Opportunity’s steep downhill path
An update on Opportunity: The panorama I have created below from two images taken by its navigation camera and transmitted from Opportunity today, shows the steepness of the slope in Lewis and Clark Gap down which engineers are thinking of sending Opportunity. It appears also that Opportunity has moved closer to the gap since my post on Friday outlining the rover’s future travels.
I have not followed Opportunity’s entire journey on Mars close enough to say whether this will be the steepest downhill slope the rover has ever attempted. If not I suspect it is close to the steepest. I also suspect that they are still unsure whether they are going to attempt it, and are creeping slowly towards it to assess the situation.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
An update on Opportunity: The panorama I have created below from two images taken by its navigation camera and transmitted from Opportunity today, shows the steepness of the slope in Lewis and Clark Gap down which engineers are thinking of sending Opportunity. It appears also that Opportunity has moved closer to the gap since my post on Friday outlining the rover’s future travels.
I have not followed Opportunity’s entire journey on Mars close enough to say whether this will be the steepest downhill slope the rover has ever attempted. If not I suspect it is close to the steepest. I also suspect that they are still unsure whether they are going to attempt it, and are creeping slowly towards it to assess the situation.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
An opportunity to hurry up a bit, with extra gravity pull as assistant. Not that gravity is so heavy there anyway. But examining a relatively steep slope should be interesting since its surface must’ve formed a bit differently. If not geologically, then by how it has collected or lost dust or how it has eroded differently because of the tilt. I think that the slope itself is worth the challenge, also as a technology demonstrator. RSLs and flowing water overall will be found on slopes. This could be a good training for a future rover design.
Is it truly as steep as it appears?
The camera/rover could be tilted and the horizon may not be horizontal. They aren’t driving around a parking lot, after all…
BSJ: The horizon is the clue. In this image, unlike others, the horizon is generally horizontal, which suggests that the image is also showing us with reasonably accuracy the tilt of the slope.
So, your saying they found a perfectly level spot to park the rover, just so they could snap a picture. Without telemetry data you’re just guessing!
The horizon could just be another inclined slope. Without “human scale” objects like trees or structures in the image, the apparent distance can be quite deceiving.
BSJ: Your are completely right, I am guessing, though I think it is an educated guess. The horizon appears to me to be the opposite crater rim 14 miles away, which will be generally level.
But you are right, this is a guess.
The slope on Earth could be considered rather steep and an attempt to descend could trigger landslides, but in the lower gravity of mars the angle of repose would be much greater and this slope is much more “gentle” than our Earth trained senses would have us believe.
Maybe it’d be a good thing to cause a landslide. Let it skid and see how much of an avalanche it causes, and what that reveals from the underground uncovered.
Instead of a one inch drill, Mars rovers should carry a set of explosive devices planted and set off at safe distances (behind a ridge). The plumes watched by satellites and rover cams and then approached to be chemically investigated by sampling. Explosives have a much bigger role to play in the planetary exploration than they are given today. They were important during the Apollo program.