Pando
Feb 11 2005, 08:11 AM
Here is an updated map of the road to Vostok.
alan
Feb 11 2005, 02:39 PM
Jason, Alvin, and Argo are names of deep sea submersibles, what are they doing on Mars?
Will they be continuing with this theme for the crater names?
djellison
Feb 11 2005, 03:05 PM
QUOTE (alan @ Feb 11 2005, 02:39 PM)
Jason, Alvin, and Argo are names of deep sea submersibles, what are they doing on Mars?
Will they be continuing with this theme for the crater names?
And what were the submersibles named after
Doug
TheChemist
Feb 11 2005, 04:47 PM
Well, Jason was the guy that got the Golden Fleece, and his ship was named Argo.
http://www.pccc.cc.nj.us/asrc/readwrit/jason.htmlI have no idea what Alvin has to do with them
, but here comes Google :
The connection is Robert Ballard, the Undersea Explorer, who also served in a submarine called Alvin, before establishing the Jason-Argo project.
lyford
Feb 11 2005, 06:57 PM
QUOTE (alan @ Feb 11 2005, 06:39 AM)
Jason, Alvin, and Argo are names of deep sea submersibles, what are they doing on Mars?
Will they be continuing with this theme for the crater names?
Well, maybe after Alvin they will name the next two Simon and Theodore.
ilbasso
Feb 11 2005, 07:09 PM
Notwithstanding the Chipmunks...
According to
http://www.sciencenetwork.com/turner/rdt-bio.html, Al Vine, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, is the designer and namesake of Alvin.
You learn something new every day!
volcanopele
Feb 11 2005, 07:58 PM
QUOTE (TheChemist @ Feb 11 2005, 09:47 AM)
Well, Jason was the guy that got the Golden Fleece, and his ship was named Argo.
http://www.pccc.cc.nj.us/asrc/readwrit/jason.htmlI have no idea what Alvin has to do with them
, but here comes Google :
The connection is Robert Ballard, the Undersea Explorer, who also served in a submarine called Alvin, before establishing the Jason-Argo project.
well obviously the crater Jason was named after me
And the crater Jason on Phoebe was also named after me
mhall
Feb 13 2005, 10:02 PM
For what it's worth, I've been inside Alvin.
This was in 1985, when I was working as a diver on an expedition to Saipan in the Marianas, to find a Spanish galleon that had sunk in 1638. I was walking along the dock, and there it was. I sweet-talked my way aboard.
They were there to look at the weird colonies of creatures that had just been discovered around the deep-water volcanic vents, the 'smokers'. They had lots and lots of film that they had taken, and gave me an undeveloped roll!
Altogether, a very exciting afternoon.
alan
Feb 20 2005, 06:12 AM
imran
Feb 20 2005, 06:55 AM
Another view of Alvin as it was passed (looks very similar to Eagle):
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...19P1772L0M1.JPG
imran
Feb 20 2005, 07:07 AM
I updated the "Heatshield to Vostok" map. Hopefully we'll see another long drive in the next day or two.
Sunspot
Feb 20 2005, 10:12 PM
Endurance Crater is only just visible in the rear hazcam images now
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...00P1315L0M1.JPG
OWW
Feb 20 2005, 10:30 PM
Outcrop material without a crater or crack? First subtle signs of the etched terrain?
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...03P0711L0M1.JPG
Sunspot
Feb 20 2005, 11:02 PM
Is that another crater visible in the distance?
Gray
Feb 21 2005, 06:28 PM
Obsessed - perhaps we're seeing some ancient ejecta that are in the process of being buried or exumed.
imran
Feb 21 2005, 09:18 PM
It seems Oppy has moved again although it's hard to put any numbers on how far we have travelled. I don't see any features in the latest navcam, forward and rear hazcam images.
Forward Hazcam 2-21Navcam 2-21Rear Hazcam 2-21
Pando
Feb 21 2005, 09:57 PM
Oppy is currently doing some major driving, possibly exceeding previous records, over a 3-sol period (driving on all sols). Considering that the previous driving record is something like 156 meters or so per sol (someone please correct me), that should put us around 450 meters south of Jason crater by Wednesday.
dot.dk
Feb 21 2005, 10:20 PM
Now that is some serious driving! I like it
But are they planning to drive both forward and backward on these long traverses? To put an even load onto the drive mechanism.
Pando
Feb 21 2005, 10:26 PM
QUOTE (dot.dk @ Feb 21 2005, 03:20 PM)
But are they planning to drive both forward and backward on these long traverses? To put an even load onto the drive mechanism.
Yes, it's a standard procedure now to do that, for both Spirit and Opportunity. I don't know the distance though at which point they switch, or what other criteria is used to determine the
"ok stop, let's do 180 and drive the other way now"...
alan
Feb 21 2005, 10:44 PM
Wow, 450 meters, should have a good view of Vostok from there. I see a broad darker area at that distance, perhaps a slope to the south? If so on Wednesday Oppy may be at the top of a slight hill with a good view of Victoria.
<crosses fingers>
Sunspot
Feb 21 2005, 11:38 PM
Has anyone found any MOLA data for this area of Merdiani? If the plains do slope downwards at the point indicated in Alan's image that might offer an explanantion why Vostok and perhaps even Victoria Crater have been so hard to identify - it is quite strange that there is no obvious sign of Victoria Crater... Endurance Crater is still visible even in the rear hazcam images.
Pando
Feb 21 2005, 11:56 PM
I seriously doubt there is any slope there, or it would've been visible on the horizon by now. The immediate area of Meridiani plain appears to be quite flat. I think it's just a darker windblown material deposited there...
arccos
Feb 22 2005, 01:36 PM
I am still wondering what the dark feature NE from Vostok is.
Bill Harris
Feb 22 2005, 02:27 PM
QUOTE
I am still wondering what the dark feature NE from Vostok is.
I wonder, too. It seems to resemble the heatshield disturbance.
--Bill
Sunspot
Feb 23 2005, 12:10 AM
akuo
Feb 23 2005, 12:16 AM
Oppy moves on during sol 385, after sol 384 during which nothing happened as far as I can see (there might still be a problem with back-to-back drives):
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...03P0617R0M1.JPGNo features to see, but the dunes look different further on:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...03P2380R1M1.JPGMaybe the larger dunes are causing the slightly darker region in the route map.
Sunspot
Feb 23 2005, 12:25 AM
akuo
Feb 23 2005, 12:31 AM
QUOTE (Sunspot @ Feb 23 2005, 12:25 AM)
Rear Hazcam for the end of each sol
Oh, you are right, there was a change of scenery between 383 and 384. Both the front and back hazcams looked so similar, that I didn't realise it :-)
Bubbinski
Feb 23 2005, 08:14 AM
Are the drivers following the zigzag path set out in the "Road to Vostok" map or are they making a beeline due south of Endurance using the receding feature to help them keep their bearings? Just curious.
Decepticon
Feb 23 2005, 01:09 PM
QUOTE (Sunspot @ Feb 22 2005, 07:10 PM)
This reminds me so much of Snorkling off the coast of cuba.
I was just looking down from about 30 feet deep. And those ripples look so simular to what I saw.
ToSeek
Feb 23 2005, 07:53 PM
Any idea where Opportunity is now? The navcam pan looks nearly featureless - you'd think Vostok would be close enough now to be clearly imaged.
Sunspot
Feb 23 2005, 08:28 PM
It's impossible to say, we'll have to wait for some official information from the people at JPL.... but Opportunity performed drives on sols 383, 384 and 385 - with hopefuly another one today, so they must be making good progress south.
Bubbinski
Feb 24 2005, 08:06 AM
So far no new images from sol 386 are in at the exploratorium. Did they have a restricted sol? They should be pretty far south after 3 consecutive days of driving. If Vostok isn't visible, is it because it is a flat feature?
Bubbinski/Space Cadet
Pando
Feb 24 2005, 08:36 AM
Based on some of the latest images, looks like Oppy has been driving directly South which is more toward Vostok than the originally planned route. That route was more South/South-West toward the other small crater after Jason... Interesting...
Sunspot
Feb 24 2005, 09:11 AM
QUOTE (Bubbinski @ Feb 24 2005, 08:06 AM)
So far no new images from sol 386 are in at the exploratorium. Did they have a restricted sol? They should be pretty far south after 3 consecutive days of driving. If Vostok isn't visible, is it because it is a flat feature?
Bubbinski/Space Cadet
Maybe they'll come down in an overnight Oddysey pass?
OWW
Feb 24 2005, 05:49 PM
According to the latest director update ( February 22nd ), Opportunity drove a whopping 177 meters on sol 383 and on sol 384 added another 104!
dot.dk
Feb 24 2005, 06:04 PM
I had to listen more than one time to confirm that it was 177 m
That's brilliant
Marslauncher
Feb 24 2005, 07:41 PM
so any idea where we are yet?
Marslauncher
Feb 24 2005, 07:47 PM
ToSeek
Feb 24 2005, 08:06 PM
QUOTE (ObsessedWithWorlds @ Feb 24 2005, 05:49 PM)
According to the latest director update ( February 22nd ), Opportunity drove a whopping 177 meters on sol 383 and on sol 384 added another 104!
The figures given in the flight director's report were goals, not confirmed values. They'll find out today (from downloaded data) whether the goals were achieved or not.
Sunspot
Feb 24 2005, 08:12 PM
I think she meant they were waiting for an imminent Odyssey pass with data and results of the Sol 385 drive.
Pando
Feb 24 2005, 09:08 PM
QUOTE
so any idea where we are yet?
I think we're somewhere in the lower end of the purple (200m) line on this map:
http://mer.rlproject.com/index.php?act=Att...pe=post&id=5284edit: ^^ it's a pretty wild guess though based on the fact that oppy took a turn toward South after Jason, not toward one of the other craters along the route...
dot.dk
Feb 25 2005, 12:42 AM
This must be the cluster of small craters on to the left of the 200 m mark
http://mer.rlproject.com/index.php?act=Att...pe=post&id=5284
Sunspot
Feb 25 2005, 12:49 AM
WHOAHHHH !!!!
They must have done a hell of a lot of driving the past few sols
dot.dk
Feb 25 2005, 01:05 AM
This is a mystery to me...
Very quick and dirty pan...
http://img223.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img223&image=pan8yl.jpg How did they get here from THERE??
Endurance+Heatshield to the left, but Oppy is coming from a different direction
dot.dk
Feb 25 2005, 01:08 AM
Perhaps they turned right where we can see the rover tracks stops...
Well they must have done it that way...
Sunspot
Feb 25 2005, 01:14 AM
I'm assuming these pancam images were taken looking in the next drive direction:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...00P2381R1M1.JPGhttp://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...00P2381R1M1.JPGStill nothing immediately obvious on or just below the horizon .....
I still think the annulus of bright material we see in orbital images of vostok is nothing more than dust, all the craters have it, you can see it in orbital images of the craters Opportunity is sitting in front of right now, yet from the ground they appear pretty dark.
Pando
Feb 25 2005, 01:32 AM
Sol 383: 177m
Sol 384: 104m
Sol 385: 109m
Sol 386: no drive
Sol 387: 80m
Sol 388: no drive
Interesting route there. Looks like they didn't quite want to visit the craters along the route but then all of a sudden changed their minds and made a quick shortcut to the crater triplet. That's where we are now...
MahFL
Feb 25 2005, 02:32 AM
I think they did turn right as if you notice the tracks that are at an angle slightly disappear but the tracks that are aligned with the camera are more visible.
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...00P0680R0M1.JPGSo tracks at 90 degrees to the camera will be invisible at that kind of distance as they will be hidden by the height of the dunes.
alan
Feb 25 2005, 03:10 AM
QUOTE (alan @ Feb 21 2005, 10:44 PM)
Wow, 450 meters, should have a good view of Vostok from there.
Or maybe not
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