[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rover Update - August 12, 2004

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Aug 12 17:16:30 2004
Message-ID: <200408122116.OAA22824_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Aiming for 'Axel Heiberg' - sol 190-191,
August 12, 2004

Opportunity continues its voyage farther into "Endurance Crater" with a
near-term drive goal of a rock outcrop dubbed "Axel Heiberg," and a
possible later destination at the foot of "Burns Cliff" on the south
side of the crater.

Sol 190 - Opportunity completed a 3.4-meter (about 11-foot) drive
towards Axel Heiberg. The slope was steady at about 17 degrees and
slippage during the drive was about 16 percent, as predicted. The rover
took images for use in planning future drives and made observations with
its miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Controllers employed the
microscopic imager to help with diagnosing the cause of error messages
from that instrument received last week.

Sol 191 - Opportunity successfully drove another 5 meters (about 16.4
feet) closer to Axel Heiberg, leaving about 5 meters (about 16.4 feet)
to go. The drive included a short backup at the end to check for
uphill-drive slippage, which was within acceptable limits. Deep sleep
was used overnight.

The team continues to acquire microscopic imager diagnostic images at
different times of day to see if temperature might be a contributing
factor to the errors seen from that instrument last week. So far, no
more errors have occurred.
Received on Thu 12 Aug 2004 05:16:24 PM PDT