Oppy is almost at Burns Cliff.



Tom

That's a fantastic photo

Ok, here we are (or just about):



And thats the front hazcam.

I'm not quite sure how they got there. Looks like Oppy covered more distance than during the whole week previously. It seems that they made a zigzagging move from the position they were "stuck", first going right and then left. See the current rear hazcam:

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...HNP1311R0M1.JPG

Looks like Oppy can show some moves still ;-)

That's good to see. BUT, what I want to know is, what are they going to do after they are finished with Burns cliff. Stubbornly drive along the cliff to the 'exit hatch', or retreat to Karatepe?

Well, they will probably be scrutinizing the cliff for many more months anyway, :
Quote from MER flight director's report August 4th: "We’re leaving the crater on MER-B".
Quote from MER flight director's report September 29th: "Opportunity is still in the crater, it’s [...] probably gonna be there for another week, possibly more".

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...HNP1909L0M1.JPG

oppy has been playing in the sand pit

akuo, I don't think we are at the Burns Cliff yet. It's further towards left. Opportunity still has quite a way to go.

Also, there is possibly an area of interest to the scientists at the left side of Burns Cliff. It could be a cross-bedding feature. They may want to photograph it at close up (as close as they can make it).

That's a good reason to go there, and exit out just left of the feature.

Thanks Pando.

I was aware that it wasn't quite Burns Cliff in front of Oppy, but I thought they'd investigate that area, sice it has pretty much the same layers exposed. Of course as Doug and others have said, those layers were exposed at Karatepe too. It's good to know that its the crossbedding that they are after.

Looks like hard going for Oppy. The slope gets worse (though not as bad as in the distorted view of the hazcam), though they should be ok as long as they keep on the rock slabs. There is also rubble right under Burn's Cliff.

Yes, but Oppy seems to do all right.

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...HNP1909R0M1.JPG

Tom

Baltic, that's from the same position as the front hazcams above. There is less than 5 minutes between the hazcam and navcam images.

Generally its harder to tell the close positioning from navcams.

Oh, I see.

Tom

I was lost a little bit at Endurence Crater.

Is this more or less right, guys?
(Please correct me if I'm wrong.)



Tom

Yeah, thats about right. Oppy is a few metres back in my opinion. There are two white slabs of rock that are visible both in the panorama and right in front of the rover in the hazcam above.



I agree the "Escape hatch" looks crazy.

On the move again:

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...IFP1212L0M1.JPG

It's aimed directly at Burn's Cliff now

Some great NavCam shots of layers in the rocks:

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...IFP0664R0M1.JPG
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...IFP0664R0M1.JPG

.......a little closer.

forward hazcam:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...JJP1214L0M1.JPG

rear hazcam:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...JJP1311R0M1.JPG

Reminds me of the trench scene from Star Wars

"Almost there.... almost there...."

A beautiful new navcam shot from Oppy:

Yep, stunning images coming in from Opportunity


Burns cliff from PanCam:

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...K5P2439L5M1.JPG
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...K5P2439L5M1.JPG

From the latest press release :

Opportunity is heading toward the base of "Burns Cliff," a tall exposure of layered rock in the wall of the crater. However, if the rover encounters more of the poor traction found around Wopmay, planners may change course and drive up out of the crater.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2004-269

Opportunity seems to be OK at the moment though.

Looks like we've arrived at Burns Cliff

Oppy gotta have some serious tilt now

At least Oppy's not in the sand-trap any more: in fact it's looking more like a two-lane highway, albeit one with craploads of camber. (Maybe Oppy's going to do some NASCAR racing?)

I must say, that forward hazcam image makes me slightly queasy... but those layers are beautiful.

thanks for the orientation pictures dot.dk , I had no idea Oppy was that far up the side of the crater. Tilt indeed. We'll see how the exit route goes...

Oppys going to have some ENORMOUS power budget's with that tilt on

I never thought they'd make it this far

Doug

Having made this far, the road is open towards the crossbedding section:

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...LJP0674R0M1.JPG

The surface looks hard and Oppy should have no trouble driving there, assuming it can handle the sideways tilt.

antti

It's interesting that you should mention a power boost. Space.com has an artilce about that subject. They called it a "mysterious power boost".

http://space.com/news/rover_mystery_041105.html

It's got to be dust-devil activity hasnt it? Pity there's no pressure/temp sensors on board or they might have detected them

Ironically, Spirit's not had the same luck, despite being in the moor devil-rich environment


Doug

Maybe the crater itself produces some irregular airflow, small vortices perhaps?

I seem to recall reading in one of these forums about a marked temperature difference (increase?) in the bottom of this crater. If so, would that impact/increase the air flows/ vortices that Sunspot was speculating about?

Given that the crater is a semi-enclosed volume of air, it would act as a Helmholtz resonator of sorts. I'm guessing the dunes at the bottom are created through the standing waves, but then I am not a scientist or a physician. Were that the case, if Oppy passed through an antinode while there was a fair wind blowing upstairs, I could imagine a sudden burst of "resonance" would dislodge some dirt. Though you'd think with all the to-ing and fro-ing that Oppy's been doing, the odd rock or something would have dislodged some dirt before now.

Of course, there's always the possibility that a passing Martian whipped out their chamois and squeegee, and gave her a quick rub.

At one point I remember reading that a frosting event might be responsible (frost forms, then evaporates, 'clumping' the dust on the panels, mentioned in this story : http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mers-04zzzzzzzs.html ) So now I'm wondering how long it will be before we see some MI's of the solar panels. If nothing else, they must be curious what they look like since this has happened.

Look at that shiny solar panel!!



Amazing

Not sure if the arm could even manage to MI any of the solar arrays - a bit like patting the back of your head with the top of your hand - a bit of an awkward move

Doug