MARS: CURIOSITY u krateru GALE Vol II.

Ovdje nema Coronavirusa, ali možda ima neki drugi...

MISSION UPDATES |  February 26, 2020

Sol 2688-2689: Into the Unknown
Written by Abigail Fraeman, Planetary Geologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
 
This image was taken by Left Navigation Camera onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 2664.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›

Over the last couple of weeks, the Curiosity science team engaged in a series of long debates about where we should go after we completed our analyses of the Hutton sample. Our first option was to drive downhill and rejoin the strategically planned route that skirts the base of the Greenheugh pediment. The second option was to head the other way and drive uphill onto the top of pediment capping unit.
 
View of a potentially passible route onto the top of the Greenheugh pediment. (Area on the left).
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Download image ›  
I love discussions like these. We’d always planned to drive on top of the Greenheugh pediment at some point, but the rover wouldn’t reach the access points identified from orbit for months, or possibly even years. However, while Curiosity was completing the drill campaign at Hutton, rover drivers working with surface properties scientists discovered a potentially passible route onto the top of the Greenheugh pediment that was accessible from our current location. So as a team we had to consider, were the science benefits worth trying to drive onto the pediment now, or we should wait until later as originally planned? In the end, we decided the science rationale to ascend now were so compelling, it was worth going for it.
The focus of today’s plan will be to execute the first of several drives that will take us to the top. We don’t expect to encounter slopes much greater than 25˚ in today’s planned drive, but subsequent drives will require the rover to ascend slopes of 30˚ or more. We’ve never driven up slopes this steep with Curiosity before, and we don’t actually know if the rover will be able to make it all the way up and over. However, all of our analysis shows this attempt won’t put any unusual risk on the vehicle hardware, so there’s no reason we can’t try!
Exploring Mars is always exciting, but for me, this has been a particularly fun and exciting time to be a part of the Curiosity science team. I love the feeling of exploring and venturing into the unknown. We don’t know if we’ll be able to make it onto the pediment capping unit here, but we know we’ll discover something completely new if we do reach the top.

Ovo bi bila itekako razumna odluka, ako se želi postići glavni CILJ. 
S putovanjem oko one pješčane dine bi zahtjevale puno vremena,
a baterijama uskoro dolazi vrijeme "poluraspada" radioaktivnog goriva.

Uvijek zanimljivo pogledati...boje su onakve kako bi smo ih vidjeli pod našim nebom (white-balanced). 

Ovdje će pokušati prijeći na gornji nivo.
Očekivani naklon je 25°-30°, što je negdje kao uobičajene stube (stairs).
Vozilo je testirano na max. 25°.

Selfi na trenutnoj lokaciji

Damia Bouic je autor kompozita:

Isto kao iznad, maksimalna rezolucija.

http://www.db-prods.net/marsroversimages/Curiosity/2020/Sol2687_MaHLI.jpg

https://twitter.com/i/status/1234077478806859776

Prtenosim  razgovor (dvojice iz "ekipe", s UMSF foruma)

QUOTE (Phil Stooke @ Feb 27 2020, 06:21 AM
Big news in the current status report... Curiosity will attempt to climb the slope here and get onto the pediment surface now instead of going the long way round (east, south, southwest). I thought it would not be possible but apparently it is. I'm surprised they are not worried about missing the contact between Glen Torridon and the sulphate hills, but maybe they can get back to that area later.

Phil


kymani76
It appears that the only place where Curiosity can climb to Greenheue Pediment without making significant detour to the east is just to the south of Tower Butte. Slope map overlaid on HiRise image. Green areas have a slope of 50%.


"Zeleni" prolaz prema gore je evidentat, ali se i ja pitam kako će biti s proklizavanjem itd...No, uvijek se može odustati.

Evo su pod samim vrhom...ovdje će pasti odluka.



Sol 2691: Left Navigation Camera

gigapan


https://roundme.com/tour/550044/view/1803988/

sol 2691

Curiosity Log
@CuriosityLog

·
1h
Drive 753: 3.63 meters, duration 4.35 min, sol 2692 12:54:06pm (2020MAR03 03:14:39Z)


Mislim da se radi o pripremi za uavršni "skok"...ako je sve proteklo u najboljem redu.

Najosjetljivija faza.
Nepoznanica je međusona povezanost dva sloja i veličina uspostavljenog trenja.

sol 2693