Prepare for epic !


This is going to be incredible.

Something big's up ahead indeed: our old friend the Mystery Man has reappeared to give us a sense of scale and encourage us onwards:
Click to view attachment
Like usual he's to proper scale (2 metres high to top of hat), standing on the rim of AC.

And you know what he's yelling: "Guys, over here! The view's incredible!"

Yaaay! Mystery Man is always a welcome sight!!

did I make it on time?

Thanks for that Fred. Seriously we should really see more of him. The vertical perspective is important to get an intuitive grasp of what the scenery would look like in person.

Ustrax said "did I make it on time?"



Tsk! I hope you are not allowing so-called 'real life' to intrude on your precious Mars time!



Fred said "our old friend the Mystery Man has reappeared"

Is he holding up the sky in that view?

Phil

I managed to escape samsara.
pancams are in, my useless techniques are telling me that we're getting more detail on that big paw:
Click to view attachment

Ooh.... love how the crater peaks line up with the Farside Hills...

Click to view attachment

P.S. Welcome back ustrax!!

With you there Stu! I was thinking the symmetry* quite fair: A crater rim in front of a crater basin on a crater wall. It reminded me of our view over Sputnik, and Victoria, only so much better.


-- Pertinax

PS: Hi again ustrax!!! Ever closer to Ithica

* in the interest of clarity: 'Beauty as a result of balance or harmonious arrangement'

Navcam panorama...

Click to view attachment

...and stretched version of horizon...

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John Carter would have felt at home in that landscape, wouldn't he?

Looks like I can retire - my work here is done!

Phil

You must be kidding, Phil. You can tease details out of those horizons and faraways the rest of us couldn't find in a month! I've just been playing about waiting for you to get to work!

Whoever is printing the invitations to Phil's retirement party, you'll need his retirement photo:

What, you couldn't find the picture that makes me look like a young Roger Moore?

Phil

Some cool new features appearing on Tribulation now:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...2M1.JPG?sol2659
Can't wait to see the latest panorama in colour...

Here ya go...

Click to view attachment

Wow! Great work Stu, I guess I don't need to rush and do that one myself now.

Wow, the next days will be fantastic. Is there any possibility to make a full view of Endeavour now, from the north rim to the south rim?

@Stu, Ant: Fantastic panoramas ... thx.
@ustrax: Nice to hear from you again.

Are we there yet?

Very nice Stu ! And very quick !

My version of this -wonderful- view :



We need to go closer !

Didn't someone realized the new view of Cape tribulation? Currently we see the Cape Tribulation as 'pyramid', but where's Cape Byron, Cape Dromedary, Point Hicks?
I think they are hidden through the Cape Tribulation, or are they now visible left from the cape in Fred's picture?

Here was the view from Sol 2239, all capes are ordered from left to right.

OK so when I said I didn't need to rush to do my own version I meant it. However for some inexplicable reason 40 minutes later I'm now posting one. I'm addicted!




James

Fantastic, Stu & Ant!
And when I think that this is just a preview of the panorama that should open in a couple of days... Wow!

@James: We can't live without it, can we?

BTW, there's another driving planned thisol 2660. That's music to my ears.
Images should be avail. around 13:35 UTC.

We all know that feel James.

Here is a Google earth file with all named object of the Endeavour crater (from which I know).
Maybe helping us identifying structures of the new pictures.

And continuing with the driving theme, I guess it will be minimum 90m (*). There's a "mid-drive" navcam shot planned at 252deg. and the only "relevant" feature I can find with that heading on the current path is that small crater highlighted here on the map.
Click to view attachment

(*) Perhaps Scott may tweet a more precise figure...

I think the full length of the straight ridge including Tribulation and Byron is hidden behind the near end of Tribulation (the "pyramid"). I think Dromedary and Hicks are now visible as the two bumps to the left of Tribulation. Iazu is hazier and farther to the left.

Interestingly, it seems we still can't see Solander point which is between us and Tribulation. Once we drop a bit, that should pop into view.

Made this just for fun
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55907406@N08/...in/photostream/

That a good work KrisK Keep sharing pictures like that !

I've made this picture from the navcams. Reprojected so it looks like it have been taken with a reflex camera with a 10-20 mm lens (I love this kind of lenses).

New pictures are already available and the near horizon is dropping significantly. Compare this fresh navcam image with a similar one taken from the previous site, 120m behind.

... and we see a little more detail of Approach crater ... just a tiny little bit.

I'm starting to feel like we wont see Cape York until we end up driving into it

Blueberry and hematite discussion moved HERE

It looks to me that we are now seeing more of the far rim than ever before. I think the most we'd seen before was roughly in the late 2300's. Here's a comparison of one of James's pans then with the new navcam:
Click to view attachment
Can't wait to see some pancams...

...and here they are!
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...2M7.JPG?sol2660
We can now see that smaller crater below-right from far-wall crater...

It's almost time to say... Voila!

Oh... my...

Click to view attachment

.. god.

Fantastic!

And the view will only improve!!!
Stu, I think your picture confirms what I was thinking, which is that the far horizon we're seeing to the right of the mosaic is not the crater rim but the plains way after it. Here's my version of the mosaic (no contrast / gamma enhancements) and what I think is the rim.
Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

BTW, I'm just wondering how the view will be months later during martian winter and clearer skies...

For thisol 2661, the "telemetry" shows Opportunity is 130m closer to CY. Now waiting for the pics...

Yup. We should be very close to 'Approach crater' now. Much more of Endeavour's interior should be visible and Cape York could well be peaking over the horizon. Haven't been this excited since the Victoria approach!

Note don't expect any pancams, none were planned tosol.

Can't tell too much from the rear hazcam, but check back in 5 1/2 hours for the navcams

That's part of the thrill.

Agreed.

As of the 2660 position (now completely out of date, hopefully!), I think we were starting to see features beyond AC. Here's my identification of a crater beyond AC:
Click to view attachment

We've only gotten hazcams for the 2661 drive (are we expecting navcams?). But even in hazcam, we can see that the horizon has dropped dramatically again! Compare the 2660 view:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol2660
with the new 2661 view:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol2661

Yep.

02661::p0673::03::6::0::0::6::0::12::navcam_3x1_az_126_3_bpp
02661::p1977::20::14::0::0::14::0::28::navcam_custompri_7x1_az_306_3_bpp

AND PANCAM TOO!!! Checked it right now!

02661::p2366::28::6::0::0::6::2::14::pancam_drive_direction_3x1_L2R2

I presume those will come down next Sol?

Or perhaps earlier, on the next update cycle of the exploratorium i.e. at 19:35 UTC.

While only of secondary interest, a peep into the so often mentioned 'Approach Crater' as seen from the orbit might be a good pastime before more interesting views. (In double size, anaglyph and x-eyed versions.) A tongue of dark sand can be seen as well as some layering in the crater walls.

For all of us quiet lurkers who have followed Oppy every meter and stand in awe of the discussions and creativity here, the excitement is palpable! This is going to be - is - awesome.

Here's a navcam:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...MLP0673L0M1.JPG

I think I can see the smaller crater after the Approach Crater.

Embedded image replaced with a link - ADMIN

grrr, one pancam image with bad data drop outs