MSL Route Map Options

[nogal]

At last, the promised reply to Paul's post on another thread.

I have been avoiding adding the planned routes to the MSL Route Map because I see them more like guidelines and deviations and changes do happen. I am aware of several versions! The Route Map, in contrast, "shows what has really happened", notwitstanding the landing ellipse and quadrants grid, which escape that category.

Krit has posted a route map, and your question made me think again. Perhaps it would be interesting to be able to compare the route maps and see their "evolution" as Curiosity finds the Mars ground truth. But I still want to maintain the Route Map criterion ... The way out is to have a separate KML (KMZ) for the planned routes. A great number of files can simultaneously be open in GE.

So here is a collection of "Planned Routes". I've drawn them by referring to a number of images and movie stills. Their resolution varies widely. So do not expect exact matches. There might be other routes which would be interesting to add and I'm willing to, should someone kindly point them out to me. Also, as usual, comments are welcome.

Fernando
 MSL_Planned_Routes_2015SEP29.kmz ( 168.41K ) Number of downloads: 684

[Phil Stooke]

A very small move on sol 1127, backwards to image the wheels, then south to a new drilling target. The net movement is no more than a few metres.

EDIT: I probably should move my new position to the east of the old one rather than to the south, but still about the same distance.

Phil

[nogal]

Provisonal update to sol 1127 and releasing a new version of the KML file.

This new version introduces information by sol, accessed by clicking the sol marker. With the exception of Sol 0, a new marker is added at the end of the drive for the sol. When the rover does not move over a period of several sols, a single marker represents those sols.

The information is displayed on a pop-up balloon and includes, from the top: a banner; the Sol number, or sol range, and the respective UTC start and end times; an optional comment, usually a highlight; links, also optional, to maps and images; sol descriptions, always included; and credits.

A sol's description is comprised of sol number, site number, UTC time at noon Local Mean Solar Time, some text, and links. The data for sols 1 through 938 is taken, or derived, from the MSL Curiosity Historical Overview available from the MSL Curiosity Analyst's Notebook. Clicking the description opens the respective Notebook page in GE. Data for the other sols is generated by me. These data will be replaced by Notebook data, as it becomes available. A link to JPL Curiosity's page of raw images for the sol is also included.

Links to maps and other images posted in UMSF are included in some, but not all, sols. Sols with such links are identified by a brown star marker; the other sols have a beige square marker. Sol 0 is a good starting point to get familiarized with this capability.

Note that the links open directly in GE and from there they can also be opened in a browser. GE may take a little while to fetch the pages and images. Sometimes hitting "reload" is necessary.

The KML file's description has been extensively revised. Access it by clicking the link under the file name, on GE's side panel.

I am indebted to UMSF members Glen James Nagle, a.k.a. Astro0, for creating a banner for the information pop-ups, and Phil Stooke, for authorizing me to include links to his posts' images. Any value this new capability might have is surely much augmented by their generous contributions.

I have wanted to add this capability for a long time, but kept refraining from implementing it because I thought it would make the file too big to be uploaded in UMSF. I finally decided to see how much big it would really be. I am very glad it is smaller than what I had expected.

Thank you for your patience (long post) and I hope you enjoy the Route Map. As usual, any feedback is very much appreciated.

Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1127_2015OCT11.kmz ( 366.18K ) Number of downloads: 629

[PaulH51]

...a new version of the KML file.

Can only imagine the work that went into assembling this... Superb...

[Phil Stooke]

A drill on sol 1137 at the location shown here:



Phil

[Phil Stooke]

And an overview of the site, showing the relationship between Big Sky and Greenhorn. For scale the rover is roughly 300 cm across.



Phil

[Phil Stooke]

Here is an update to the activity map at Greenhorn, with the most recent sample dump. I think I have things right - the locations and dates - but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

Our drive took us slightly north and east to get a view of an area called Meeteetse (named after a place in Wyoming).

Phil

[nogal]

Update to sol 1127, with links to Phil's maps, plus provisional to sol 1144.
Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1144_2015OCT26.kmz ( 366.12K ) Number of downloads: 607

[Phil Stooke]

This update brings us to sol 1148, the latest drive. I placed the name Meeteetse where I think it should be (moving it off the sol 1109 location), but I may be wrong about it. The PDS Analyst's Notebook will eventually allow me to correct this.

Phil

[scalbers]

Looks like a reuse of "Utopia"?

[Phil Stooke]

A larger map update today, to show the short 1151 drive and a good look back. I will be switching to a new base map soon.

I adjusted my path a bit to be closer to Fernando's estimated position for sol 1148. I wasn't sure at the time, but the sol 1151 position seems to require a move of the previous location. Thanks, Fernando!

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

We just had a very nice drive down onto the broad outcrop area southeast of the previous location. Probably over 50 m - but my path is purely conjectural here. The position should be pretty good, though. The surface is looking much better for driving towards the east now [EDIT - WEST now], so we may be able to make good progress for a while.

The path over the last few tens of sols has been corrected to match Tim Parker's map on the MSL website.

Phil

[Floyd]

Looks good for driving towards the West now...

[Phil Stooke]

Oh yeah - west now! Oops.

Phil