Will Opportunity break its 1-sol distance record?

[brellis]

After the science is done, I hope Opportunity can crawl back out of Victoria, because with its new auto-nav software tested, it can reach new lengths, perhaps zipping over to Big Crater - 20km away!<br /><br />From the MER Update Archive, March 2005: <font color="orange">This is the martian rover that keeps going and going and going. This week Opportunity continued to move on, performing panoramic camera soil surveys and imaging the lay of the land as it progressed southward toward craters called "Viking" and "Voyager." On sol 408, Opportunity again broke the martian one-day driving record, traveling an impressive 190 meters (623 feet) in a single sol. However, this record did not stand very long. The rover surpassed it on sol 410 (March 20, 2005) and set the new record of 220 meters (722 feet). The rover is healthy and ready to take on yet another week of exploration.<br /><br />Sol-by-sol summaries: Sol 408:<br />Continuing south, Opportunity broke a Mars driving-distance record. This time the rover made its way 190 meters (623 feet) toward "Viking" and "Voyager" craters. On this sol, the rover was able to image a small crater called "James Caird." The crater was informally named for the financier of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance expedition. The rover imaged features on the ground, and then the team compared them to features taken by orbiting spacecraft. This technique allows us to pinpoint the location of the rover on Mars.<br /><br />Sol 409:<br />Today Opportunity needed a rest. The rover has been driving long and hard since sol 405. In fact it has driven roughly 630 meters (2,067 feet - well over a quarter of a mile) in just 4 sols, and it's time to sit out a day, make some observations, recharge the batteries and clear out some of the memory by sending data back to Earth.<br /><br />Sol 410:<br />Yestersol's rest day was just what the doctor ordered. The rove</font> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>

 

[3488]

Almost certainly.<br /><br />The new 'smart' software will enable MER B Opportunity greater autonomy,<br />hence less interference from ground control.<br /><br />Also she seems to not have lost any drive capabilities, so yes, it is possible.<br /><br />Ithaca Crater, well that would be exciting!!! 20 Kilometres seem a long way,<br />but then no one expected the MERs to last 1,200 sols, so 20 KM does not sound <br />like a wild fantasy.<br /><br />Ithaca Crater makes Victoria Crater look like a little pit. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />The plains in between could reveal more too.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[JonClarke]

At 200 m per day big crater is only 100 days away! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[brellis]

A thread in unmannedspaceflight discusses this topic:<br /><br />"fredk": <font color="orange"> When I proposed my "escape route" onto the "tarmac" through the shortest stretch of dunes to the northeast of Victoria, I was eyeing those Victoria-class craters (A, B, C) as the first major targets, followed by (Hirise images favourable!) a drive southwards to the north rim of Big.<br /><br />I really have to stress how much faster (and easier!) driving was from Endurance to Purgatory 1 versus Purgatory to Beagle. Just look at the route maps! It seems so obvious that, unless there was an extremely interesting target that could only be reached through a vast sea of dunes, getting back on the tarmac as quickly as possible would maximize the scientific return from the rover. Remember - we were doing 200 metres a day on the tarmac!!<br /><br />As I believe SS has commented himself, we're at a stage now where getting information about the horizontal variation of the geology is as important if not more so than what we see vertically at Victoria. Once we're thoroughly done with Victoria, getting back on the tarmac is the only practical way to study those horizontal variations over significant distances.</font>/safety_wrapper> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

What is the "tarmac" they are referring to?<br /><br />I assume it's a flat stretch of clean surface? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[centsworth_II]

Here's a link to the unmannedspaceflight.com post showing a route northeast from<br />Victoria (not NW as the post indicates) to an area of smaller sand ripples (the "Tarmac"). <br />Opportunity could take a look at the three craters (A,B, and C) then head south <br />to the big crater ("Ithica"). Or so the plan goes. The entire trip would be more <br />than three times the distance travelled by Opportunity since it landed. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[JonClarke]

Being relalistic, let's say a year to finish off Victoria. There is so much to see here. And after Opportunity gets out (if it gets out), there might be reason to go the other way round the crater rim as well).<br /><br />Equally realistically, we should double the 100 days of driving to allow for slow going, diversions, getting bogged, etc. Double that again for time to look at science targets. So Big Crater might be reached in a bit over two years time. Given how well Opportunity is holding out, provided the batteries don't collapse or the wheels seize up, we might well see it.<br /><br />remember in 2010 there is going to be a big communications issue with competing demands from MSL.<br /><br />Cheers<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[brellis]

<font color="yellow">remember in 2010 there is going to be a big communications issue with competing demands from MSL. </font>- heck, with auto-nav, they can just turn the thing loose, have it check in once a week! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>

 

[JonClarke]

They will still need to have daily checks to plan the overal route, make sure that the idiot machine isn't going to drive over a cliff, downloads of all the navigation images, to carry out house keeping.<br /><br />Once the rover finds something interesting, there are heavy demands on communication as the rover investigates the site, often using very delicate position beyonbd the capability of the autonomous systems. Then all the data has to be relayed back to Earth.<br /><br />In the case of a 20 km drive to Bif Crater the most demanding operations will be when it arrives, about the time MSL arrives. Of course this is all academic at the moment. There is another year or so at Victoria before we move on <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[brellis]

I just had a thought where logic might dictate sending Opportunity out at breakeneck speed from Victoria Crater. Spirit barely survived the last Martian winter, and is unlikely to travel a long way further due to its broken wheel. The mission extension will end at some point, and with all the competition for comm relay coming from Phoenix and MSL, it is quite understandable to see a point where support for further mission extensions might end before Opportunity is actually dead.<br /><br />I can see a scenario where once they've done their science at Vicoria, they'll send Opportunity off to the races for the remaining days of its mission. They may be more and more willing to take risks letting Oppy use its auto-nav software to increase its distance capability.<br /><br />In that scenario, there would be less demand for comm relay. Who knows, maybe she'll make it to Ithaca after all. If she can get there, demand for another extension might increase. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#ff0000"><em><strong>I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better.</strong></em></font> </p> </div>