Distant vistas, Endeavour, Iazu, and beyond Options

[ngunn]

In post 442 I arrived at an estimate for the distance to the near horizon of 2500m and suggested it might be about there we'd be able to see Santa Maria. That was just before the turn eastward, and since then we've already covered about one seventh of that distance.

[Ant103]

Sol 2273 view. Always fascinating hills

[CosmicRocker]

... Looking forward to lots more frames in this movie! ...

Truly fascinating, Astro0. I'm looking forward to more of those animations.

... Always fascinating hills ...

That's absolutely gorgious, Ant!

[CosmicRocker]

... And in Google Earth it seems that we are at the lowest point of a depression. ...

There's something fishy about that depression in Google Earth/Mars. It doesn't appear on Tim Parker's posted topographic map of the region as pointed out by Bill Harris and ngunn. I later speculated that the Google map may be affected by a bad MOLA data point.

Regardless of the reason, the depression can't be real. If it were, Opportunity would not be able to image Endeavour's rim or the other distant vistas from this location.

[Ant103]

Thanks CosmicRocker, and very well done animations Astro0

I think you can add this picture, of Sol 2274, showing some rising elements.

[MoreInput]

Regardless of the reason, the depression can't be real. If it were, Opportunity would not be able to image Endeavour's rim or the other distant vistas from this location.

So it is good to have a rover down there to find these things out (Mission science objective 4 of the MER mission: "perform 'ground truth' of surface observations made by Mars orbiter instruments").

[fredk]

Here's my take on the sol 2269 superres sequence of the far (east) rim of Endeavour. My image isn't superres, just the average of the 16 L6 frames to reduce jpeg and other noise. Some nice details showing up now:

I aligned the 2x scaled images before averaging. Here's my original 2x average, showing not much more real detail than the 1x image above since this isn't superres, and some of the jpeg artifacts reinforced because of nearly-coincident frames:

As before, I can't wait to see a proper superres with the raw images...

Meanwhile, the horizon in that direction is starting to drop, as you can see by comparing the above view with this 2277 view:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...00P2351R1M1.JPG

[ngunn]

It looks like we can now see parts of the plains beyond Endeavour through the notch to the left of Mt. Cook and also (very thinly) further to the left of the rim hills on the other side of the notch, visible here:
http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/...00P2351R1M1.JPG

[Tman]

If these hills mark the rim of a single crater, then there must be a really (really) big hole behind our current near horizon...

[Astro0]

Added Ant's most recent pan to the animation sequence.
Slightly different crop - excludes 'Mt Cook'.

3.28mb version here.
Definitely gives you the feel that something big is just over the horizon.
If Oppy keeps taking this sequence, it's going to be a heck of movie.

Plus a four frame sequence.

[Ant103]

Impressive Astro0 !

In the same time, I've just finish the Sol 2277 color pan. And the is going to be amazing !


All the elements will be connected -when ?- and this is will be a gorgeous view !

Can't resist more to make a desktop picture of it

[Ron Hobbs]

Can't resist more to make a desktop picture of it

Hooray!!

[Tesheiner]

Definitely gives you the feel that something big is just over the horizon.

Fully agree; spectacular, I would say.

[fredk]

Here's what I'd love to see: that Oppy drives far enough east that she can get a complete view of Endeavour's rim, right down to the plains, before the dusty skies of spring/summer return (tau was 0.28 in the last update!). Then take a colour super-res pan of the entire breadth of Endeavour-Iazu!

[ElkGroveDan]

... Then take a colour super-res pan of the entire breadth of Endeavour-Iazu!

Fred is outlining a very realistic scenario ahead. Now put yourself back at the end of 2004 after Opportunity had emerged from 200 days in Endurance Crater. What an amazing mission it had become. Who would have thought the rover could have accomplished so much and still be operating 10 months later?

But then heap on the wonder and accomplishments of the trek to Victoria that seemed so unreachable, but is now ancient history. And now we are on the verge of viewing Endeavour and Iazu craters??? Wow! It's as if Christopher Columbus had hiked across the Continental U.S., explored the Mississippi, then the Grand Canyon, and was on his way to cross the Sierra Nevadas. Just take a minute and let it sink in. Wow. I raise my glass to the engineers who built these amazing little machines.