imipak, remember me to hire you as my PR when I start my clairvoyant phone line...

And, my friend, the mage spoke more than a year ago...

On another note...while trying to find that pot linked above I almost brought myself to tears with my own words...talk about self-inflicted epic-onwardism...
Who would say we would be here tosol...I mean...besides me?

I have a confession to make ..... that I always get nervous when I see pics of Oppy crossing dunes, despite the fact that a very smart team has calculated the risks.

Coming from a place where I do 100s and 100s kms of driving with not a metre of bitumen in site, I know just how easy it is to get bogged.... even for the most experienced drivers. For us, it's just get on the Sat phone and, at the worst, wait a day or so. For Oppy, the tow truck would take about 8 months to arrive ---- providing Congress approved the towing bill immediately!

But love those HiRise pics, despite the 700 Mgs of download.

You know what, Rui?
Reading it again, I say, I remember very well this very message.
Isn't it what we're about nowaday?

Hmmm. A dune that doesn't line up with the others.
Click to view attachment

Note windstreaks at base of dune.
Different wind local? or the first sign of the "confusion" zone that can be seen at the southern end of the HiRise crop?

-Mike

Look out, Oppy, it's a purgatoid!

Paolo, I` m not sure I understood the route you said Opportunity is going to use to arrive to Endeavour crater. Is it going to be like one of the routes I draw? Which (hypothetical) route resembles more the planned one? Are we really 2-3 km away from "parking lot" terrain? Are we going to pass near the "mini-Endurance" crater (nearly in the middle of the route)? Explain me, please. Thank you.

Agree with you, I don't like the look of it also. There does seem to be a whole line of confused dunes more or less leading from the present position towards the center of Porcupine. To the north and south of this line is better terrain with also more bedrock. Bit weird why there are confused dunes in one line, with bedrock patches on both sides but not inside this area.

Click to view attachment

Furthermore, she should have passed a small crater, which is still quite close to the east of the sol 1816 position, don't know whether it shows up on any of the images?

Regards,

Geert.

The route is similar to the rightmost one you posted. In 2-3 Km we should be clearing an area that has a large concentration of "purgatoids" (=purgatory like ripples). Then we should be able to start heading east. The "parking lot" terrain is much, much further out.

Paolo

I'm wondering if the bedrock patches (and associated higher dunes at the margins) affect the local winds.

Another possibility is that the SW-NE orientation places it parallel to some of the repeating patterns (organe arrows indicated banding zones) seen to the E of Porcupine. Possibly from a more recent wind regime?
Click to view attachment

-Mike

[EDIT: Actually, looking at this from way back, I'm wondering if the some of the current bedrock pattern is part of this overall pattern as well. Did winds along a NW-SE vector cause some sort of rotor effect and scrub/deposit sand in a series of SW-NE oriented bands?]

> I'm wondering if the bedrock patches (and associated higher dunes at the margins) affect the local winds. ...

Here's my take. If you have a look to the area east of Porcupine in Google Earth with e.g 2x vertical exaggeration you'll see it's in a hollow and that might disturb the N-S local winds.
Click to view attachment

In another topic, here's a quick mosaic of some latest navcams from sol 1818. The crater to the left (SE) is a tiny dot on the map here.
Click to view attachment

Opportunity sol 1818; anaglyph rectilinear projection of Navcam images.

Don't know what the crater is called yet.

We sometime seem to forget that this is a three dimensional surface that we are driving over. There is bound to be local effects due to elevation.

Hi all!

A long, loooooooooong time without posting anything. I put the end of a period where I did not produce any picture. I don't know why. Less motivation? The end of Phoenix? I don't know.

So, I'm back, with 3 panoramic picture of Oppy on the road.

Sol 1816


Sol 1817


NOTE : UPDATED
Sol 1818



Happy to be back

PS : I follow this forum during my "non-work" period, and you've always doing great stuffs (tesheiner, MHoward, Stu, James Canvin, and I certainly miss other).

Welcome back, Ant! Missed your contributions. Hopefully you'll be showing us some "Endeavour, Ho!" images soon...

Thanks Ant - welcome back


I've been waiting for the rest of the Ranger Crater pan. However I've just checked the PDT and it looks like the second tier has already been deleted from the rover without being downlinked. So we are left with a long thin 19x1 image.



Click image

James

A big thanks for your back welcoming (can I said that? ). This gives me more energy to continue
(and I have a " big event" for this month )

It has been named Resolution.

> 01821::p2421::19::96::96::0::0::4::196::pancam_resolution_crater_L257R267

Well that was a little unexpected. North-West?

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...93P0675R0M1.JPG

Maybe they're testing SE drivability but in reverse.

Strange move.
I saw the driving plan for today followed by a pancam mosaic of "Resolution Crater" so I thought the intention was to do a little bump towards that little crater to better image it during sol 1821. Now I really don't know which feature is Resolution.

Let's wait for tomorrow.

The distinct asymmetry and shallow depth of this crater causes me to wonder if it's not a lower velocity secondary impact. You could almost isolate the vector with a good overhead image and some closer ground observations.

There is a string of craters in line with this one.
Click to view attachment

The little 90° westward turn of Sol 1820 :

Check out Exploratorium - some nice Pancan images of Endeavour's rim have come down. Better than what we've seen before.

PCTB appears to not be updating at the moment.

Wow! Nice.

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...93P2421R2M1.JPG

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...93P2421R2M1.JPG

Those shots are part of the "Resolution Crater" mosaic so finally this little crater to the SE is Resolution. Nice to see Endeavour as a bonus.
Looking forward a color version, James.

Maybe the reason they took the funny detour is to get the two craters into a nice shot

Since the start of this wee shuggle to the northwest, am I the only one who's thinking of that famous Planes, Trains and Automobiles' sequence?

"You're going the wrong way!"

Andy

I was thinking the same thing!

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Don't know the story yet, but that's sure what it looks like. The "Resolution" mosaic may be the "artsy-est" mosaic to date.

You know, I was thinking that too, but it seemed like sacrilege to suggest it given the level of skill and experience on the rover team. Still, the same drive taken at 180 degrees would have positioned them quite nicely to image Resolution as planned... Is it possible that someone could have zoned out and forgotten that Oppy is driving in reverse these days?

Well, the same drive in the opposite direction would have placed Opportunity into Resolution.

Ah. Well, never mind then. It's a good thing that nothing so important is relying on the software I write for a living!

Quick 10x Phil-o-vision and contrast stretch of the horizon L2's

And here is that image overlaid on one of those 'inverse polar' orbital images I've made in the past. (where each column of the image is one line of sight from our current position)

Click to view attachment

I'll leave Rui to draw any lines and do any wild speculation, but...

I see three distinct features, twin peaks, Cook and then on the right, a feature that coincides with the most prominent feature on the west rim; where we are heading!

I think now might be a more appropriate time to say "Land ahoy!" eh, Stu?

James

P.S I'll try and do this with a better orbital image at some point.

Wow James!

Why should I speculate when you delivered us this incredible view?...

I believe it is the first time we see this feature on the west rim, right?

Oh...btw...if you use Cook than those twin peaks already have a name also...
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...st&p=127228

I was going to comment about Oppy's change of direction but why bother?...

Nobody sees any "Beacons" yet, do they? I hope not!

*cough*. I noticed nothing. Nothing!
Its obvious they just wanted to get a panoramic mosaic image representing the fundemental dichotamy of the Human condition. With the retreating targets of Resolution crater and Endeavour peaks in the background, and Oppy's lonely track across the arid sands of Meridini Planum we ask - do we advance towards our goals in our existance? Are we sublimating our true urge to travel in the right direction? What *is* the meaning of Life?
(if you like this, you should see my poem "Ode to a lump of Green Putty I found in my Armpit one Midsummer morning..")

...hmmm.
It's an ominous sign when members like sci44 display symptoms of acute poesy. I suspect it typically erupts in the course of these long transit voyages.
Have you also noticed that ustrax' avatar is looking more and more like a conquistador ? (...ride boldly ride...)
Has anyone seen whether Rui is wearing a sword on his hip these days?
Rui, maybe you'd better post a full length portrait so we can check!

I was expecting you to pull more features out of the noise.



I think so.

Ahh, good old Phil-o-vision. It's a bit weird having a 'vision' named after me, but I expect Albert Teli felt much the same way.

Phil

I even had to look that up - I will have you know my poetry is only the 4th worst in the galaxy - after Vogon.

I didnt post these at the time but I was struck by some of the recent low-angle light pictures from Oppy..
Click to view attachment

Footprints in the sand..

Click to view attachment

(its just my 2 cents..)

Not only poesy but also the word 'sublimating' used in it's correct sense.

We are truly blessed.

"boot prints in our wheel tracks"

...or even its correct sense.

Everyone's right; fantastically inspiring and exciting times we're living in right now. I've made a kind of a poster...type... thingy... which I hope some of you will like.

http://stugallery.files.wordpress.com/2009...ree-craters.jpg

This is what's happening right now...

Click to view attachment

...maybe no-one is physically there, walking alongside Spirit and Oppy, but every time we log on to UMSF, or download from MMB, or go to Exploratorium, we're walking next to the rovers, exploring and seeing Mars with them...

I'll do my magic tomorrow...still recovering from Kepler's launch...

And Shaka...no sword but I believe you will love to see the album from where that photo comes...head there everytime I can...I found the locations quite inspiring...

Or perhaps.....

Click to view attachment
Now zoom a little closer.....

Click to view attachment

aha!
Click to view attachment

I did also see that - 100% with you, Stu - there is something really important happening now, and the rest of world is saying, "Yawn, Apollo 17? Another moon mission?" Plod, plod..

I like it!
As a curiosity, do you know who that figure is? Pero Escobar who in 1471, along with João de Santarém, crossed the Equator. So the southern hemisphere was discovered and the sailors began to be guided by a new constellation, the Southern Cross. The discovery of the islands of São Tome and Principe is also attributed to these same sailors.
He is then recorded sailing with Diogo Cão on his first voyage in 1482, as pilot of the Bérrio on Vasco da Gama’s expedition in 1497, and also on Cabral’s discovery of Brazil in 1500.
As I've said...I like it...and I LOVE that monument! There are some posts here at UMSF where I told about my dream of having an international gathering of members of the forum precisely there...




Here we go...just picked your image and put it in my fancy diagram...but it wouldn't be an ustrax's diagram without some sort of delirium...

Between Solander and Cook it seems to be something in the horizon, at least to me...Is it possible that we may be seing "Hicks" also?
I've marked it with an yellow arrow, would it match its real location?...
Click to view attachment