Land Ho!

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Opportunity's horizon rises -- and maybe brings Cape York into view
The Planetary Society Blog By Emily Lakdawalla | Jul. 21, 2011

Opportunity's forward view, sol 2662: first sight of Cape York? In a Pancam image from sol 2662 (July 21, 2011), there is a low hump on the near horizon that could possibly be Cape York -- Opportunity's first sight of her goal on the near rim of Endeavour crater. Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell / Fredk

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<<For miles and miles of Martian terrain, Opportunity's view forward has contained a distinctive line of hills. These are not the hills Opportunity has been aiming for, on the near rim of Endeavour crater. These hills are part of Endeavour, but they are the far rim, 20 kilometers farther away from Opportunity than the near rim. The part of Endeavour's rim that Opportunity is headed for has been eroded nearly flat (making it a good spot for Opportunity to attempt a climb); by contrast, the far-rim peaks rise a couple of hundred meters above the surrounding plains, and something like 600 meters above the deepest part of Endeavour's interior.

But [now] there is enough of the left-eye image on the ground to contain something very exciting: a low hump of pixels that is not on the haze-lightened far horizon, but is instead on the darker near horizon. It was first sighted (among people outside the mission, anyway) by Fredk over at unmannedspaceflight.com. This may quite possibly be Cape York -- Opportunity's first sight of the goal toward which she's been aiming for three years. Less than a kilometer left! Go Opportunity!>>

[Beyond]

Less than a Kilometer left? Why you can almost hear Oppertunity knocking

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Opportunity's forward view, sol 2662: first sight of Cape York?

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The Planetary Society Blog By Emily Lakdawalla
Jul. 21, 2011

Opportunity's horizon rises -
- and maybe brings Cape York into view.

York Barbell revolving statue.

<<York is the 14th largest city in Pennsylvania. During the American Civil War (1861–1865), York became the largest Northern town to be occupied by the Confederate army when the division of Major General Jubal Anderson Early spent June 28–30, 1863, in and around the town while the brigade of John B. Gordon marched to the Susquehanna River at Wrightsville and back. Early laid York under tribute and collected food, supplies, clothing, shoes, and $28,000 in cash from citizens and merchants before departing westward obeying the revised orders of Robert E. Lee.

In the Postbellum era (1865–1877), York remained a regional center for local agriculture, but increasingly became an important industrial center, with such industries as steam engines, railroad manufacturing, and papermaking coming to the forefront.

The city of York has a single professional sports team, the York Revolution, which plays in the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The Revolution are named after the city's colonial past, when the Continental Congress met in York and passed the Articles of Confederation during the Revolutionary War. The Revolution play at Sovereign Bank Stadium which has the distinction of having the tallest wall in baseball. At 37 feet, 8 inches, the left field wall of York's ballpark surpasses the height of the Green Monster at Fenway Park.

The people of York (the White Rose City) and the similar city of Lancaster (the Red Rose City) across the Susquehanna River often engage in rivalry and competition that has its roots in the Wars of the Roses. Both cities take their names from the English cities, York and Lancaster, from which the opposing royal houses took their names in the 15th century wars. The War of the Roses All-Star Game is played in York every year over the weekend of Thanksgiving. The game pits the best high school football players in their senior seasons from the York-Adams League against a similar team from the Lancaster-Lebanon League.>>

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Click to play embedded YouTube video.

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Spirit Point and Odyssey crater in sight, and new rock under Opportunity's wheels
The Planetary Society Blog By Emily Lakdawalla | Aug. 7, 2011

Odyssey Crater, Cape York, and western Endeavour rim, sol 2678 (3D anaglyph) Credit: NASA / JPL / anaglyph by Michael Howard

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Mineral map of Endeavour's nearest rim
Credit: NASA / JPL / UA / JHUAPL

<<Opportunity is at her goal. In this 3D anaglyph, taken on sol 2678 (yesterday, August 6, 2011), Opportunity's wheels are resting on strange lumpy bedrock. The view to the left is the blocky ejecta of Odyssey crater, the name the team has given to the small (20-meter or so) crater punched in to the southern tip of Cape York, the lowest part of the exposed western rim of Endeavour crater. I don't know that Opportunity's ever seen driving terrain quite like this, but of course Spirit saw worse, so hopefully that experience will serve the team in good stead as they approach those long-sought layered rocks of Endeavour's rim. That view is fantastic. You can easily see the separation between the brighter Cape York rim material and the plains that Opportunity's driving on. You can see the drop down and down toward the floor of Endeavour, and the fact that Endeavour has a central mound. You can see the rim of Endeavour arcing into the distance, and the rim of Iazu beyond that. And Opportunity's views are somewhat hazy right now because of the time of year -- it's dust storm season -- so even if she goes no farther, the views are likely to improve with time. Unfortunately, if CRISM data is any guide (and it should be, since CRISM data is what dragged Opportunity 20 kilometers across Meridiani), the clay minerals that the rover team really wants to see aren't likely to be found in exactly that spot; they're going to have to crawl uphill to reach the strongest signal.

CRISM spectral maps of the bit of Endeavour's rim
nearest to Opportunity show smectite (red) associated with the upraised rim rocks and hydrated sulfate minerals (blue) associated with the lower-elevation sedimentary fill. The image is about 1 kilometer wide.>>