It's like a whole new mission! This time, I say, don't go in!!

Re: fracture marks - From Mars quakes? How recently could that have happened?

AMAZING crater ! I didn't had the time to post here, but when I can, I do.

Approaching Santa Maria



Closer…


More closer, Sol 2451

And at the opposite side :


After many sols of flat ground, it's a pleasure to see some "hills" and "caves".

Really nice shout-out for UMSF from Jim Bell on Twitter...

Jim_Bell Rock and Roll Opportunity! Spectacular view of Santa Maria crater this morning. Thanks all at unmannedspaceflight.com: http://bit.ly/gCuiJD

Here's an animation of the approach on YouTube. Available in 720p.

And Oppy did it again...what a D-A-Y!
Play the (not so quite) EPIC!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn1PASIZCK0

Juan de la Cosa?...Hmm...
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...mp;#entry166965

Today is Christmas time ... can't wait any longer .

just ... WOW !

It's really hard (for me at least ) to get a sense of scale on the brink of the rim here - could anyone please add a stick man for reference?
Much appreciated.

Jase

What a beauty! This is far more picturesque than I had anticipated!

In other news Leg B is finished!

Gosh those were the days, before Endeavor was named; 'Big Crater' indeed!

Oh my God! It's like Opportunity has landed all over again!
Tonight, I'm (nearly) seven years younger!
What a beautiful christmas gift for 2010 from Oppy and Mars!!!

Ansel Adams .... resurrected on Mars.....just beautiful

Craig

It's times like this that I feel lucky just to be alive right now.

Thank you for your skill & dedication, MER Team, and as always deepest gratitude & admiration for our enormously talented UMSF members who make Mars come alive for us all every day. In a just world, this first peek into SM would be on the front page of every paper on this planet.

UNNECESSARY QUOTING REMOVED - ADMIN

That's just the way I feel Nprev; privileged!
So great to be living in 2010 and discover Mars in its primeval state! In 200 years from now, humans will be living out there and the planet will be no more the one that Oppy is showing us right now. Thanks so much to the MER team and the UMSF members for these wonderful seven years!!

A bit more detail about the SE rim of Santa Maria here.

OMG I CAN'T *clink* BELIEVE HOW *clink* BEAUTIFUL THE *clink* *clink* clink* *clink* VIEW!!!!

That's for the swear jar, not the Funding UMSF thread

I think of all the Craters Opportunity has visited. This one might become my favorite. It's Amazing.

Way to Go Opportunity, JPL & Nasa and all the awesome people here at UMSF with all the great updates,
Pictures and more.

Merry Christmas early.

Very Nice! Congrats to the MER Team. While the bigger prize is just over the hill, this is just amazing fantastic to reach here when a few years ago it was likely considered impossible. Yet more to catalog in the Great Voyage of Opportunity.

Karl B
long time daily spectator
and fan of everyone here at UMSF

Glad you're still there Ant, I was missing your input.

WHAO !!! That's the kind of landscape I was dreaming of during the era of Pathfinder and Sojourner. Congrats again to the MER team !

Wow! And love the image of the 'opposite side' as well, with Oppy slaloming those rocks.

Indeed ! This single image says it all... BEAUTIFUL Stu ! Thanks to the MER team (and for your nice processing)

Look to the left - sol 2451.
Click to view attachment

Peter, did you mean to give us a better image or a link to that? It's tiny...

That's the view I'm REALLY looking forward to Peter, thanks for the preview I think those dunes blown up against the northern wal are going to look stunning... l

I'm sorry, it's stamps. We have to wait for the transmission of full-sized images.

That's just what I felt two days ago (in the old thread):

"When I see this, I'm just thinking: "The Perfect Crater". I feel like a food critic who just tasted the perfect... ratatouille..

- Not too big, not too small,
interesting topography,
eminently navigable inclines,
easily approachable rocks,
untreachorous solid surface:

Perfection.

Add to that:
a rover team which has reached driving and science operation excellence,
a deep space network that's not just a network but is more like a Swiss clockwork,
and finally a fast-working second-to-none imaging team at UMSF!

These are good times indeed.

Now I just hope Mars doesn't throw us a curve-ball. But even if she does, the MER team will deal with that splendidly, I'm sure."

---- I must add that by eminently navigable inclines I meant the ones outside the crater itself, because I concur with what others are saying in this thread. We shouldn't try to go into this one!

BTW, do anybody remember the discussions the team first had back at Endurance? - "Should we go in for the science, even if we can't get out again?" I must say that Steve Squyres took the right approach: "no way, we must be able to get out!" I personally questioned that approach at Victoria, because I felt there was SO much to see, but I was wrong and this arrival at Santa Maria is the proof!

I want to celebrate the event with a wallpaper!

stamp images panorama...

Click to view attachment

Very high quality, Dilo, right on the mission's standard.
Gracie Mille!

Thanks for the thumbnail pans, guys! (It's a sure sign things are getting interesting when people post thumbnails!)

Even though the resolution is very low, you can just make out the overhanging cliffs inside the northwest rim. I can't wait to see the full res images!

Scott Tweets he has the images! Can't wait...

We know this.

1. What new EDRs from ANY sol were received on sol 2452?
Sol Seq.Ver ETH ESF EDN EFF ERP Tot Description
----- -------- --- --- --- --- --- ---- -----------
02451 p1905.04 0 0 0 3 0 3 navcam_10x1_az_13_mixed_compression
02452 p1212.09 2 0 0 2 0 4 front_haz_ultimate_2_bpp_pri15
02452 p1311.07 2 0 0 2 0 4 rear_haz_ultimate_1_bpp_crit15
02452 p1963.08 0 0 0 14 0 14 navcam_10x1_az_144_mixed
02452 p1964.10 0 0 0 6 0 6 navcam_4x1_az_90_mixed
02452 p1994.06 1 0 0 0 0 1 nav_1x1_MovieFrame_Leye_1bpp_pri72
02452 p2111.06 13 0 0 0 0 13 pancam_cal_targ_L234567Rall
02452 p2558.26 6 0 0 0 0 6 pancam_sancho_ruiz_L234567Rall
02452 p2601.05 4 0 0 0 0 4 pancam_tau_L78R48

T - 40 minutes and counting...

whats the countdown for??must be missing something here!

The normal refresh times for the image archive at the Exploratorium.

If we know the images are on the ground ( which we do) then the next scheduled refresh time for the Exploratorium ( something we're used to via experience ) will mean we get to see the images.

And, as far as I can see, we should get not only the missing navcams from yestersol's mosaic but the whole 360º of a new mosaic taken from a point 4m closer to the edge.

T - 20 and counting...

Now starts the 6 minutes of terror

OMG!
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...J3P1963L0M1.JPG
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...J3P1963L0M1.JPG
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...J3P1963R0M1.JPG
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...J3P1963L0M1.JPG

End of Terror: http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...J3P1963R0M1.JPG

WOW!

AWESOME!

And don't forget the front hazcams after gawping over the navcams, they are awesome and just little bit scary at the same time.

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...J3P1212L0M1.JPG

What strikes me about these pictures -- or about my reaction to them -- is that the blueberries strewn across the ground, which seemed so alien not that long ago, now seem so normal.

Steve M

Woah I'm staking a claim to this place to open the first Martian sand surfing arena!

The interior of the crater is not available for Opportunity, the walls are too steep.

Steep and deep!

Beautiful!
Here's a quick mosaic.
Click to view attachment

Very very close from the edge indeed!
If you don't trust your brakes, turn the weels:
Click to view attachment

Now that's a fine-looking crater

edit - newer version of pancam panorama moved to post #114

This place is amazing...we have rock layers to study and that ledge on the opposite rim looks like an accessible safe parking space to do just that...sand dunes at the centre bottom of the crater..dark dunes on the side wall...not to mention the ejecta rocks around the crater itself!