[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rover Update - August 6, 2004

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Aug 9 11:38:34 2004
Message-ID: <200408091531.IAA04381_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status.html

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: "Tuktoyuktuk's" Turn - sol 186-187, August 06, 2004

The rock abrasion tool has been keeping busy at Opportunity's position
about 22 meters (72 feet) inside of "Endurance Crater" while rover
handlers are preparing for Opportunity's next traverse.

Sol Highlights:

186 - After a night of deep sleep, Opportunity started the sol with
imaging of the sky in search of clouds and using its miniature thermal
emission spectrometer for observations of the sky and ground. In the
afternoon, the rover took microscopic images of a target called
"Tuktoyuktuk," then used its rock abrasion tool to gnaw a hole 7.7
millimeters (0.3 inch) deep into that target. The robotic arm moved the
alpha particle X-ray spectrometer into position for reading of the
composition of the freshly exposed interior of the rock.

187 - Opportunity woke for an early morning Mars Odyssey communications
relay session. After that, the rover started the alpha particle X-ray
spectrometer reading, which lasted until 9:00 a.m. local solar time.
Opportunity then took a long nap as the uplink command window was
delayed until 1:00 p.m. local solar time due to launch of NASAs
Messenger mission to Mercury. In the afternoon, Opportunity rotated its
tool turret from the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer to the M?ssbauer
spectrometer and acquired a 7-hour M?ssbauer reading before beginning
deep sleep.

The rover team is addressing some concerns about rover slippage and
about error messages from the microscopic imager. An uphill driving test
is planned for sol 188 to gain better understanding of a 40-percent slip
observed in a repositioning maneuver on sol 185. This will aid planning
for a potential drive clockwise across the inner slope of the crater
toward rocks called the "Arctic Islands" and the base of "Burns Cliff."
Diagnostic work is also planned for sol 188 about the error messages
generated during use of the microscopic imager.
Received on Mon 09 Aug 2004 11:31:51 AM PDT