Opportunity Mission 2009 and onward

[3488]

Sol 2,363, MER B Opportuninty approaching another meteorite on Mars???

Suspected meteorite appears to be approx 45 cm wide from this angle & was approx 31 metres away at the time.

The rock has been named "Oileán Ruaidh", the ancient Celtic name of an island off the NW coast of Ireland, one of the western most of the British Isles.

NASA/JPL.

Andrew Brown.

 

[brellis]

Andrew! *hug*

The irony in your pic is unmistakable.

 

[MeteorWayne]

brelllis,
Welcome back to the dark side!!

MW

 

[EarthlingX]

http://www.universetoday.com : Oppy’s New Meteorite Find (in 3-D!)

Sep 22nd, 2010

by Nancy Atkinson


'Oileán Ruaidh' - the new rock found by the Opportunity rover. It could be another meteorite. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University. 3-D by Stuart Atkinson

The Opportunity rover has done it again — found another strange-looking rock sitting on Meridiani Planum, and it looks like another meteorite. “The dark color, rounded texture and the way it is perched on the surface all make it look like an iron meteorite,” said Matt Golombek from the MER science team. Unofficially named “Oileán Ruaidh” (pronounced ay-lan ruah), which is the Gaelic name (translated: Red Island) for an island off the coast of northwestern Ireland. The rock is about the size of a toaster: 45 centimeters (18 inches) wide from the angle at which it was first seen. Stu Atkinson has posted some enhanced images of the rock on his website, Road to Endeavour, which I have nabbed and posted here. Thanks Stu! The 3-D version above looks awesome with the red/green glasses. And look for more detailed images of the rock on his site soon, as Opportunity comes in for a closer look. UPDATE: As promised, Stu has provided an enhanced close-up of this rock, below.


Close up of a rock on Mars, possibly another meteorite. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell, enhanced by Stu Atkinson

...

 

[3488]

Sol 2,368 “Oileán Ruaidh” Meteorite views. Nice article EarthlingX.

Sure looks like an Iron Meteorite to me. Looks like MER B Opportunity went past. I wonder if Microscopic Camera images were taken??? I hope so.



NASA/JPL.

Andrew Brown.

 

[EarthlingX]

This deserves to be here too :

SDC thread : Opportunity Color Images of New Meteor on Mars

Here is a link to new color images of the meteor discovered on Mars by Opportunity.

http://picasaweb.google.com/shineinnovations/NEWMarsOpportunityColorImages#5520767555525076818

Enjoy...

 

[3488]

Thanks you to rlb2 for producing the colour images of "Oileán Ruaidh” Meteorite by MER B Opportunity, I have downloaded them. Also thank you to EarthlingX for bringing them here. I agree, they deserve to be on here.

Some Sol 2,370 of Oileán Ruaidh” Meteorite by MER B Opportunity.


Also some Sol 2,370 Microscopic Imager (as I hoped there would be) images of "Oileán Ruaidh” Meteorite by MER B Opportunity. Each image represents 3 cm wide or 9sq cm.

Certainly looks like a metallic meteorite like "Block Island", possibly sourced from a main belt asteroid like 16 Psyche or 22 Kalliope.


NASA/JPL.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Sol 2,370, MER B Opportunity clickable thumbnails deploying IDD to observe "Oileán Ruaidh” Meteorite as seen from the front HazCam.



NASA/JPL.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

A rather nice MER B Opportunity mosaic.
Sol 2,363. 360 degree panorama.



As above, polar view.



NASA/JPL.

Andrew Brown.

 

[MeteorWayne]

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Confirms 'Oileán Ruaidh' is Iron Meteorite - sols 2370-2375, September 23-29, 2010:


This week Opportunity approached an interesting surface target, the meteorite "Oileán Ruaidh."

The rover performed an in-situ investigation of the nickel-iron meteorite prior to resuming the trek to Endeavour crater. On Sol 2370 (Sept. 23, 2010), Opportunity made a short 2-meter (7 foot) bump to a location where the south-southwest face of Oileán Ruaidh would be reachable by the instrument deployment device. On Sol 2371 (Sept. 24, 2010), the rover used the microscopic imager to collect imagery of two locations on Oileán Ruaidh. These locations were named "Mulroy A" and "Mulroy B."

After collecting the microscopic imagery, the alpha particle X-Ray spectrometer (APXS) was placed on Mulroy B for a series of three measurements over the three-sol weekend plan. The findings from the APXS confirmed that Oileán Ruaidh is a nickle-iron meteorite.

On Sol 2374 (Sept. 28, 2010), Opportunity resumed the trek to Endeavour with a 100-meter (328 foot) drive. The rover drove again on the next sol, covering just over 62 meters (203 feet).

As of Sol 2375 (Sept. 29, 2010), solar array energy production was 607 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.520 and a solar array dust factor of 0.7095.

Total odometry is 23,525.07 meters (23.53 kilometers, or 14.62 miles).

 

[3488]

Thanks Wayne.

Certainly was an iron meteorite. The MI images really confirmed it for me, though the other images were quite convincing. Looks like the Mossbauer provided the final confirmation.

Below Sol 2,376. Looks like Oppy drove past yet another meteorite!!!!!!




NASA/JPL.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Some nice Sol 2,377. Looks like Opprotunity continues to make great progress.

What is obvious is that more recently there are fewer & smaller dunes, exposing more of the bedrock. This is a great boon.



Front & Rear HazCams.


NASA/JPL.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Nice APOD for today.

APOD: Monday 4th October 2010. Sol 2,363 Panorama.

NASA/JPL.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Some nice Sol 2,382 & Sol 2,383.

Sol 2,383.




Enlarged, sharpened, contrast enhanced crop of hills on the horizon.


Rear HazCam. Sol 2,383.


Front HazCam. Sol 2,383.


Sol 2,382.


Rear HazCam Sol 2,382.


Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

A few nice ones from Sol 2,401 from MER B Opportunity. What is immediately obvious is that the dunes are still reducing, there is much less dust here, then where Oppy was just a few sols ago.



Sol 2,401 Front HazCam.


Sol 2,401 Rear HazCam.


Andrew Brown.

 

[EarthlingX]

http://www.planetary.org : Opportunity bags a few craters

Nov. 10, 2010 | 15:46 PST | 23:46 UTC

By Emily Lakdawalla

The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been driving, driving, driving, as the terrain between her and the rim of Endeavour crater gets steadily easier to traverse. In the last few days, she's passed by several craters, and the rover drivers took advantage of the chance encounters for what they call "drive-by shooting" (a phrase I can't say I'm particularly fond of, but they didn't ask me). In a way, these sets of images are like Cassini's nontargeted flybys -- they're opportunistic photos. These spots aren't considered worth expending the time and energy for Opportunity to park at them and do a detailed survey, but they're worth imaging as she passes them by.

To orient you, here's a screen cap from Google Mars.

Opportunity's position as of sol 2415
In the week prior to sol 2415 (November 9, 2010), Opportunity racked up the meters as she drove past several small craters, including "Paramore," "Golden Hind," "Yankee Clipper," and "Intrepid." Credit: Google Mars / traverse map by Eduardo Tesheiner

...

"Paramore" double crater
On sol 2409 (November 4, 2010), Opportunity finished her driving at a very small double crater named "Paramore," lying off of her position to the south. The pair of craters is about 12 meters wide. To the left (east) of the doublet are a few smaller craters; they may all have formed in a single event, from a fragmented meteorite. Credit: NASA / JPL / mosaic by Emily Lakdawalla

...

"Golden Hind" crater
On sol 2410 (November 4, 2010), Opportunity paused in her driving to image a very small (7-meter-diameter) crater named "Golden Hind." Credit: NASA / JPL / mosaic by Emily Lakdawalla

...

Intrepid crater
On sol 2415 (November 9, 2010), Opportunity paused her marathon drive to take in the view of Intrepid crater, a hole about 17 meters in diameter. Credit: NASA / JPL / mosaic by Emily Lakdawalla

...

"After that," Scott Maxwell has Tweeted, "we're Santa Maria-bound." Santa Maria is about 1.5 kilometers away. Endeavour is 7.5 kilometers away. Onward!

 

[3488]

Thank you so very much EarthlingX for you awesome update. :mrgreen:

MER B Opportunity awoke early to observe the inner & larger Mars moon Phobos in the Martian predawn sky on Sol, 2,415.

Looking east just after Sunrise Sol 2,415.


Sol 2,416.




an enlarged sharpend contrast enhanced crop of some hills on the rim of Endeavour Crater, Sol 2,416.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Sol 3,410 view of 10 metre wide Yankee Clipper Crater. Yankee Clipper was the Apollo 12 CM with Richard (Dick) Gordon.


True colour view of the 20 metre wide Intrepid Crater on Sol 2,147. Intrepid was the LM on Apollo 12, which landed on the Moon with Pete Conrad & Alan Bean on: Wednesday 19th November 1969.


Enlarged sharpened crop of hills on horizon. Sol 2,147.

Andrew Brown.

 

[EarthlingX]

Very nice job with images Andrew

http://www.nasa.gov : NASA Mars Rover Images Honor Apollo 12

11.18.10


"Intrepid" crater on Mars (left image) carries the name of the lunar module of NASA's Apollo 12 mission, which landed on Earth's moon Nov. 19, 1969. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

"Yankee Clipper" crater on Mars (right image) carries the name of the command and service module of NASA's 1969 Apollo 12 mission to the moon. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech


PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has visited and photographed two craters informally named for the spacecraft that carried men to the moon 41 years ago this week.

Opportunity drove past "Yankee Clipper" crater on Nov. 4 and reached "Intrepid crater" on Nov. 9. For NASA's Apollo 12, the second mission to put humans onto the moon, the command and service module was called Yankee Clipper, piloted by Dick Gordon, and the lunar module was named Intrepid, piloted by Alan Bean and commanded by the late Pete Conrad. The Intrepid landed on the moon with Bean and Conrad on Nov. 19, 1969, while Yankee Clipper orbited overhead. Their landing came a mere four months after Apollo 11's first lunar landing.

...

During a drive of 116.9 meters (383.5 feet) on Nov. 14, Opportunity's "odometer" passed 25 kilometers (15.53 miles). That is more than 40 times the driving-distance goal set for Opportunity to accomplish during its original three-month prime mission in 2004.

Mars Exploration Project Manager John Callas, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., said, "Importantly, it's not how far the rovers have gone but how much exploration and science discovery they have accomplished on behalf of all humankind."

...