Endurance crater -- Opportunity

Is there any way into Endurance Crater? I thought I saw a flat space round
the back on the NE side. The near (W) wall is very steep and 6-10m high.
The left flank seems to tail off more gradually.

Also, why is the wall of the crater so bright in IR? Any guesses? Is it
warm from the sun compared to the dark soil of Meridiani. The DIMES image
shows a very bright ring around the crater.

Lets hope Opportunity gets there! I am dying to see what those two
parallel bright lines are at the bottom of the crater.

Thanks
Mark

Hi Mark,

I feel the same way you do. It is exciting to watch old Opp move
closer to Endurance every day and the wall of the crater loom larger.

I suspect that there might be a lot of rocky debris appearing as Opp
moves closer to the crater that might hinder getting too close. I
don't have any ideas about the IR. Is there a good image that
illustrates your proposed approach path for Opportunity?

Cheers then,

Michael
Mars Fossils, Pseudofossils and Problematica
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~weinberg/mars
Come see our six new hallucinogenia!

"mlm" wrote in message
...
Is there any way into Endurance Crater? I thought I saw a flat space round
the back on the NE side. The near (W) wall is very steep and 6-10m high.
The left flank seems to tail off more gradually.

Also, why is the wall of the crater so bright in IR? Any guesses? Is it
warm from the sun compared to the dark soil of Meridiani. The DIMES image
shows a very bright ring around the crater.

Lets hope Opportunity gets there! I am dying to see what those two
parallel bright lines are at the bottom of the crater.

Thanks
Mark

My first thought when I saw that first pictures of the crater on the web site
were "bedrock". After seeing closer pictures of that area, this is still my
belief.

In article ,
says...

"mlm" wrote in message
...
Is there any way into Endurance Crater? I thought I saw a flat space round
the back on the NE side. The near (W) wall is very steep and 6-10m high.
The left flank seems to tail off more gradually.

Also, why is the wall of the crater so bright in IR? Any guesses? Is it
warm from the sun compared to the dark soil of Meridiani. The DIMES image
shows a very bright ring around the crater.

Lets hope Opportunity gets there! I am dying to see what those two
parallel bright lines are at the bottom of the crater.

Thanks
Mark

My first thought when I saw that first pictures of the crater on the web site
were "bedrock". After seeing closer pictures of that area, this is still my
belief.

Yeah -- almost as in an overturned flap of bedrock, sitting sideways
relative to its depositional orientation.

Although I think you have to admit the possibility that the "parallel
bright lines" in the floor of Endurance actually represent the same kind
of structural(*) phenomenah as we see controlling the troughs and lines
of pits on the plains. There is obviously some kind of organizing
"structure" to the rock just below the surface that's controlling the
orientation of those "sinkhole" features (perhaps a series of caves or
other voids caused by the evaporation of the body of water that formed
the plains). It wouldn't be unreasonable to believe that the same rock
unit structure is being manifested in the floor of Endurance -- suitably
altered by the impact that formed the crater, of course.

I'm getting fascinated by the glimpses we're now seeing of the detail of
the walls of Endurance. Yes, we're seeing horizontal bedding, but we're
also seeing almost chaotic linear features in some areas. To borrow a
phrase from the Apollo astronauts, this is going to be spectacular...

(*) - Just to clearly differentiate myself from the "face on Mars" and
"Martian bunny monument" folks, by "structure," I'm speaking of the
natural structuring of the rock unit underlying the Meridiani plains.
I'm not implying any sort of artificial structures...

Doug

Although I think you have to admit the possibility that the "parallel
bright lines" in the floor of Endurance actually represent the same kind
of structural(*) phenomenah as we see controlling the troughs and lines
of pits on the plains. There is obviously some kind of organizing
"structure" to the rock just below the surface that's controlling the
orientation of those "sinkhole" features (perhaps a series of caves or
other voids caused by the evaporation of the body of water that formed
the plains). It wouldn't be unreasonable to believe that the same rock
unit structure is being manifested in the floor of Endurance -- suitably
altered by the impact that formed the crater, of course.

The parellel lines on the floor of the crater are probably dunes.

"newsnet" wrote in news:c6qg7l$euiuj$1@ID-
226998.news.uni-berlin.de:

The parellel lines on the floor of the crater are probably dunes.




Could be, but the fines in Meridiani are very dark so dunes should be
dark, not light. There is stark contrast so I would think the lines are
rock formations of some sort, and quite deep.

Looking at the edge of the crater in this great new image:

http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/gal.../20040428a/15-
SM-08-Endurance-B093R1_br2.jpg

it seems to me that the large unit which makes up the face of the crater
wall is the inside far (eastern) wall of the crater not the near
(western) wall. The bowl shape of the crater seems to resolve itself
better this way when you look at it. Am I seeing things?

This is going to be a very exciting place to look around. Much greater
stratigraphy should be exposed in the walls.

You can see some interesting landslide features and gullies that have
formed as the rim erodes. Bifurcated valleys running down the side and
large boulders at the bottom. I wonder if these are water-influenced
features. They look like they might be.

Lets hope they keep that little beast in good health for a couple more
months!

Mark

(MarsFossils) wrote in
om:

Hi Mark,

I feel the same way you do. It is exciting to watch old Opp move
closer to Endurance every day and the wall of the crater loom larger.

I suspect that there might be a lot of rocky debris appearing as Opp
moves closer to the crater that might hinder getting too close. I
don't have any ideas about the IR. Is there a good image that
illustrates your proposed approach path for Opportunity?

Cheers then,

Michael
Mars Fossils, Pseudofossils and Problematica
http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~weinberg/mars
Come see our six new hallucinogenia!

In this image:

http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/gal.../20040428a/08-
SM-01-OpTraverseMap-B093R1.jpg

look at the 2:00 position in the crater rim. There seems to be an area
of low relief there that the rover could maybe work its way down.

Mark

mlm wrote in message ...
"newsnet" wrote in news:c6qg7l$euiuj$1@ID-
226998.news.uni-berlin.de:

The parellel lines on the floor of the crater are probably dunes.




Could be, but the fines in Meridiani are very dark so dunes should be
dark, not light. There is stark contrast so I would think the lines are
rock formations of some sort, and quite deep.

Looking at the edge of the crater in this great new image:

http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/gal.../20040428a/15-
SM-08-Endurance-B093R1_br2.jpg

it seems to me that the large unit which makes up the face of the crater
wall is the inside far (eastern) wall of the crater not the near
(western) wall.

I think your right mlm,that is the far/inner porition of the crater we
have been seeing and appearing as that light colored bedrock. I had
thought it was on the closest side and the rover could just climb up
the lip and investigate all the different layers but I don't think
this is going to be the case.

The bowl shape of the crater seems to resolve itself
better this way when you look at it. Am I seeing things?

This is going to be a very exciting place to look around. Much greater
stratigraphy should be exposed in the walls.

You can see some interesting landslide features and gullies that have
formed as the rim erodes. Bifurcated valleys running down the side and
large boulders at the bottom. I wonder if these are water-influenced
features. They look like they might be.

Lets hope they keep that little beast in good health for a couple more
months!

Mark

"Doug..." wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...

"mlm" wrote in message
...
Is there any way into Endurance Crater? I thought I saw a flat space round
the back on the NE side. The near (W) wall is very steep and 6-10m high.
The left flank seems to tail off more gradually.

Also, why is the wall of the crater so bright in IR? Any guesses? Is it
warm from the sun compared to the dark soil of Meridiani. The DIMES image
shows a very bright ring around the crater.

Lets hope Opportunity gets there! I am dying to see what those two
parallel bright lines are at the bottom of the crater.

Thanks
Mark

My first thought when I saw that first pictures of the crater on the web site
were "bedrock". After seeing closer pictures of that area, this is still my
belief.

Yeah -- almost as in an overturned flap of bedrock, sitting sideways
relative to its depositional orientation.

Although I think you have to admit the possibility that the "parallel
bright lines" in the floor of Endurance actually represent the same kind
of structural(*) phenomenah as we see controlling the troughs and lines
of pits on the plains. There is obviously some kind of organizing
"structure" to the rock just below the surface that's controlling the
orientation of those "sinkhole" features (perhaps a series of caves or
other voids caused by the evaporation of the body of water that formed
the plains). It wouldn't be unreasonable to believe that the same rock
unit structure is being manifested in the floor of Endurance -- suitably
altered by the impact that formed the crater, of course.

I'm getting fascinated by the glimpses we're now seeing of the detail of
the walls of Endurance. Yes, we're seeing horizontal bedding, but we're
also seeing almost chaotic linear features in some areas. To borrow a
phrase from the Apollo astronauts, this is going to be spectacular...

(*) - Just to clearly differentiate myself from the "face on Mars" and
"Martian bunny monument" folks, by "structure," I'm speaking of the
natural structuring of the rock unit underlying the Meridiani plains.
I'm not implying any sort of artificial structures...

Doug


When I look at the recent photos, I see what appears to be oblique fractures in
the rock on the far side of the crater. Perhaps what some have suggested were
dunes on the floor (I assume they saw these features in an overhead view
provided by one of the orbiters) could also be fractures in the bedrock tracing
across the floor of the crater. Given the impact nature of the structure, this
would be no surprise to me. It will be interesting to see what we find when
Opportunity peers down into the crater for the first time. If there are
fractures on the floor, could they have been enlarged by flowing water some time
after impact? Did the impact occur after the water had dried up, or before?
Hopefully, these questions will be answered soon.

"newsnet" wrote in news:c6qg7l$euiuj$1@ID-
226998.news.uni-berlin.de:

The parellel lines on the floor of the crater are probably dunes.


By George you are abolutely right! Dunes they are, but pretty weird and
psychedelic ones!

Mark

http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/gallery/all
/1/n/095/1N136619354EFF2000P1985L0M1.JPG