Cape York - Northern Havens, Sol 2780 - 2947 |
Cape York - Northern Havens, Sol 2780 - 2947 |
Nov 24 2011, 12:16 PM
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#31
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3008 Joined: 30-October 04 Member No.: 105 |
Don't get your hopes up for imagery this Holiday weekend. All we have today are a bunch of Homestake MI images and some boring OtherScience PanCams.
I wouldn't be suprised if things get a bit spotty for the next few weeks. The launch of Curiosity will take up resources. And there is limited bandwidth on the DSN downlink and a whole sackload of science they want to get started on working restricted workdays before/at the Holidays. The proverbial quart in a pint pot, they are prioritizing and doing the age-old Task Juggle. In a way, we become like spoilt children. We want it, and we want it All. Now. We need to be patient and realize that it'll happen when it happens. [/philosophization OFF] --Bill -------------------- |
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Nov 24 2011, 04:00 PM
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#32
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The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
All true, Bill. We'll get what we get, when we get it, when it's possible to get it to us. End of story. If anyone starts to suffer withdrawl symptoms from images, there's a new release of Oppy images to the PDS on the 28th - sols 2521-2610, the section ofher trek which included those small craters named after historical NASA manned spacecraft, etc - to trawl through and make pretty pictures out of.
( And if anyone dares to moan this year about the MER team having the Thanksgiving holidays off, or doing less during this period, or accuses them of slacking, I will personally go round to their house and give them a Benny Hill-style slap on the head whilst shouting "Shut up!!!!" They deserve and need a break from their jobs now and again, just like the rest of us. ) -------------------- |
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Nov 25 2011, 03:32 AM
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#33
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 32 Joined: 17-April 05 Member No.: 235 |
All true, Bill. We'll get what we get, when we get it, when it's possible to get it to us. End of story. If anyone starts to suffer withdrawl symptoms from images, there's a new release of Oppy images to the PDS on the 28th - sols 2521-2610, the section ofher trek which included those small craters named after historical NASA manned spacecraft, etc - to trawl through and make pretty pictures out of. ( And if anyone dares to moan this year about the MER team having the Thanksgiving holidays off, or doing less during this period, or accuses them of slacking, I will personally go round to their house and give them a Benny Hill-style slap on the head whilst shouting "Shut up!!!!" They deserve and need a break from their jobs now and again, just like the rest of us. ) Do you know if Opportunity will drive a little more before winter? And if not - when driving will resume? |
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Nov 25 2011, 03:58 AM
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#34
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2173 Joined: 28-December 04 From: Florida, USA Member No.: 132 |
Do you know if Opportunity will drive a little more before winter? And if not - when driving will resume? From Stu's interview with James Wray: "...mainly we’re just hoping to survive the winter! If we find a good north-facing slope, we might be able to make brief 'sorties' throughout the winter to nearby targets of geologic interest..." And from Matt Lenda's blog: "We still have some trekking to do to find all the best slopes, and to see what slopes also have good science targets.... I expect activity to dwindle down throughout December, with January-April being 'hunker down' months with occasional science activities." I'm sure no one knows the actual driving plans for the winter/spring. A cleaning event would certainly change things, as would an unfortunate dusting event. |
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Nov 25 2011, 05:11 AM
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#35
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1592 Joined: 14-October 05 From: Vermont Member No.: 530 |
Also, the official status update mentioned that this was one of two havens being considered.
http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/mission/status_...rtunityAll.html QUOTE There are two candidate sites for winter havens that indicate sufficient northerly tilt. Opportunity is investigating one of those two sites with the plan to spend the Thanksgiving holiday there. Because of the coming holiday, the project implemented multi-sol plans for the last three planning days before Thanksgiving. If watt-hours decrease precipitously, no doubt they'll stay put. If not... |
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Nov 25 2011, 11:18 AM
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#36
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3008 Joined: 30-October 04 Member No.: 105 |
And most of the data this morning dealt with two superres Pancam sequences of Endeavour Rim, which don't have much to do with the current science targets at The Havens
--Bill -------------------- |
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Nov 25 2011, 02:46 PM
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#37
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1619 Joined: 12-February 06 From: Bergerac - FR Member No.: 678 |
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Nov 25 2011, 05:13 PM
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#38
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10226 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
Fantastic view!
Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke Maps for download (free PDF: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Cartography.pdf NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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Nov 25 2011, 05:56 PM
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#39
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
Wow. If that were covered in snow it would make for a five or six mile toboggan ride.
-------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Nov 25 2011, 08:54 PM
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#40
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 98 Joined: 17-July 11 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 6066 |
All true, Bill. We'll get what we get, when we get it, when it's possible to get it to us. End of story. If anyone starts to suffer withdrawl symptoms from images, there's a new release of Oppy images to the PDS on the 28th - sols 2521-2610, the section ofher trek which included those small craters named after historical NASA manned spacecraft, etc - to trawl through and make pretty pictures out of. ( And if anyone dares to moan this year about the MER team having the Thanksgiving holidays off, or doing less during this period, or accuses them of slacking, I will personally go round to their house and give them a Benny Hill-style slap on the head whilst shouting "Shut up!!!!" They deserve and need a break from their jobs now and again, just like the rest of us. ) Honestly, part of me wants to fly back to Pasadena (I'm home in CO for vacay!) right now and sweat out that high-calorie Thanksgiving meal with a good tactical planning day! I'm sure no one knows the actual driving plans for the winter/spring. A cleaning event would certainly change things, as would an unfortunate dusting event. Pretty much -- it's still a week-to-week assessment. It's just flat-out impossible to predict dust factor or Tau with anything less than completely unreasonable error bars. Historically we see many Tau and DF trends, none of which are useful on a tactical basis. They are what they are, we deal with it as it comes along. -m |
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Nov 25 2011, 08:55 PM
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#41
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 4279 Joined: 19-April 05 From: .br at .es Member No.: 253 |
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Nov 25 2011, 09:53 PM
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#42
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
And no doubt fredk will let us know if any dust-raising wind gusts (or cloud shadows) were traversing the area as the fifteen successive images were captured.
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Guest_Sunspot_* |
Nov 25 2011, 09:59 PM
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#43
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Guests |
Would the winter plans be reconsidered if there were a major solar panel cleaning event?
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Nov 25 2011, 10:23 PM
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#44
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
I would say yes. Every new sol is borrowed time. When they park the rovers to do nothing there is the constant tug and pull of; do we get more life/science out of this machine sitting still vs. moving on.? There's always the chance that one of the critical circuits will simply fail due to old age. So if they had abundant power, they'd probably head straight back over to Homestake and all the other enticing targets left behind over the last month
-------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Nov 26 2011, 05:51 AM
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#45
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Member Group: Members Posts: 813 Joined: 8-February 04 From: Arabia Terra Member No.: 12 |
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