[X] My Assistant

[Tesheiner]

I really hope I'm wrong, but if Spirit follows its intended direction (based on the "drive direction" pancam images usually taken after a drive, see panorama below), the next movements will be to the east and we probably won't see more details about Ultreya.

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[David]

TheChemist...I have to agree, I'm starting to convince myself that we'll only see a continuum of those bad bad dunes...

Sorry, Ustrax! But there does seem to be something interesting about that slope -- I can almost convince myself that I see lines like channels cutting through the slope down toward the bottom of Ultreya.

[ustrax]

I really hope I'm wrong, but if Spirit follows its intended direction (based on the "drive direction" pancam images usually taken after a drive, see panorama below), the next movements will be to the east and we probably won't see more details about Ultreya. 

If you see this:

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/re...93P1311R0M1.JPG

And if this means the direction to follow next, we'll have a lot of opportunities to see Ultreya...

[ustrax]

Sorry, Ustrax!    But there does seem to be something interesting about that slope -- I can almost convince myself that I see lines like channels cutting through the slope down toward the bottom of Ultreya.

Where?! Where?!
I just got my eyes full of sand!!!:blink:

[ustrax]

Sorry, Ustrax!    But there does seem to be something interesting about that slope -- I can almost convince myself that I see lines like channels cutting through the slope down toward the bottom of Ultreya.

Richard from the Mark Carey forum made an anaglyph in which appears what looks like an area deeper than the surroundings...

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b14/ustrax3/deeper.jpg

But sandy all the way...

[Tesheiner]

If you see this:

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/re...93P1311R0M1.JPG

And if this means the direction to follow next, we'll have a lot of opportunities to see Ultreya...

How?
If Spirit moves east without driving further downslope south (and this is a big if), Ultreya won't be visible anymore.

See today's drive and the planned (?) drive direction plotted on this view from the summit.




Edited: to make the text in the attachment readable!

[ustrax]

How? 
If Spirit moves east without driving further downslope south (and this is a big if), Ultreya won't be visible anymore. 

See today's drive and the planned (?) drive direction plotted on this view from the summit.




Edited: to make the text in the attachment readable!

I was reporting to this image:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...3P1895R0M1.HTML

It looks like it went east but down the slope quite a bit...If it follows this direction we can only expect to open us a larger field of view over Ultreya.

[Tesheiner]

Spirit drove downhill, right. But by the south slope, not east.
Now it is "facing" (the rear side, actually) east, and to that direction is where the pancam pictures called "drive direction panorama" (usually a set of 5 pics) were taken.
That's what is worring me. If we saw Ultreya & Home plate on the pancams it would mean the intention was to still go downwards south.

Anyway, time will tell...

[mchan]

Spirit drove downhill, right. But by the south slope, not east.
Now it is "facing" (the rear side, actually) east, and to that direction is where the pancam pictures called "drive direction panorama" (usually a set of 5 pics) were taken.
That's what is worring me. If we saw Ultreya & Home plate on the pancams it would mean the intention was to still go downwards south.

Anyway, time will tell...

A recent post here mentioned Spirit may drive around the periphery of the summit to get better pancam views before venturing further, so the near-term drives may not indicate the long-term direction.

[Marz]

Howdy,

I was looking at some of the recent pancam images near Homeplate, and while there are dune fields nearby, it looks like a very short uplift of basalt is acting like a barrier. I thought I'd touch up one of ustrax's nice image overlay's, where I've drawn a circle around the small ridge I've dubbed "Ultreya's Gatekeeper".

I still wonder if the homeplate area is volcanic in origin, since it seems to have dark basalt and perhaps 2 or more volcanic cones? So I'm holding out hope the Abyss is a caldera... until proven wrong by mundane dunes....

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[ustrax]

Howdy,

I was looking at some of the recent pancam images near Homeplate, and while there are dune fields nearby, it looks like a very short uplift of basalt is acting like a barrier.  I thought I'd touch up one of ustrax's nice image overlay's, where I've drawn a circle around the small ridge I've dubbed "Ultreya's Gatekeeper".

I still wonder if the homeplate area is volcanic in origin, since it seems to have dark basalt and perhaps 2 or more volcanic cones?  So I'm holding out hope the Abyss is a caldera... until proven wrong by mundane dunes....

Here's what I think...

I've tried to explain it in a figure:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b14/ustr...ltreyaundae.jpg

I see the elevation [c] working as a barrier to the sand brought by the Eastern winds, the sames forming the lighter dunes [a] and some wider sand deposits [d]
But on the other hand it might be that the darker area [b] could have been originated by winds eroding the foothill and maybe that closer to this we might find curious older features, but well...This is just a wild guess...

[TheChemist]

Those JPL guys are very nice. Here is a new view of Ultreya from todays NavCams.
The position is different but the new terrain revealed is exceedingly small

[ustrax]

Those JPL guys are very nice. Here is a new view of Ultreya from todays NavCams.
The position is different but the new terrain revealed is exceedingly small 

They're just teasing us...
Tomorrow there's a press conference and surely the main issue will be the arrival at the top.
They'll keep Ultreya guarded for the next round up with the media...

[ustrax]

Those JPL guys are very nice. Here is a new view of Ultreya from todays NavCams.
The position is different but the new terrain revealed is exceedingly small 

Yes, short in revealed terrain, but I guess that now we can say that we are already seing inner Ultreya terrain:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b14/ustr...eyaundae590.jpg

[djellison]

Dark dune field just the same as the one visible from Larry's Lookout - (coughahem as I predicted cough ahem ) - of course, it might get more interesting a little closer to the hill.

Doug