(View featured image, Sol 1381 Panorama full size on flickr)
Ok, yesterday’s “cover tease” post was pretty light on details. I probably could have added some content but I was in a hurry and wanted to post something. It was time.
Anyway, long-time pal and internet funny guy, @dolske guessed that the image was constructed from a series of NASA Opportunity Rover images. Specifically, it was constructed from a panorama captured from Oppy’s cousin, NASA/JPL’s Curiosity Rover‘s Left Mast Camera on Sol 1381 of its ongoing mission. The faint hills in the background were a still from one of the masts on Sol 1666. You can see its progress from Bradbury Landing around Gale Crater up until Sol 1383 here.
While on the opposite side of Mars and at much lower elevation, I think this serves as a fairly reasonable proxy for the landscape around Ascraeus Mons, described in more detail in the upcoming Book 3 of the New Providence Series. Release date set for May 18th, 2017.