Post Conjunction: Santa Maria to Cape York, The Journey to 'Spirit Point' |
Post Conjunction: Santa Maria to Cape York, The Journey to 'Spirit Point' |
Apr 26 2011, 03:33 AM
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#241
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 4246 Joined: 17-January 05 Member No.: 152 |
The latest Oppy map update includes a route to Cape York (of course the route has to be tentative). The route basically consists of several straight segments connecting up at craters, starting with the "double crater" we can see in pancam about 400 metres ahead, and ending near the south end of CY. Most of the connecting vertices are obvious craters, although one is labelled "young blocky" but there's no obvious candidate that matches that description exactly at that vertex, to my eye at least.
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Apr 26 2011, 05:20 AM
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#242
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Member Group: Members Posts: 399 Joined: 28-August 07 From: San Francisco Member No.: 3511 |
Oh, Great to hear of the insights to the journey like this, thanks Fred.
I dedicate my working week to Oppy's goals, let's see where we are Saturday -------------------- 'She drove until the wheels fell off...'
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Apr 26 2011, 07:49 AM
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#243
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2173 Joined: 28-December 04 From: Florida, USA Member No.: 132 |
...Most of the connecting vertices are obvious craters, although one is labelled "young blocky" but there's no obvious candidate that matches that description exactly at that vertex, to my eye at least. I wonder if that last label refers not to a vertex but to the prospective route's endpoint. It certainly would be a good description of the prominent crater at the South tip of Cape York, in the direction the route is headed. From Stu's view of Cape York, complete with scattered little orange-highlighted Opportunitys: |
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Apr 26 2011, 09:17 AM
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#244
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2173 Joined: 28-December 04 From: Florida, USA Member No.: 132 |
Actually, near the end of the January 31, 2010 Mars Exploration Rovers Update By A.J.S. Rayl. Steve Squyres refers to another crater visited by Opportunity as "young" and "blocky".
Concepcion.... is estimated to be about 1,000 years old, making it the youngest crater explored on the mission. Being young, it’s “very blocky, very rugged,” said Squyres. “And we're going to tiptoe around this thing pretty very carefully because it is a real rubble pile.” If anything, the crater on the South end of Cape York looks even younger and blockier than Concepcion (on the left, below). Of course Concepcion being formed in soft sulfate rock would presumably weather at a faster rate than the Cape York crater, which I estimate is about 18m diameter to Concepcion's 10m (based on the 100m grid in Tesheiner's route map) |
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Apr 26 2011, 01:25 PM
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#245
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
I've been waiting for someone to comment on this different looking texture we will be approaching in the next week. But no one has, so I will. It almost looks "inverted" the way some of the ancient craters have been filled and then their structure eroded away on other parts of Mars. I know the term "etched" has already been used to described the Meridiani Planum on a larger scale. But when you get right down to it, this really looks "etched" in the truest sense of the word. It's difficult to tell from Google Mars, but there doesn't appear to be any relief to the region, or at least not enough to present a navigational obstacle.
Do your speculating quickly. We're almost on top of it. -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Apr 26 2011, 01:43 PM
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#246
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
-------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Apr 26 2011, 02:07 PM
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#247
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 3431 Joined: 11-August 04 From: USA Member No.: 98 |
I've been waiting for someone to comment on this different looking texture we will be approaching in the next week. But no one has, so I will. Looks like just another instance of the 'dark terrain' type which we've already passed over and found surprisingly unsurprising. |
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Apr 26 2011, 02:10 PM
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#248
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10128 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
Agreed - EGD, check out the posts around #130 in this thread. It looks a lot more interesting from orbit than it does on the ground... although it must have something to tell us that is not immediately apparent.
Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke 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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Apr 26 2011, 02:20 PM
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#249
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
It makes wonder if these aren't the remnants of once-large dunes that have since been scoured away from a regional change in prevailing winds. Is it possible there is some kind of weak cementation that occurred from the pressure and eons of a time under the formerly larger dunes, leaving a "footing" that is just a tad bit more resistant than all the other sand out there on the planum? Might it be worth a brief wheel scuff and MI peek into one of these zig-zagging shapes?
-------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Apr 26 2011, 02:53 PM
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#250
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Member Group: Members Posts: 128 Joined: 28-October 08 From: Boston, MA Member No.: 4469 |
Wouldn't you expect to see more alignment and less crisscrossing if these were the remnants of ancient dunes?
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Apr 26 2011, 03:19 PM
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#251
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Member Group: Members Posts: 507 Joined: 10-September 08 Member No.: 4338 |
Looks to me like the trenches we have already seen have become more numerous until they have merged together to form a general collapsed area with remnants of the old terrain forming the criss-crossing ridges.
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Apr 26 2011, 03:30 PM
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#252
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The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
I suspect THIS is Young Blocky. I think you're spot on there, Dan. -------------------- |
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Apr 26 2011, 04:18 PM
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#253
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The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
Very quick Best Guesstimate Rough Guide to the major landmarks that MIGHT ahead based on what I take to be the route shown on the recent traverse map release... bit hard to pick them out tho, because it's quite a low resolution pic... and the nnames are *obviously* a million percent made up by myself, they're just there to give a flavour of the trip, ok?
You'll see a little virtual Oppy next to each crater, at the correct scale. I'm going to put some better versions of these omages up on my blog later, rather than put them all up on here and gorge myself on UMSF's bandwidth, so I hope some of you will take a look at those. Note: I'm not absolutely sure about these crater IDs, so this really is just a bestguesstimate -------------------- |
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Apr 26 2011, 05:49 PM
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#254
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 4279 Joined: 19-April 05 From: .br at .es Member No.: 253 |
I suspect THIS is Young Blocky. I think it's a slightly bigger one 200m NNW of your identification. One reason --but perhaps we are trying to extract too much information from the image posted by Tim Parker-- is that the feature on the official map seems to be located on a rocky patch more consistent with the crater I'm pointing at. The other reason --and this is perhaps more relevant on this "game"-- is that this whole "route path" makes a small detour north of a straight path. Why? IMHO, it's not to visit some craters on the way but to avoid crossing a ripple field on a more direct path. This northward route crosses a more benign terrain and the little double-crater on Dan's picture is right on the ripple field. My 2c. |
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Apr 26 2011, 06:13 PM
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#255
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
I think 'Young Blocky' could even be the rayed crater at the top right corner there. OK it's not on the proposed route line but it's sufficiently close to have been considered as a possible waypoint at some stage.
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