rushing off...

I'm in Los Angeles... arrived yesterday afternoon, after a building inspection at home. Hung out in Manhattan Beach, drank coffee and watched the surf and birds while talking on my phone to my sister V and to geekchick. And then met trinker and S. for the first time! Yay! She's much younger than I'd expected, somehow. We had some excellent Indonesian food, the first I'd had in years.

Today... up early after a late-night talk with tenacious_snail (smile). The MEPAG meeting is on lunch break... some new results from the Columbia Hills ascent with Spirit, and the crater descent with Opportunity. Clear stratigraphy. Varves, esp. in lower units. But still no carbonates... lots of sulfites and hematite, reminiscent of Rio Tinto.

I'm going to try to run over now and visit sebab, then back to the meeting a bit late, then home after dinner tonight.

sitting in the MEPAG...

The Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) has been indispensable scientifically... a victory for drilling. ;-) It has spawned a new meaning for the word "ratting"...

Yep, sample return without mobility (or drilling) would be stupid. A quick grab-and-go return mission would have missed everything interesting at the MER sites.

Room is crowded. Lots of familiar faces... including Darlene Lim, who I'll meet again on Devon in three weeks. Very upbeat atmosphere, almost celebratory. No media, the results are all embargoed. Latest rock on Columbia Hills is called "Pot of Gold" (chuckle), lots of nodules.

Findings: direct comms link was little used, MER success depended on relays through orbiters. And having two separate sites surveyed...

"Cannot overemphasize the value of extensive mission ops training prior to landing."

"This mission is run by students and postdocs."

Total lifetime for MER rovers may go to 600 days, if luck and funding permit...

more notes

Rover sequencing... sequence macros have helped... but only 3D targeting info is transferred digitally to the sequence planning team. The rest... verbal, or "on little sticky notes"...