Post Conjunction: Santa Maria to Cape York, The Journey to 'Spirit Point' Options

[MoreInput]

Rear mirror? We are driving backwards since a long time ...

[Guest_Oersted_*]

She's a MER with a Mission! Onwards, ever onwards...

[ilbasso]

The US has had a lot of significant space events on July 4, 16, and 20. At the current rate of progress, I wouldn't be surprised to see another event added to the list for one of those dates this year.

[NickF]

Here's a quick stitch of the Sol 2628 L1/L2/L6 pancams.

[walfy]

At the risk that this has been discussed already, consider again the map from a previous post by fredk (post is at http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...p;#entry173430)


... he points out possibilities for the distant feature "B," very likely the "Cape Approach Crater":


...with a more recent view of that distant whale-tail feature here: http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...00P2442L2M1.JPG

If you follow the top line in the above map from A to B, then extend it beyond B, it will nearly take you the "Whale Tail Peaks," the two highest points of Cape York in my estimation:


But the southern of those two peaks looks like it should be noticeably higher, judging by the wider parallax spread displayed in the red channel on this image: http://www.marspages.eu/media/archive4/mer...CapeYork_3D.jpg

...and the two "peaks" on feature "B" look pretty level on recent images. Darn! Maybe it's not it. But wait. They look level until you zoom way in on the pixels, as in the next and final image.


The hill on the right has a few more darker pixels... Hmmm. Now I think I'm losing it, suffering from seeing what I want to see. This is awful. Come on, Oppy!

[Tesheiner]

Mmm, interesting.

But here's another approach on this topic. Taking the absolute headings of 1) the crater on the far side 2) feature "B" and 3) the "Whale Tail Peaks" as measured on the HiRISE and CTX pictures and translating them to the latest pancam mosaic here's what I get.




I would love to have said "LAND HO", but it's still too early. The bumps are on the heading of feature "B" / "Cape Approach Crater".

[Poolio]

Solar panels cleaned! Power production up to 528.

[fredk]

Thanks for those headings, Tesheiner. You've convinced me!

I've been noticing interesting features in the shape of the horizon as we approach Endeavour. Here are a couple of recent examples:


(Both are 3x vertical stretched.) It would be really cool to see a full (or half) horizon pan showing exactly what the eastern horizon is doing. The problem is that the result would be very sensitive to how you project and splice the images together - you could easily introduce similar but fictitious features. Way beyond my abilities, anyway.

Basically, I interpret these features as evidence that there's something really really big looming just to our east!

[Phil Stooke]

I had the impression from some of the earlier stretched horizon shots (going back even before Santa Maria) that there was a bulge on the horizon about where Antares is (that's the very subdued crater NE of Cape York). Maybe that is what is shaping the current horizon. Regarding Fred's comment about splicing images together, yes, that can introduce bad artifacts, but a more distant shot could provide the control necessary to sort it out. I would be stretching the control image and these new ones an equal amount before making the mosaic, not after. (Can't do it now, I'm still away from the office)

Phil

[ElkGroveDan]

...and Opportunity has reached the 19 mile mark! So put on some Steely Dan and raise your glass of Cuervo Gold!

Hey Nineteen
No we got nothing in common
No we can't talk at all
Please take me along
When you slide on down

The Cuervo Gold
The fine Colombian
Make tonight a wonderful thing
We can't dance together
No we can't talk at all

[walfy]

Thanks Tesheiner, you've convinced me too that it's just the "Approach Crater."

[fredk]

After the 2630 drive, we're close to another ~15 metre crater. Here it is in the drive direction pancam view (with the "cape approach" crater about 1.5 km away on the horizon):
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...2M1.JPG?sol2630

[ngunn]

It's apparent that 'approach crater' is sometimes silhouetted against the sky (as now) and sometimes against the terrain on the far side of Endeavour, as our vantage point rises and falls by a matter of centimetres over the subtle undulations of Meridiani Planum. It's my impression from the most recent images that its profile is more subdued when our vantage point is lower. I think this means that it is located just beyond the topographic rise (or change of curvature) that forms the near horizon. That would augur well for a HOAV from 'approach crater'.

[fredk]

My thoughts exactly. I've gotten the impression on our long drive across Meridiani that large expanses of exposed bedrock are higher than the darker, dust covered regions in between. There's a large expanse of bedrock roughly half a km before (NW of) Cape Approach crater. So our local horizon probably corresponds to the bedrock, with CA crater just beyond.

We're now getting into one of the large darker regions, so I'd expect we may drop even more before the final climb up to the bedrock region.

[Stu]

I think we're still a good klick away from seeing the highest points of Cape York rise above the horizon, but I'd love to be proved wrong. And hope I am.

Meanwhile, I've spotted something interesting up ahead - well, a little bit off the track, up ahead (and if someone else has found it already, forgive me, I haven't gone back to the start of this thread to check). There's what looks, to my untrained eye, to be a decent-sized outcrop available for study before we get to Approach Crater, shown here with a fake Oppy dropped beside it...



Might just be a light-and-dark illusion, but it caught my eye, that's all I'm saying. Lots more pics (and speculation!) in my blog post, if anyone wants a look:

http://roadtoendeavour.wordpress.com/2011/06/19/vroooom