Interesting. (And beautiful versions Mike and Fred, much appreciated and definitely worth doing.)

I have been trying a different tactic to get 3D. I rotated images for successive days so the horizons were vertical and tried viewing them as cross-eyed pairs. Lacking the relevant computer skills I was doing this with rather poor paper printouts held at different distances to match up the scales. Needless to say I was not too successful except that I did, just, discern that the near horizon was nearer than the crater before the headache came on. I do wonder though what this approach could yield if done properly.

And tosols attempt to match features in a reprojected HiRISE image with those in Fred's images.

Really good stuff, Fred and James. This is fun.

Interesting. The two pics seem to be from different angles -- that is, this one, and the long-baseline 3d I was replying to earlier -- but I can see how the horizontal break I see in the latter might just represent a hummocky ejecta blanket in front of the white hill. (Has anyone started naming these features yet?)

Ah, I've had so much on my plate the last few years, I haven't been fully engaged in this kind of anticipation and backseat driving in a long time. Feels great to be back

Thanks to all you you hard-working vets, this place continues to be the goto site for Rover followers -- except for the way y'all ignore the cornucopia of out-of-focus machine parts and exo-lichens hidden in the images, of course

I think that's it, Steve - we're seeing the ejecta blanket/rays in front of the white hill.

Ngunn - I also tried the vertical 3D, but I couldn't see anything.

You know what would be great - if the drivers wouldn't be so darned perfect, and drift a bit to the north and south as we approach Santa Maria. That'd give us better baselines for 3D imaging!

Surprise, fourth driving day in a row.
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...cam/2010-12-09/

The complete Pancam view taken on Sol 2442
with the L2 Pancam.

Jan van Driel


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Sol 2444



Rover model is shown based on tracking data, not necessarily accurate:

3 More Drives and 1 more to get to the Edge. Go Opportunity!!! Drive Drive Drive

The L2 Pancam panoramic view of Santa Maria.
Taken on Sol 2443.

Jan van Driel

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I vote for today's panorama as the latest HOAV moment. This is just the centrepiece: http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...IJP2359R2M1.JPG

OK, here's my final L2R2 average for Santa Maria. Lens distortions across the full field of view make it impossible to align the two frames exactly. Besides, one more drive and we'll be able to see the whites of her eyes...
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OK, so here's something new. This is a "Frankenstein" long-baseline anaglyph. I've taken the 2443 image and enlarged it to match the scale of the 2444 image. We're heading directly towards a point very close to the centre of Santa Maria. So the parts of the crater on the left and right have transverse displacements between the two sols, so can be used to make a 3D image. But the displacements are opposite on opposite sides, which would make the depth look "inside-out" on one side. So I've swapped 2443 and 2444 parts on the right side of the anaglyph - you can clearly see the seam down the middle. The result is a proper sense of depth all across the image. But since the transverse displacements go to zero at the seam, the perception of depth also goes to zero there. So the image depth looks "pinched" at the centre. Quite a monster!
Click to view attachment

Clever! I assume you've tried a conventional L-R anaglyph as well and that it fails to bring out any depth because we're still too far away?? Given the camera separation I'd expect that to start working pretty soon though, hopefully before we lose too much height.

Here's yer "conventional L-R anaglyph"...

http://twitpic.com/3ep0r2/full

Not much depth of field with the crater's features, but LOTS with the boulders surrounding it...

Geologists... welcome to Wonderland...

This isn't wonderland. Wonderland's off in the distance.

This is the back of the line to get a ticket to go through the turnstile.... to wonderland

Nice! Knowing that the apparent depth in anaglyphs increases with viewing distance I decided to view that one from a distance of 6 metres - using binoculars. It worked! So now my binoculars are crudely parcel-taped onto a telescope tripod located across the landing in my daughter's bedroom and my 3D specs are in two pieces taped over the binoculars. I think I'll leave them there and wait for your next few anaglyphs, Stu.

(Of course the binocular objectives are about twice as far apart as my eyes so I lost part of the advantage gained by going to 6 metres. The next stage would be to take the binoculars apart and reassemble them with the objectives closer together. Actually a small set of opera glasses without prisms would be ideal for this. I may scout round some antiques/junk shops tomorrow.)

Rover-sized blocks of ejecta... exposed layering... TWO areas of wind-blown dust dunes... rocks and boulders scattered all around... Santa Maria is definitely Wonderland.

That place on the far horizon, with its possible phylosillicates, unbelievable views of cratered mountains and deep, deep floor... ?

That's Oz, my friend. That's Narnia.

And we're about to get our first look at the Wardrobe.

This is OT but I don't think it will cause a long dgression. Anyone interested can send me a personal message.

I have an idea for enhancing the viewing of anaglyphs. What's needed is a pair of glasses that redirects the viewing angle from each eye the opposite way from ordinary binoculars. The objective lenses should be as close as possible - a distance equal to the aperture of each. There could be magnification, but in fact there need be no magnification at all, merely a reorientation of the lines of sight to make them more nearly parallel than the view from unaided human eyes.

Would it be equivalent to separate more widely the red and blue components of the anaglyph?

Yes, but we're talking about angular separation here so that would require moving the cameras further apart - or taking them closer to the target.

The Sol 2444 Navcam L0 view of Santa Maria.

Jan van Driel

All I want (for Opportunity) is another 350 meters for Christmas.

According to MER Pancam Data Tracking Web Interface tomorrow (sol 2447) is DRIVING DAY!

Oppy is really to fast. Don't bet against a rover, here's the newest calendar:

Here is the Pancam L2 panoramic view of Santa Maria.
Taken on Sol 2444.

Jan van Driel

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Added 1 image to the Sol 2444 L0 Navcam view.

Jan van Driel

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Here's a stretched view of the pancam mosaic (thanks Jan!) - showing a lot of detail out on the distant plains now, and around the crater.

Phil

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Again I played a little bit to make the color version of this front hazcam image (Sol-2444):
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...IJP1211L0M1.JPG

Below, color version:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55907406@N08/...358424/sizes/z/

We are really close.
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...2NP0653R0M1.JPG

And a good bit lower. The north rim is almost breaking the skyline.

The metadata shows the rover driving down slope this last drive (it's a very slight slope). So I guess sol 2444 was the scenic overlook - until we get to the crater's edge, which of course isn't that far away now.

Edit: Looking at the 3D for the last several sols, it's clear in retrospect that we made the top of the slight rise and have been enjoying the "scenic overlook" since sol 2442 or so. I think it was just so gradual we never realized it. I didn't, anyway.

From the shadows in the latest navcams it's apparent that the sun is almost directly behind the shot, so why does the most prominent boulder look so dark? It's difficult to imagine a shadowed surface in that position unless it's actually overhanging. Or maybe that rock is intrinsically dark, i.e. meteorite not bedrock*. Any thoughts?

*EDIT: Or I suppose possibly bedrock of a kind we haven't seen so far.

I would drive right up to that dark boulder, and the crater rim looks quite high - the best access to the crater edge might be just beyond that boulder.

That boulder could be dark also because it's surface is very rough. We've seen many examples like that.

I agree the lowest bit of the near rim is behind that boulder. But the slopes elsewhere look like something Oppy can easily handle as well, except maybe leading up to the big north rim hill.

We saw some very dark rocks inside Intrepid...

http://roadtoendeavour.files.wordpress.com...0/11/image4.jpg

So possibly new geology to be done here. If that boulder isn't the next target I'm an Englishman.

Here's my scientific contribution for the final approach.
Go Oppy! GO GO GO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn1PASIZCK0
(suddenly I saw myself dancing with Oppy on those plains and the weird thing is that it didn't feel...weird. Ah!)

very scientific indeed!

No drive today.
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We now have depth perception between the near and far rim using L/R pairs - no need for long baselines any more. You can see a pretty wide stretch of the far rim behind "big boulder":
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Nice view.

Phil

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Santa Maria: I tried to remove some of the noise in the image.
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Hey, no need for an angry face.... Oppy goes at her own pace.

OK, tomorrow probably also day without drive

Scott just Tweeted:

Beautiful 140m drive this weekend! ~ 200m left to Santa Maria. Probably 120m today, then coarse approach of 60m, then fine approach of 20m.

A nice place to take a rest for Christmas..the rover (driver) deserves it!

A little more from Scott...

OK, good news and bad news. Can't do hazard-avoidance driving today; too many data products. But downlink is up to a healthy 60 Mbits!

So probably 100m today, 80-100ish meters tomorrow, then a final approach to Santa Maria. Explore there during conjunction, then Endeavour!