Corona Del Mars LbNA #8841 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | California Bear  |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Jun 24, 2004 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Corona Del Mar |
| County: | Orange |
| State: | California |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Found by: | Island Foxes |
|---|---|
| Last found: | May 30, 2008 |
| Status: | aFFFFFOFFFFFFFFFFFFa |
| Last edited: | Jun 24, 2004 |
On January25, 2004, NASA landed the Opportunity Rover on the planet Mars to examine the planet for signs of water and life.
The original mission was scheduled to be 90 days. Due to the fantastic performance of the rover (and its twin, Spirit), the mission was extended allowing the rovers to drive around looking at interesting features in the landing area.
One of the spots that really interested scientists was a crater near Opportunity that was deeper than any they had examined yet on Mars. After taking a peek inside and seeing exposed rock that was different than any of the other rock seen so far, a decision was made to see if Opportunity could make it down into the crater safely.
To do this, the scientists at JPL in Pasadena conducted an extensive search using computers and satellite data to find a slope here on Earth that was equivalent to the slope of the crater on Mars. The perfect slope was found not too far (compared to the distance to Mars) from the JPL facilities in Pasadena.
JPL had created a duplicate of the twin rovers to use for testing and troubleshooting here on Earth. They loaded up the duplicate and drove it to the slope to test performance of the rover vehicle under the conditions that Opportunity was likely to encounter.
After testing the duplicate on the slope, a decision was made to send Opportunity into the crater. The JPL scientists left the duplicate rover at the slope in case they needed to do more testing or troubleshooting in case Opportunity got stuck or slid down. Since the original rovers were built for Mars, which is much colder than Earth, the scientists had to park the rover under the trees to avoid damaging it with the blazing California sun.
If you would like to see the Rover, you can find it at Begonia Park in Corona Del Mar. The park is at the corner of Begonia and First.
Park your car along Begonia then find the park bench that is dedicated to Jules and Jane Marine. This is the spot from where the scientists remotely piloted the rover up and down the slope. If you look down the slope, you can see the dirt paths that the rover took during testing. To get to the rover?s resting place, look along the edge of the road to find the Bird of Paradise plants.
Walk along the edge of the road (watch for cars) counting the large Bird of Paradise plants. Between the 4th and 5th, you will see the main route the rover took down the slope. Follow the path down about half-way down the slope. You will see a dirt path leading under the trees. Head under the tree.
Once under the tree, go over or under the upslope branch to find a plastic grey pipe. The pipe points up the hill toward another tree. The rover is parked under the tree between the trunks and is covered with leaves to keep it cool.
An alternative route to the rover's parking place is to start from the westernmost playground on the lower level of the park and scramble up the slope to the grey pipe but the slope is pretty steep at the point and it is more likely you will be observed going up the hill from the playground.
PS: The story about NASA testing is not true. I just made that up to explain a Mars Rover stamp here. :)
Update 2/17/2006 - The city brought in the tree crews so there is a lot less tree cover on the hillside. The positive of this is that it is easier to get to. The negative is that you are a lot more visible on the slope.
Difficulty rating: 2 - Average
Terrain rating: 3.5 - Steep slope and movement through thick tree cover.
The original mission was scheduled to be 90 days. Due to the fantastic performance of the rover (and its twin, Spirit), the mission was extended allowing the rovers to drive around looking at interesting features in the landing area.
One of the spots that really interested scientists was a crater near Opportunity that was deeper than any they had examined yet on Mars. After taking a peek inside and seeing exposed rock that was different than any of the other rock seen so far, a decision was made to see if Opportunity could make it down into the crater safely.
To do this, the scientists at JPL in Pasadena conducted an extensive search using computers and satellite data to find a slope here on Earth that was equivalent to the slope of the crater on Mars. The perfect slope was found not too far (compared to the distance to Mars) from the JPL facilities in Pasadena.
JPL had created a duplicate of the twin rovers to use for testing and troubleshooting here on Earth. They loaded up the duplicate and drove it to the slope to test performance of the rover vehicle under the conditions that Opportunity was likely to encounter.
After testing the duplicate on the slope, a decision was made to send Opportunity into the crater. The JPL scientists left the duplicate rover at the slope in case they needed to do more testing or troubleshooting in case Opportunity got stuck or slid down. Since the original rovers were built for Mars, which is much colder than Earth, the scientists had to park the rover under the trees to avoid damaging it with the blazing California sun.
If you would like to see the Rover, you can find it at Begonia Park in Corona Del Mar. The park is at the corner of Begonia and First.
Park your car along Begonia then find the park bench that is dedicated to Jules and Jane Marine. This is the spot from where the scientists remotely piloted the rover up and down the slope. If you look down the slope, you can see the dirt paths that the rover took during testing. To get to the rover?s resting place, look along the edge of the road to find the Bird of Paradise plants.
Walk along the edge of the road (watch for cars) counting the large Bird of Paradise plants. Between the 4th and 5th, you will see the main route the rover took down the slope. Follow the path down about half-way down the slope. You will see a dirt path leading under the trees. Head under the tree.
Once under the tree, go over or under the upslope branch to find a plastic grey pipe. The pipe points up the hill toward another tree. The rover is parked under the tree between the trunks and is covered with leaves to keep it cool.
An alternative route to the rover's parking place is to start from the westernmost playground on the lower level of the park and scramble up the slope to the grey pipe but the slope is pretty steep at the point and it is more likely you will be observed going up the hill from the playground.
PS: The story about NASA testing is not true. I just made that up to explain a Mars Rover stamp here. :)
Update 2/17/2006 - The city brought in the tree crews so there is a lot less tree cover on the hillside. The positive of this is that it is easier to get to. The negative is that you are a lot more visible on the slope.
Difficulty rating: 2 - Average
Terrain rating: 3.5 - Steep slope and movement through thick tree cover.