Getting to 'Big Crater', A little premature speculation |
Getting to 'Big Crater', A little premature speculation |
Sep 21 2006, 11:57 AM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 813 Joined: 8-February 04 From: Arabia Terra Member No.: 12 |
Opportunity is not quite at Victoria yet, but on the horizon is a tantalising goal for the future- the big eroded crater to the south-east, the rim of which is already visible. This is the first 'large scale' topography of the mission so far. Wouldn't it be great if Opportunity could get to these hills and uncover their secrets?
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/sfjcody2/route_to_big.jpg |
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Sep 26 2006, 03:09 PM
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#2
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10198 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
marswiggle's mosaic is nice. I'd never looked out in that direction before but I was very interested to see a new type of terrain in the lower right corner. The surface is smooth and dark with numerous clearly defined (but very shallow) craters. The etched terrain had many vaguely circular markings, a lot of which were probably the scars of old eroded craters. But this new area looks different. So I think it would be worth looking at this area - about half way to the big crater - if such an extended mission were to be undertaken. (I'm not actually expecting anything after Victoria).
Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke Maps for download (free PD: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Cartography.pdf NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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Sep 26 2006, 06:45 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
So I think it would be worth looking at this area - about half way to the big crater - if such an extended mission were to be undertaken. (I'm not actually expecting anything after Victoria). Phil If there's no route into Victoria, it would shorten the stay there and boost the chances of something beyond there -- for good or for bad. |
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Sep 26 2006, 06:54 PM
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#4
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Member Group: Members Posts: 235 Joined: 2-August 05 Member No.: 451 |
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Sep 26 2006, 07:11 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 646 Joined: 23-December 05 From: Forest of Dean Member No.: 617 |
Perhaps future rovers should be equiped with anchors, cables, and winches. I've been biting my lip on this subject as I half-remember seeing a more appropriate forum or topic somewhere else, but as you've brought it up... A few small (intuitively) simple devices could greatly multiply the abilities of a future rover. In particular, a way to perform in situ sampling/observations on inaccessible slopes. From a geological perspective, the most places with the densest concentration of interesting features are by definition inaccessible to a wheel rover (cliffs in particular.) I'm thinking in particular of that happy day when my great-grandchildren are watching (live, 3D, full-spectrum imagery beamed straight to the visual centres of their brains, no doubt) of the first explorations of Valles Marineris, but there are plenty of less dramatic locations. I've seen variations on the "fly slowly by the cliff-face" idea - tethered balloons and such like - but what we really need is a mechanism to winch the IDD (and a pancam) over and down cliff and outcrop sites, and then reel it back in without it getting snagged and dragging the rover over the edge or getting damaged banging into rocks. Back to ^r-land -------------------- --
Viva software libre! |
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Sep 26 2006, 07:25 PM
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#6
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2922 Joined: 14-February 06 From: Very close to the Pyrénées Mountains (France) Member No.: 682 |
A few small (intuitively) simple devices could greatly multiply the abilities of a future rover. In particular, a way to perform in situ sampling/observations on inaccessible slopes. From a geological perspective, the most places with the densest concentration of interesting features are by definition inaccessible to a wheel rover (cliffs in particular.) I'm thinking in particular of that happy day when my great-grandchildren are watching (live, 3D, full-spectrum imagery beamed straight to the visual centres of their brains, no doubt) of the first explorations of Valles Marineris, but there are plenty of less dramatic locations. I've seen variations on the "fly slowly by the cliff-face" idea - tethered balloons and such like - but what we really need is a mechanism to winch the IDD (and a pancam) over and down cliff and outcrop sites, and then reel it back in without it getting snagged and dragging the rover over the edge or getting damaged banging into rocks. MSL will have a laser to blow rocks and do simple analysis from a distance up to 9 m. This can solve the issue when you're looking up i.e. when you're at the foot of a cliff. When you're looking down, may be a "crane" could be considered to lower down instruments and it could also be used the other way around to anchor a rover descending a slope like the ones we can see here, at Victoria -------------------- |
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