Winter Quarters, at Low Ridge Haven Options

[DFinfrock]

Since Spirit is no longer "Running for the Hills" and it appears that she will be staying at Low Ridge Haven for the next eight months or so, it seems like a good time to start a new topic.

I thought we could start with the great panorama stitched by jvandriel, and then altered by Tesheiner. We are going to become very familiar with this view in the coming months.

David


[attachment=5107:attachment] (286k)

[john_s]

I'm just bumping this thread because I agree that it's time for a new topic devoted to Spirit's new home. Post here, folks!

[alan]

A quick measurement of the thin layer

[ElkGroveDan]

Are you certain about that 16cm measurement? I get 6.2992126 inches.

(Just doing my part to bump the new thread too.)

[RNeuhaus]

A quick measurement of the thin layer

So fragil that some gushing wind may break it off. I have also measured it but I got different result. According to GIMP tool, the given distance is 130.9 pixels. Then, the picture has 1024x1024 pixels (this is of 1 Megapixels) and its proportion is 2.8346 has pixels/mm (36.124 cms width and 36.124 height). Then the size of "flying stone" is 46.18 mm (130.9/2.8346). How do you get to measure it as 160 mm long?

Changing the topic, around the Low Ridge Heaven has many strange and rugged stones (ones which has undergone a process of great temperature that has produced bubbles of gas) that might be of volcanic or impact origns. So Spirit with its limited permissible autonomy can visit some stones facing to the northern side.

One of interesting lava rocks http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/pa...00P2535R1M1.JPG

Rodolfo

[Phil Stooke]

Here's a polar view of The Low Ridge Haven (Heaven's a slightly different place, Rodolfo, so they tell me).

It is from jvandriel's pan in the previous thread.

Phil

[RNeuhaus]

Interesting picture. The north side is found the Columbia Hill? On that view to North, the Home Plate is found. Now, the south side has more naked stones than anywhere from Low Ridge Heaven. I deduct that the prominent wind comes from between southwest-south direction. The East side is seen the McCool Hill. The Spirit was trying to climb toward west. On around west-south side, where there is a small cone, is a famous cut bright cone, Pitcher Mound.

I suspect that the climbing direction of Spirit will not meet soft sand unless that westward surface, there is a thin layer of sand and below of this might be a outcrop. Thus, Spirit will be able to climb even further to catch a better wind.

Rodolfo

[Bill Harris]

Whew, I'm glad that she made it to safe Winter Quarters.

I've been off all week, went to St Louis Missouri for a meeting. I was sans a public 'puter and didn't get a chance to check in.

--Bill

[aldo12xu]

Cool image, Phil. Aesthetically and science wise. The Low Ridge layering seems to strike east-west below the rover and then changing to a more northeasterly strike. But the rocks exposed near Mitchelltree (which should be on strike) seem to have curved formed. Or is this an optical effect created by the polar projection? I'll try to sketch some images after the long weekend to clarify what I mean.

Here's a view of the Mitchelltree curvilinear bedding I was referring to, Navcam from sol 806.



By the way, is there any chance Spirit would be able to make a quick run to the north facing slopes of Pitcher's Mound during the winter months?

[RNeuhaus]

Pitcher's Mound is on the west side of Spirit, its official name is Von Braun (not sure). The distance from its position to Von Braun is around 129 meters in a straight line. That is a tough distance for 5 tired wheels and the rover drivers must select the best route with thiner sand surface and estimate carefully about the power required to reach on PM before it is dead. It would be a very dramatic story.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/tm-...from_sol594.jpg

Rodolfo

[Shaka]

129 meters is almost certainly too wide a gulf to 'sprint' across safely, but the point is that Low Ridge extends for some distance to the west from Spirit's present location. If we can map a sequence of safe north-sloping oases along the ridge, we might be able to narrow that gap significantly over the coming months. We might then be able to see enough isolated knolls across the gap to make the trip south feasible. Assuming we still have a significant interest in Von Braun, we might be prepared to take the risk. From there, in spring we would have a choice of directions, to south Home Plate or the Promised Land.
We need an energy map of Low Ridge first.

[RNeuhaus]

If we can map a sequence of safe north-sloping oases along the ridge, we might be able to narrow that gap significantly over the coming months. We might then be able to see enough isolated knolls across the gap to make the trip south feasible.

Good idea, it is doable as the best with small and firm steps trying to reach the VB. The wildest idea is to try to climb a rock on the way by one of the wheels to get a correct north face tilt.

Rodolfo

[BrianL]

Whew, I'm glad that she made it to safe Winter Quarters.

Daddy, I'm bored. There's nothing to do here. When do we get to go? Can we go now? I'm booooored. Dad-deeee....

OK, maybe I get blase easily about seeing activities from the surface of another planet, but do the rest of you think you can get through this Martian winter without these thoughts creeping into your head? At least during the first winter, they were still moving around from place to place on a large hillside. There's really no place to go now safely, is there?

I fear following Spirit's activities for the next few months will be much like visiting friends who feel the need to trot out their pictures from their holiday tour of the plains states every time you visit.

"Look, there's Irma in front of the World's Largest Ball of Twine...."



Brian

[Shaka]

The wildest idea is to try to climb a rock on the way by one of the wheels to get a correct north face tilt.
Rodolfo

We probably need to practice this kind of 5-legged acrobatics. We don't want to take 3 or 4 sols to get properly perched.
I'm not sure how many sols we could afford.

[algorimancer]

So fragil that some gushing wind may break it off. I have also measured it but I got different result. According to GIMP tool, the given distance is 130.9 pixels. Then, the picture has 1024x1024 pixels (this is of 1 Megapixels) and its proportion is 2.8346 has pixels/mm (36.124 cms width and 36.124 height). Then the size of "flying stone" is 46.18 mm (130.9/2.8346). How do you get to measure it as 160 mm long?

Rodolfo

I verified the measurement, measuring to the right tip of the projection, and got 18 cm with about a 1 cm error, basically in agreement with alan's measurement (he set the right side of the measurement a bit to the left of where I did). I'm not sure how he did it, but I used my own app, AlgorimancerPG, which you can find at http://www.clarkandersen.com/RangeFinder.htm. I'm not familiar with GIMP, so I don't have any idea of why it offers different results.