After Victoria..., .. what next? Options

[Stu]

I know we've had rather light-hearted discussions about this before, with most people agreeing that Oppy is likely to end her days inside or on the edge of Victoria Crater, simply because there's nothing else to investigate within reach, but has Steve S got it in his mind that Oppy will head off somewhere else after Victoria? This report could be read in a way that suggests that...

[PaulM]

Oppy seems to be surviving the storm and assuming that Oppy gets in and out of Victoria crater it seems worthwhile to continue discussing where Oppy might go after Victoria

Steve Squyres is quoted in the 3rd of June Planetary Society MER update as making the following statement:

"Everyone at JPL, on our science team, and at NASA Headquarters, felt that if we were ever going to do this the time was now," Squyres added. "The kind of stuff we want to do inside this crater really requires a healthy six-wheeled rover, which is what we have now. We're interested in getting in there, doing our business, and getting out while the vehicle still has those six wheels to enable us to climb out. Then we've got a lot more science to do on the plains around the crater," he said, noting that the scientists already have their eyes on the cobbles and other deeply eroded craters like Erebus back out on the plains. "But now is the time to enter Victoria Crater."

The way I read this is that Oppy might well be sent back to Erebus itself and if so this might be part of a bigger plan to drive back to the good driving country around Eagle crater. My guess is that Oppy will be sent North past Erebus following its old tracks so as to get off the etched terrain as quickly as possible and then will head due North.

Large interesting craters do seem in short supply north of Eagle but at the very least if Oppy travels more than a few km North of Eagle it will be able to sample older strata than that exposed in Victoria and Endurance craters.

What I would like to see is Oppy being driven North off the Merridiani heamatite deposits altogether. Perhaps there is an exposed section of the base of the Merridiani deposits North of Eagle crater?

Does anyone know how far North of Eagle crater Oppy would have to drive to drive off the area of heamatite deposits that were mapped from orbit before Oppy landed?

[djellison]

if so this might be part of a bigger plan to drive back to the good driving country around Eagle crater. My guess is that Oppy will be sent North past Erebus following its old tracks so as to get off the etched terrain as quickly as possible and then will head due North.

It took two years, flat out, to get from Endurance to Victoria. The dunes north of Erebus were slow, nasty driving. I can't imagine a scenario where you would want to re-encounter that terrain.