MarsRoverBlog open forum, Hortonheardawho has an animation showing tracks that apparently faded in the space of only 3 minutes.

Thanks Paolo and marsophile for your replies.

Was not aware of the forum above either.

Wow.... what a fascinating change!

[neorobo]

I have never seen any VO image that was affected by glare from either rover. And tosol VO failure is not due to glare either. Typically we point the cameras down at about 30 deg below the horizon to
have a good view of the tracks. With such a low elevation angle it is difficult to have glare. Even Autonav pointing is pretty low as well. Here, as I was saying earlier, there were no features to track (remember the on-board processing uses 256x256 pixel images) and there were no track markings on the ground. Even if we had pointed teh NAVCAMs straight down it would have been likely that VO would have failed.

The glare in the post-drive NAVCAMs is mostly due to the dust deposition on the lens. Post drive NAVs are usually taken at -17 deg elevation and in early afternoon. Leave a digital camera for 8+ years in the desert, lens cap off, then try to take a picture late in the afternoon while pointing the camera at the horizon to the West. Assuming the shutter release still works after 8 years, that is.

One of the optical engineers (Reg Wilson) published a paper on the effects of dust deposits on the lens and CCD sensor. I don't have a reference, but if you look up Reg Wilson on the JPL web site very likely he has that paper listed.

Paolo

Thanks for the reply Paolo, very useful information. I wonder, when operating the rover are lighting conditions a constraint on the time period it may drive (I'd think at some point the images become too dark to operate visual odometry properly), or if other things restrict it before it comes to that, like power?

Very interesting to see that the rover is barely leaving any tracks! I love that 8+ years later Opportunity is still amazing us.

Rob

[belleraphon1]

Thanks Paolo and marsophile for your replies.

Was not aware of the forum above either.

Wow.... what a fascinating change!

In an attempt to keep my own SNR level up (sometimes hard) could the ‘change’ seen from the Opportunity image 398419876 to 398420030 be just a lighting or filter effect?

Fading Wheel tracks????
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...H0F0006R0M1.JPG

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...H2F0006L0M1.JPG

Some mornings I really need to curb my enthusiasm.

Craig

[fredk]

Better to compare the two left frames or the two right frames to minimize viewing angle differences:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol3044
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol3044
I'd be surprized if this was a lighting effect, since at midday the sun's pretty high, and the effect we're seeing is not too far below the horizon, so not where you'd be catching reflections from the sun. Plus the two frames are only a couple of minutes apart. And they have identical filters.

IIRC, we have seen similar things over longer intervals after wind gusts. So one guess is we had a good strong gust between these two frames almost erase the tracks.

BTW, another lovely shadow-reaching-into-the-crater shot:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol3051

[centsworth_II]

...one guess is we had a good strong gust between these two frames almost erase the tracks....

Any sign of a cleaning event on the solar panels?

[belleraphon1]

Thanks fredk....

just not used to what seems (to me) such an abrupt change.

Craig

[RoverDriver]

Thanks for the reply Paolo, very useful information. I wonder, when operating the rover are lighting conditions a constraint on the time period it may drive (I'd think at some point the images become too dark to operate visual odometry properly), or if other things restrict it before it comes to that, like power?

Very interesting to see that the rover is barely leaving any tracks! I love that 8+ years later Opportunity is still amazing us.

Rob

Lighting conditions have never been an issue for driving as we typically try to drive "blind" (no VO or Autonav). Lighting conditions are usually always analyzed when using the MI as we try to avoid frames where part of the target is in direct sunlight and part is in shadow. If it is required, we sometimes change the IDD configuration to use a different wrist position and very rarely we have moved teh time when the IDD sequence begins to have more favorable Sun position. This is what happened so far but I guess that our current position it might not be a bad idea to think about lighting conditions for driving as well.

Paolo

[djellison]

So one guess is we had a good strong gust between these two frames almost erase the tracks.

Looking at this near concrete like surface - it reminds me of desert pavement - ( http://www2.mcdaniel.edu/Biology/wildameri...sertgeolgy.html ) - lots of strong winds over time blow away what little dust is there and leave behind small pebbles etc settled into an almost hard packed surface.

Those winds I'd bet are fairly consistently high, what with a tens of miles run up from the East.

Thus - rover drives over a surface that's not been touched by anything but wind for Gy's - and pushes a few pebbles down, pushes a bit of dirt around. That wind is, very quickly, going to get that dirt out of there and 'rebuild' back to the pavement formation where the dirt is now hidden from the wind between the pebbles.

We saw it happen on tracks we re-visited outside Endurance crater - but here it's just happened much quicker.

[belleraphon1]

Thanks all for the comments.

It is just incredible to me that we have these phenomenal machines that MOVE into new environments.

Wow again. Luv this!

[belleraphon1]

I know that MOC and HRISE have shown us how dynamic Mars really is. Polar avalanches and moving dunes and CO2 evaporation at the S. Pole.
Just did not expect to see quick changes in Opportunity images.

Here we are on the east rim of an ancient crater that has seen (as Doug pointed out) G-years of wind erosion. And Oppy caught that process in the act.

How evocative is that! Stu, I think there is a poem here.

Irony is that I have always thought Mars is more active than we give him credit. then we see direct evidence of that and I question it.

Man.... I love these rovers and orbiters and all the people who make this happen.

And THIS forum....

Craig

[Guest_Oersted_*]

Isn´t Horton a member of this forum too? I´d love for him to post his anim gif here as well. (Don´t really feel like following two different forums...)

[RoverDriver]

...
Those winds I'd bet are fairly consistently high, what with a tens of miles run up from the East.
...

Hey, winds, how a bout a dust cleaning? Power is still at the same level we have been having for the past 10 Sols or so. Dust factor has not changed!

Paolo

[fredk]

Well, here we are at about the midpoint down CY, and look at all the pretty gypsummy-looking veins:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...2M1.JPG?sol3054
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol3054

[Phil Stooke]

Finally we may have one big enough for a brushing.

Phil

[Stu]

Is that "Knobby's Head" starting to appear over the end of the Cape now..?

[Tesheiner]

I think so!

Here's my take on the navcam mosaic. Man, I really like this place.

[Phil Stooke]

Yep, looks like it is.

Phil

[climber]

Hey, winds, how a bout a dust cleaning? Power is still at the same level we have been having for the past 10 Sols or so. Dust factor has not changed!

Paolo

Don't worry, be Oppy

[CosmicRocker]

... Dust factor has not changed!

I guess we can't assume that wind erased the rover track after all.

... Man, I really like this place.

No kidding. I wouldn't mind sticking around here for a while, but I think we have at least 2 or 3 more drives before we get to the phyllosilicate area.

[walfy]

Those veins are very bright. Are these bright rocks thought to be of the same make as the Homestake rock? They seem much brighter here, totally blown highlights. I don't recall seeing anything like it.

[Stu]

Looks like Oppy has started to drive uphill, towards some ridges higher up...

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...IWP1211L0M1.JPG

She's on the trail of something, maybe...?

[Tesheiner]

The name of some imaging sequences from today say something about it.

03056::p1957::13::6::0::0::4::0::10::nav_2x1_site_vein_2bpp_pri57
03056::p2555::30::8::8::0::0::2::18::pancam_sinuous_vein_L257R12467


And just a quick snapshot from GE to put in context. I will properly update the map thread later on.


BTW, we crossed the 35km mark during today's drive.

[climber]

BTW, we crossed the 35km mark during today's drive.

Nice, but this happened a mere 100m from the 34km mark
Now, only 900m to catch up with Apollo 17 rover and 2 km to break Lunakhod 2 leading mark!
Go Oppy go and tell us what those veins are.

[fredk]

The name of some imaging sequences from today say something about it.

Those should have been taken before the 3056 drive, when we were still at the 3053 location surrounded by all the pretty veins. Since we've moved inland tosol, I'm guessing that we're going after the putative clays, since we're now halfway along CY. I know who I'm rooting for to reach the clays first!

[Stu]

I'm guessing that we're going after the putative clays, since we're now halfway along CY. I know who I'm rooting for to reach the clays first!

Well, she's heading towards these...



... so maybe it's prospecting time...

[walfy]

The rock from sol 3049 makes for a nice 3D.

[Tesheiner]

Those should have been taken before the 3056 drive, when we were still at the 3053 location surrounded by all the pretty veins.

Checked it and the pancam shot was taken at the previous site but the navcam was shot "mid-drive" more or less around the 35km mark.

[dvandorn]

Just have a curiosity (small C) -- if we do get to some phyllosilicates, what does Oppy have left to bring to bear for examination?

I imagine we can at least brush the rock surface and the APXS should still give us some good data. And we can take some MI images. But is the Mossbauer capable of getting good spectra anymore? And if not, how much info can we get with what we got left?

Again, just curious.

-the other Doug

[fredk]

After the attempt at a looooong MB integration at Greeley this winter, they decided that it was no longer useful, IIRC.

[marsophile]

if we do get to some phyllosilicates, what does Oppy have left to bring to bear for examination?

The APXS will give elemental composition, and the MI morphology, but that may not be enough for a definitive identification. In the long run, comparison of the weak signature at Cape York with the strong signature at Cape Tribulation may be very suggestive, i.e., If there is some distinctive feature at Cape York, and a lot more of it at Cape Tribulation, then Oppy may have identified something that is correlated with the phyllosilicates. Curiosity can then investigate similar features with its full complement of instruments.

[Eutectic]

Tesheiner's map from post #89 overlaid with the CRISM data from http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakda.../2011/3134.html .

[Phil Stooke]

The full set of filters in mutispectral images will help as well, though I don't know how much in this context.

Phil

[Tesheiner]

A 12m "bump" was executed on sol 3057.
Here's the "post-drive" navcam mosaic.