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The western route, 5th leg after stop at Absecon / Reeds Bay
SFJCody
post Jul 22 2009, 09:50 PM
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Wow, that's a long drive back. Whatever it is that the rover team thinks this might be has got to be a lot more interesting than another iron meteorite!
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Tesheiner
post Jul 22 2009, 10:22 PM
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Thanks for pointing the rock Tim. smile.gif
Added it to the latest KML file in the route map thread.
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Drkskywxlt
post Jul 23 2009, 12:28 AM
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Can someone summarize the reasons their taking the big west (almost northwest) turn? Is it more stable ground to drive on? Sorry if I missed this many pages back. Thanks!
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nprev
post Jul 23 2009, 12:48 AM
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Hmm. Well, as Doug pointed out, BI is an anomaly in its own right even on cursory examination. However, Tim is hinting that there are other less obvious reasons for the close-up exam.

It sure is dark, which to me indicates that might be a relatively recent, hefty meteorite. On the other hand, it might be an ejecta block from a fresh impact in the area...say, maybe from over near the recently-more-interesting region near Endeavour? Are you guys looking for clay early? wink.gif


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ElkGroveDan
post Jul 23 2009, 01:06 AM
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QUOTE (nprev @ Jul 22 2009, 04:48 PM) *
Tim is hinting that there are other less obvious reasons for the close-up exam.


Was there perhaps a tantalizing mini-TES image taken? Does it even work on Opportunity anymore?


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fredk
post Jul 23 2009, 01:22 AM
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QUOTE (ElkGroveDan @ Jul 23 2009, 02:06 AM) *
Does it even work on Opportunity anymore?


No.
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serpens
post Jul 23 2009, 01:28 AM
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QUOTE (fredk @ Jul 23 2009, 01:22 AM) *

So the attempt to clear the dusty mirror by leaving it exposed has failed?
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serpens
post Jul 23 2009, 02:50 AM
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QUOTE (glennwsmith @ Jul 22 2009, 03:30 AM) *
... Any guess as to the size of the original meteorite? I'm thinking about 8 inches in diameter . . .

Glenn, the size would depend on the meteor type and velocity. Was this a secondary? Was it at terminal velocity or faster? The link takes a lot of the effort out of 'what iffing' this question.
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/tekton/crater_c.html
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glennwsmith
post Jul 23 2009, 03:26 AM
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Serpens, thanks for the link to the crater diameter calculator -- it is fascinating! And I am perhaps not so far off! A 0.2 m diameter meteor of dense rock (not iron), traveling at 45 km/sec (the upper end of the range for Mars impacts), and striking "competent rock" will create a crater 3.49 m (appx. 12 feet) in diameter.

But Block Island is even more fascinating!!! Is anyone sure that's why we've turned around?

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tim53
post Jul 23 2009, 04:19 AM
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Doug has it. It's the biggest thing not associated with a crater that we've seen. And it's not outcrop.

-Tim.
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nprev
post Jul 23 2009, 05:04 AM
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Certainly reason enough. And there I was, spinning out into left field... rolleyes.gif


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glennwsmith
post Jul 23 2009, 05:06 AM
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Alan, my man! What led you to this felicitous observation? Just your own curiosity about that big black rock?
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alan
post Jul 23 2009, 05:36 AM
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Just thought 'hey that looks interesting' when MMB downloaded the images, that and 'too bad Oppy has already driven away'


I'm also wondering if it's located far enough south for Oppy to see some of the terrain to the south that's currently hidden from view.
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CosmicRocker
post Jul 23 2009, 06:47 AM
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QUOTE (tim53 @ Jul 22 2009, 11:19 PM) *
Doug has it. It's the biggest thing not associated with a crater that we've seen. And it's not outcrop.
-Tim.

I thought there was a significantly larger "erratic" boulder observed near Erebus. Some here were surprised that that one was not more closely investigated at the time. I'm not suggesting that either was a glacial erratic, only that it was an erratic boulder on Mars.


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Burmese
post Jul 23 2009, 03:01 PM
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But what took the team so long to decide to turn around and go investigate BI? Someone maybe took a second look at the downloaded images a few days after their initial evaluation and raised a big flag? Would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall during that ops meeting....
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