Dingo Gap

[neufer]

[b][size=200][color=#0000FF]Dingo Gap[/color][/size][/b]

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Curiosity images "Dingo Gap" sols 519-521
By Emily Lakdawalla, Planetary Society, 2014/01/24

UPDATE Jan. 24: Contrary to what I wrote earlier,
Curiosity is now going to drive toward this gap.

<<Over the last few days, Curiosity made steady driving progress to the southwest. For several of those days, an intriguing feature has appeared on the horizon in her images.

I asked deputy project scientist Ashwin Vasavada about this feature, and he told me that the images were taken because they were scoping the gap out as a possible westward route for the rover. It wasn't clear from the orbital images whether there was firm ground to the south (left) side of the sand drift that the rover could drive on in order to pass through the gate, so they took Navcam and Mastcam images of it to determine whether it was a safe route. But "it doesn't look too promising," he told me. Both the drift and the rocks beyond it pose potential problems. They're wary of sand drifts because of Opportunity's past problems with drifts, and they're wary of the large outcrops of rock that seem to close in on the level path through that gap, beyond the drift; they can't tell from orbit or from the ground if there's a safe route among them.

So they won't drive that way; they'll skirt around it to the south. But the reconnaissance and decision process has given us some pretty views of local terrain!

UPDATE Jan 24: It turns out that the team changed their collective mind about the relative safety of the terrain beyond the gap a few hours after I wrote this. The plan now is to drive the rover toward this feature, which has now been named "Dingo Gap." Here are more details, from Ken Herkenhoff: Late yesterday, the strategic drive team decided that it would be best to head west, through the chute, because the terrain beyond appears safer for driving.

Incidentally, these highlands and that drift are smaller than they look. The orbital view tells us that the rover was about 80 meters from the drift when she took the sol 519 photos. Mastcam images are 15 degrees tall in their 1200 pixels; the drift subtends 35 or 40 pixels. Do the math and you find that the drift is about 60 or 70 centimeters tall. If they had driven Curiosity through the gate, her mast would have periscoped above the headlands. She'll be encountering much, much more dramatic topography than this in the mission ahead.>>

[BDanielMayfield]

Here on Earth we have a saying, "Don't make a mountain out a molehill." But since there are no moles on Mars I don't know if this applies in this case.

Head for the gap, and punch it!

[neufer]

[b][color=#0000FF]Dingo Gap, Curiosity on January 25, 2014 (NASA / JPL / Emily Lakdawalla)[/color][/b]

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Mars Science Laboratory Mission Status Report
January 29, 2014

<<The team operating NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is considering a path across a small sand dune to reach a favorable route to science destinations. A favorable route would skirt some terrain with sharp rocks considered more likely to poke holes in the rover's aluminum wheels.

...

A dune about 1 meter high spans the gap between two scarps that might be a gateway to a southwestward route over relatively smooth ground. Curiosity is approaching the site, "Dingo Gap," from the southeast. The team is using images from the rover to assess whether to cross the dune. "The decision hasn't been made yet, but it is prudent to go check," said Jim Erickson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., project manager for Curiosity. "We'll take a peek over the dune into the valley immediately to the west to see whether the terrain looks as good as the analysis of orbital images implies.">>