Apologies for the break in blogging – combination of having to attend courses for work and taking advantage of the very rare British summery sunshine to go camping – but we’re back now, with a lovely image from Oppy. Here, I’ll show you…
I know, I know, that doesn’t look much at first glance, but it actually shows where Oppy has been spending the past two years. That’s a view looking north, back towards Cape York and Nobby’s Head… The two features stand out more clearly if we employ our old faithful trick of stretching the image…
Aaahhh… now you can see them, right? Isn’t that brilliant? Cape York was where Oppy made landfall on the rim of Endeavour crater, back in August 2011. She spent many months roaming and exploring Cape York, driving to and around craters, studying rocks that were catapulted there by impacts far, far away, discovering exposed veins of gypsum (and then running over and destroying them!) before driving back off the Cape and rolling on over to Nobby’s Head. Now she’s fairly steaming towards Solander Point and Cape Tribulation, and more scientific discoveries and wonder await, but like any good explorer, sightseer and tourist she has taken a moment to stop, turn around, and take a photo of where she has already been. I love that about this mission.
This should make it a little clearer if anyone is still confused…
Meanwhile, Oppy has spotted a very strange-looking rocky feature. In this black and white image it looks very crumbly, very eroded, clearly very old…
…but when you look at it in 3D this is obviously a wonderfully ancient thing, shaped and carved and scuplted by the ever shifting winds, temperatures and climates of the Red Planet…
Check back soon for more updates!
The Road To Endeavour 