Opportunity Mission Update Thread

[thechemist]

This is a fresh image of the layers waiting in front of Oppy<br />http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2004-07-10/1N142658763EFF3221P1971R0M1.JPG <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[silylene old]

*bump*<br /><br />Ummmm, do we have any moderators? Please sticky this thread. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[space_student]

There was already an update thread for Opportunity here:<br /><br />http://uplink.space.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=missions&Number=10&page=2&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=

 

[thechemist]

And poor Oppy must have a new home too. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

I'm making this one the sticky thread. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[scottb50]

Neat! Could you make me a cook or smething on the Starship Titanic, that's much better than a molecule anyway. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

You look like dust to me. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[scottb50]

Gee! Thanks. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[thechemist]

Leo,<br />Your Oppy thread was on page 2 and I did not see it.<br />Sorry for double-threading.<br />It was an emotional moment to see M&L without an Oppy thread <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

No problem. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[centsworth_II]

With the (old) Opportunity thread that I posted on rapidly dropping from sight, I'm reposting here.<br /><br />I've taken the NASA illustration of the layers of Karatepe and overlayed the locations of the seven (so far) RAT holes left by Opportunity as it decends the wall of Endurance crater. The NASA Opportunity updates were helpful in documenting the location names and drilling dates but for some reason the update of July 1, entitled "Ravenous Rock Abrasion Tool" was riddled with errors. I didn't catch the name of the seventh site (the third in layer E). <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[fangsheath]

Endurance Crater continues to provide much of interest. Having conquered the second "lip," there is nothing now to stop the rover from continuing down the slope as far as the rocks go. It can also move eastward along the wall and get valuable data to see if the stratigraphic patterns are consistent, and best of all the panels are facing north, negating the effect of the sun angle on power generation. In a mere month Mars will be at aphelion and will start moving closer to the sun.<br /><br />I am thinking that these weird formations are the result of cracks in the rocks being filled with much more erosion-resistant material than that which makes up the bulk of the rock. As the crack material has become exposed, it has weathered much more slowly than the rest, producing these elevated, irregular forms.

 

[centsworth_II]

<i>"Having conquered the second "lip," there is nothing now to stop the rover from continuing down the slope as far as the rocks go."</i><br /><br />I'm hoping this is true. Not only that, but dust and sand surfaces are really only a problem on large slopes. Driving on sand on the relatively flat bottom of Endurance should be no problem if the rock-covered slope extends all the way to the bottom, which it looks like it may.<br /><br />Here's an image I took from an interesting article about the MER image team: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/opportunity/20040709.html<br /><br />I marked the three RAT holes visible when the image was taken with yellow arrows. The three RAT holes drilled since the image was taken are marked with yellow ovals. You can see how far the rover advanced down the slope to drill those additional holes.<br /><br />The blue arrows mark the mysterious fence-lined crack that has sparked much speculation in this forum. And my favorite, just because it has stood as a beacon in the distance in so many of the forward hazcam images as Opportunity has decended the slope of Karatepe, the half-dome-shaped rock is marked by the red arrow.<br /><br />Wouldn't it be great if Opportunity were able to reach and investigate these objects? And what about the beautiful "pool" of dunes at the center of the crater floor? It all seems so near... so near.... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[fangsheath]

Frankly, I am kinda hoping that the ripples/dunes on the floor remain undisturbed. Perhaps it is superficial ethics, but to me they are so beautiful it seems a shame to alter them.<br /><br />In a recent interview, Squyres states, "There is a massive, huge crossbed right at the base of Burns Cliff. And it's the kind of thing that you would expect from wind. So we see these 4 meters (13 feet) of sulfates at Burns Cliff, and we see tilted sediments underneath that. We don't think the sediments were laid down flat and then there was tectonic tilting. We think they were laid down at an angle. And when you see sediments laid down on a big scale - meters across - at an angle of 20 or 30 degrees, that says pretty unambiguously that it's a dune."<br /><br />I think he is referring to this area. It indeed looks very intriguing from a distance, but I have seen nothing in the Karatepe area to unambiguously point in the dune direction. I would very much like to see Burns Cliff closer.

 

[thechemist]

I agree with both of you, centsworth_II and fangsheath.<br />Why not go all the way down?<br />First examining the area on the present elevation (especially to the right, where the deformed rocks fangsheath mentioned in his post lay) would not hurt a bit also.<br />Something very "mean" flowed in these cracks once. That rock in fangsheath's image looks like someone tried to peel its top layer off <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[aaron38]

So Oportunity is just sitting on the slope of the crater? That's interesting. I wouldn't think it would be able to just hang out on the slope. I wouldn't think that the rovers have parking brakes. What keeps it from rolling down hill while sleeping?

 

[Leovinus]

I imagine that the motors are connected to the wheels through gears. The wheels won't turn if the motor doesn't turn. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[thechemist]

Compare these two NavCam images just up in Exploratorium today.<br /><br />http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2004-07-14/1N142835544EFF3221P1822R0M1.JPG<br /><br />http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2004-07-14/1N143024092EFF3221P1556L0M1.JPG<br /><br />Is it frost developing on the crater rim ?<br />Or is it rather a trick of the light on the rocks ?<br /><br />And some more overcast clouding caught by Oppy:<br /><br />http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2004-07-14/1N142908437EFF3221P1555L0M1.JPG<br /><br />http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/navcam/2004-07-14/1N142908469EFF3221P1555L0M1.JPG <br /><br />Edit: The first 2 images differ by approx. 52h, so I am not implying we are seeing the actual development of frost, if such. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[remcook]

I think the second image is overexposed

 

[thechemist]

Yeah, you're probably right, they want to see details in the dark parts of the shot, and the shiny ones are overexposed.<br /><br />To compensate, here is an article with a picture of "true" seasonal frost on the rim of the huge Kunowsky Crater from Astrobio.net :<br /><br />http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1076&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[aaron38]

Thanks for posting those sky shots Chemist. I think that's the first time I've seen clouds on Mars!<br />

 

[fangsheath]

Actually, there are "parking brakes." Each wheel can be individually locked. I do not know if this is necessary on this kind of slope.<br /><br />This happy little rock is reminiscent of some we saw at Fram Crater. The weathering pattern here could provide some analogy to what we see in the Columbia Hills, although the geology seems to be rather different.

 

[radarredux]

What are the micro imager pictures of from Opportunity on July 14? Are they RAT tool?<br /><br />http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/micro_imager/2004-07-14/<br />http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/micro_imager/2004-07-14/1M143009761EFF3221P2919M2M1.JPG

 

[spacechump]

No that's the magnet on the rover. They put one of the spectrometers up to it.

 

[marslauncher]

Before <br /><br />http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/forward_hazcam/2004-07-15/1F143186701EFF3223P1221R0M1.JPG<br /><br />After<br /><br />http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportunity/forward_hazcam/2004-07-15/1F143188422EFF3241P1221L0M1.JPG<br /><br />Woohoo Lower down into the crater they go.!! Yeehaw!<br /><br />