Hello folks,

Last summer I had the opportunity (no pun) to visit a meteorite crater in Kaali, Estonia. It's claimed to be the last giant meteorite impact on Earth falling on a densely populated region a few thousand years ago.

Anyway, why I'm posting this here is that the size of this crater is comparable to Endurance - its diameter is about 360 feet (vs. 430 feet for Endurance). I happened to take some images of it, and I did a quick autostitch to get a panorama. To judge the size of it, look at the concrete steps at lower right.

Enjoy!

Nice little hole, fresh looking and all. It has a look a bit like a martian crater, except of course when stones are hidden by grass or water.

Interesting, pando. It is impressive to know that impact probably killed several people... (however, we are talking of almost 10000 years ago, I doubt that area was densely populated like now).
Close to my home, there is a small crater that was believed to be meteoric too, until few years ago. Deeper studies showed antropogenic origin, however!

That is really cool, Pando. I find it difficult to guage how large things are in rover images, without any terrestrial landmarks like trees or people around. Remember way back when Oppy just landed, and we thought the Eagle crater "cliff" in front of her was huge? And it turned out she could drive right over it.

I thought I posted these last night in a separate topic, but they seem to have dissappeared. Anyway, here are some views of Endurance I was playing with last night, coincidentally at the same time you posted your image.

Do you know what would be cool

Someone buys a patch of land, perhaps 50m on a side, and builds a model of Eagle crater in it

Doug

Sounds like a good project for Bill Harris once he gets his 1/4 scale rover built. Is your back yard big enough for a 1/4 scale Eagle Crater, Bill?

Funny! It reminds me of a patch of Mars ground simulation there was in Toulouse, France, into the grounds of the CNES. It even was visible from outside, together with a Moon simulation too. But now it seems they removed it. Perhaps there was grass an lichens growing in, so it no longer looked martian. If somebody attempts to realize such a model, there will be problems with grass, and rain transporting sand, etc.

Yeah, and it's also somewhat hard to comprehend the size of it from the panorama I posted, until you actually see people in there. Here's another shot, with some people standing down there...

mhoward, those are cool Endurance images!

I know that crater, Becouse Estonia is south of my country, Finland. And we country have lots of craters! 11! I think, only Russia, Australia, USA and Canada have more. But how many craters have found in world? 200?



This is maybe two-crater (another map numbers 6 and 10)> http://www.somerikko.net/old/geo/i/maps/suvas.jpg

If you build it they will come.



http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/CINameSort.html
By the stringent criteria of the University of New Brunswick database, there are 172. But if you throw in the 'probables', the number would reach 200.

Pando, glad you said ...with some people standing down there...
I was thinking they were 60 kilo fairies dancing round the ring!

Thank you for these nice images, Pando. You cannot make better Endurance model on Earth.

This Estonian region, which I have yet to visit but happen to know a bit about (very little bit that is), is renowned for its well-preserved meteorite craters of amazing age range, from ~500 million years to practically yesterday. They're situated in an extensive limestone bed originally settled in a shallow Ordovician sea, so the place bears an exceptional geological resemblance to Meridiani. -Just to compare, the craters in Finland and elsewhere in the Precambrian bedrock are very dissimilar to the Estonian ones, generally extremely old and eroded, but occasionally detectable as roundish lakes etc.

PS edit: I found a site with some pictures of Kaali free of leaves:
http://www.saaremaa.ee/eng/tourism/saaremaa/kaali.php

> Is your back yard big enough for a 1/4 scale Eagle Crater, Bill?

Yep. My yard is the one with the crop circles...

That's me by the van flying the plane that took this photo.

--Bill

Just great...punk aliens.

COOOOL!!!

Tell us a bit more!

I have a light radio-controlled electric airplane with a 1 meter wingspan that I've attached a digital camera to. I can trigger the shutter via the radio control transmitter from the ground. This photo was taken at an altitude of 700 feet. This is part hobby, part business: I do real-estate aerials, construction inspection and "art" aerials. I combined two of my hobbies. "One of these days" I'll update my website with aerial photography.

Back closer to topic, this is a lot like our Rovers are doing on Mars: you mentally escort a camera to a remote place, take photos, and either transmit them back or return the camera safely.

Primates and their toys...

--Bill

Here's a little more fun:



(Click on 'original size' for the 1,600K version)

Very nice views Michael

Cool stuff Bill -how much does the camera for the airplane weigh? I have been trying to talk a relative into mounting a camera in his plane and would like to know some more..

Nico

The plane is a modfied GWS Slow Stick and my light reconaissance camera is an Aiptek Pencam SD (1.3MP) whcih weighs about 2 ounces, but the plane can carry cameras weighing 4 ounces.

Have him join RC Groups and visit the Aerial Photography section.

--Bill