After 2 years, Mars Rover...Finally Nears Massive Crater

Opportunity is only 1.2 miles away.

Since August of 2008, Opportunity rover has been traveling
towards it's biggest crater yet, 14 mile-wide Endeavour Crater.
During the two years previous to that, the rover had been
looking at Victoria crater, some 1/20th that size
..
And as it gets closer to all that dark /young/ Endeavor
crater soil....
http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/pr...deavour_br.jpg
.....those intriguing 'vugs' have returned.

What used to fillall those cracks? Which must've been filled by some
softer material that eroded away first.
http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/al...ity_m2611.html

And the ubiquitous spheres, blanketing almost all of the
region, become far more abundant and less eroded
as it gets closer to a crater, which is usual.
http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/al...P2550L5M1.HTML

When will NASA admit that these may have started out
as small impact craters, but grew much larger? And are
closer to being sink-holes, formed by melting
underground ice, than a crater?

The features of Victoria crater were all named
Capes and Bays, after all. I can't be alone that
these craters are really water/ice features.

And the larger 'craters' are older, but the darker ..soil
is younger. For those that still think Mars has been
dry and dead for geologic time, some of the sand
ripples here have been estimated to be less than
100,000 years old. Which means ice-age time spans.
Not geologic time spans.

http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/pa...s/opportunity/


And btw, what kind of sand ripples last a hundred
thousand years, and still look like they were formed
yesterday? Answer; ripples formed by those spheres.
http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/al...QP1254L0M1.JPG



Should be interesting to see what they find.

Jonathan

On Jul 23, 12:23*am, "Jonathan" wrote:
Opportunity is only 1.2 miles away.

Since August of 2008, Opportunity rover has been traveling
towards it's biggest crater yet, 14 mile-wide Endeavour Crater.
During the two years previous to that, the rover had been
looking at Victoria crater, some 1/20th that size
.
And as it gets closer to all that dark /young/ Endeavor
crater soil....http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/pr...10607a/PIA1413...
....those intriguing 'vugs' have returned.

What used to fillall those cracks? Which must've been filled by some
softer material that eroded away first.http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/al...ity_m2611.html

And the ubiquitous spheres, blanketing almost all of the
region, become far more abundant and less eroded
as it gets closer to a crater, which is usual.http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/al...693ESFBG00P255...

When will NASA admit that these may have started out
as small impact craters, but grew much larger? And are
closer to being sink-holes, formed by melting
underground ice, than a crater?

The features of Victoria crater were all named
Capes and Bays, after all. I can't be alone that
these craters are really water/ice features.

And the larger 'craters' are older, but the darker ..soil
is younger. *For those that still think Mars has been
dry and dead for geologic time, some of the sand
ripples here have been estimated to be less than
100,000 years old. Which means ice-age time spans.
Not geologic time spans.

http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/pa...s/opportunity/

And btw, what kind of sand ripples last a hundred
thousand years, and still look like they were formed
yesterday? Answer; ripples formed by those spheres.http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/al...983EFFBGQQP125...

Should be interesting to see what they find.

Jonathan

imagine if nasa would of followed up with more spirit and
opportunities...... a rugged proven design that could be doing more
explorations all over mars.

but no nasa demanded that rover science station with a failed RTG that
may not get launched for 10 years, or sent sooner, very underpowered
so much science cant be done.......

nasa is like the rest of our government, its collapsing

"bob haller" wrote in message
...
On Jul 23, 12:23 am, "Jonathan" wrote:

Should be interesting to see what they find.


but no nasa demanded that rover science station with a failed RTG that
may not get launched for 10 years, or sent sooner, very underpowered
so much science cant be done.......


I say they go with the power they have. I think
travelling large distances isn't as important
as the capabilities.

........

I say they go with the power they have. I think
travelling large distances isn't as important
as the capabilities.

lack of power doesnt just effect miles traveled but cuts science done
along the way.......