Looking back on La Bajada

Looking back on La Bajada
Looking back on La Bajada Opportunity left La Bajada on Nov. 12, 2017, heading northeast to a rock the team named Durango. Along the way, the ‘bot looked back, taking images that would allow MER Deputy P.I. Ray Arvidson, working with the rover engineers, to sort out all the tracks and “stumbling blocks” that the rover ran into and which caused the rover’s wheelies in October. The ultimate objective, said Rover Planner Paolo Bellutta, is to “try and refine a numerical model to precisely simulate Opportunity’s performance.” NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell University / Arizona State University