While Curiosity stands statue-still on the floor of Gale Crater, staring at its own dust scoop like some bizarre wheeled Weeping Angel, Opportunity continues to rove…and rove… and rove, high up on Cape York, on the eroded edge of the huge Endeavour Crater.
I was going to post a round-up of Oppy’s recent activities, describing how she’s been studying rock outcrops and driving from one interesting feature to another, but instead I’m going to ask you all to head on over to The Planetary Society’s latest MER Update, written by journalist AJS Rayl. No-one, and I mean *no-one*, is covering the ongoing MER mission in as much detail, or with as much love and dedication, as her, and every update is crammed full of news, information and insights. You can find her latest in-depth report here…
Basically, Oppy is being a good practical geologist by driving in a circle around a very interesting and intriguing area of Cape York, an area which might surrender the first ground observations and studies of those all-important phyllosilicate clay bearing minerals. If I read the update correctly, then this is what Oppy has been up to (yellow track), and what she’s going to do in the immediate future (green track)…
Clearly, reading what Steve Squyres has to say in the latest Update, Oppy is going to be here for a good long while yet, so I hope you’re enjoying the view from here everyone, because it’s not going to change anytime soon…
