The last time we checked in on Oppy she was continuing to make her way north, searching for a place to weather the winter after running over poor Homestake, wheels spinning in the dust like a bank robber making a fast getaway. She has now reached probably the highest point on the north of Cape York, and is surrounded by some fascinating and beautiful scenery. Let’s take a look at where she’s got to…
…and what can she see from there? Well, see for yourself…
If you haven’t done already, PLEASE click on that image to enlarge it, because seriously, Oppy is in a beautiful, beautiful place right now. I’m really pleased with that, the most I’ve been pleased with an image for a long time. But this place looks even more impressive when viewed in ‘false colour’, to bring out the subtle differences in the shapes, shades and hues of the rocks scattered all around..
Oooh, pretty! 🙂
Ok, that’s her view looking south, back down Cape York towards Odyssey Crater, and all those rocks and outcrops at her feet are collectively known as “Turkey Haven”. Why name a place on Mars after a turkey? Well, the Thanksgiving holiday is coming up in America, so the team have named this place after the bird traditionally eaten on Thanksgiving. (I really should have realised that before I emailed Scott asking why they’d called it that! D’oh!)
Looking in the other direction, north, Oppy can see a ridge that has been christened “North Haven” (I think, I’m not 100% sure to be honest, have had other things to do this past few days so lost my bearings a little, sorry!)…
But Turkey Haven looks a lot more interesting, I think, with a lot of very intriguing rocks and material right at Oppy’s wheels. I don’t imagine she’ll do much driving over the Thanksgiving holiday, so this is where we’ll be parked up for a few days folks, enjoy the view!
This is what Turkey Haven looked like as Oppy approached it from the side, a couple of sols ago…
…and here’s what part of it it looks like close-up, in 3D…
There are some more images coming back soon. Hopefully they’ll sjow us, for the first time, that strange “notch” cut out of the very end of Cape York, because that’s intrigued us ever since we saw it for the first time, hasn’t it? Check back later!
The Road To Endeavour 