So - enough of those loonies at Pasadena. What would YOU do if you were in charge?

I'd do a Bonneville myself. I dont want to spend another 200 sols sat in the bottom of a crater - and they took two tries to get out of Eagle Crater ( which was a nice shallow crater !!) And sat in the bottom there - I doubt they could reach the interesting geology anyway.

Doug

Huh?! Whaddya mean "Bonneville"??

Spirit visited Bonneville long ago. I sure hope you meant "Endurance"...

No - I mean do the same as Spirit did at Bonneville. Opportuinty could "do a bonneville" on endurance

Of course, any day they could both do a Pathfinder and give up the ghost.

Doug

Aah didn't read it carefully enough. Thanks...

Recent update says "The western side of the crater rim slopes down in front of Opportunity with an angle of about 18 degrees for about 17 meters (56 feet)"
, so it doesn't look that bad. It would be great if they can safely check out the outcroppings along the inner rim, but I wouldn't support a suicide mission...

From the rover info: "The rover is designed to withstand a tilt of 45 degrees in any direction without overturning. However, the rover is programmed through its "fault protection limits" in its hazard avoidance software to avoid exceeding tilts of 30 degrees during its traverses.".

That slope they tried to drive out of Eagle Crater was probbaly less steep than that, and it got stuck first time.



Look at the slippage as it tried to drive across the slope toward the viewpoint of that image - in places you can see three tracks from the three wheels on each side - it was 'crabbing' a little.

Doug

I guess the next rovers will need to have 'hemi' engines (all the rage in the U.S.)

Perhaps some kind of retractable spikes for the wheels would help next time?

Or, some kind of ability to rappel down the sides of craters.

Aw hell, let's just send some people there.

Eric P / MizarKey

It looks to me like the problem with getting out of Eagle Crater wasn't excessive slope, but a buildup of sandy soil in front of the wheels. That would make going down into the bottom of Endurance, where it looks as if the soil has been piled pretty thick, very chancy, but suggests that Opportunity might be able to descend partway into the crater where the upper walls are still rocky. They might experiment a bit close to the rim, where the slope is relatively shallow, and then drive further in if the rover manoeuvers well.

David