[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rover Update - May 13-14, 2005

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat May 14 17:48:20 2005
Message-ID: <200505142147.j4ELljO22090_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

sol 456-463, May 13, 2005: Opportunity Mission Manager Report

Opportunity has started moving its wheels again after a couple
weeks of holding still while taking some amazing images. While
waiting for the rover team to finish tests for planning the
best strategy for driving out of a sand trap, Opportunity has
been busy taking a comprehensive color panorama of the area.
On sol 461 (May 11), Opportunity straightened its wheels.
After checking data and images confirming the success of
that move, the team planned commands for beginning to rotate
the wheels on sol 463 (May 13). The rover is healthy and
ready to go.

Sol-by-sol details:

Sol 456 - 460:
The rover's situation, dug into a sand dune, limited in the
amount and type of science possible. While sitting here,
Opportunity has taken the opportunity to take a 360 panorama
of the area called "Rub al Khali," a name meaning the "empty
quarter," from a region of the Arabian Peninsula with that
name. During sol 456, power engineer Eric Wood happily
recognized a cleaning event. Winds removed some dust from
solar panels and Opportunity's daily energy supply increased
to about 650 watt-hours, from a recent range of about 620 to
630 watt-hours.

Sol 461:
Today Opportunity was allowed to position its wheels to
their egress direction. The plan is for the rover to leave
the sand trap with an arc, moving forward and slightly to
the left. The wheels were placed in that position. Before
this sol's steering move, the wheels were in position from
a turn in place that was Opportunity's last attempted move
on sol 446.

Sol 462:
Opportunity is still in restricted sols, and is precluded
from driving today, so the rover spent the day taking some
additional panoramic camera frames of Rub al Khali.

Sol 463 (May 13):
After confirming the new position of the wheels, the team
proceeded with plans for Opportunity to rotate its wheels
about two and a half times on sol 463. Results from that
move will be evaluated before rotating them some more.

-------------------------------------------------------------

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Begins Careful Rollout - sol 464,
May 14, 2005

Opportunity rotated its wheels on sol 463 for the first
time since the rover dug itself into a sand dune more
than two weeks earlier. The wheels made about two and a
half rotations, as commanded, and the results were a good
match for what was expected from tests on Earth. In the
loose footing, the rover advanced 2.8 centimeters (1.1 inch)
forward, 4.8 millimeters (0.19 inch) sideways and 4.6
millimeters (0.18 inch) downward. After further analysis
of the results, the rover team will decide whether to
repeat the same careful movement again on sol 465.
Meanwhile Opportunity's main tasks for sol 464 were
remote-sensing observations.
Received on Sat 14 May 2005 05:47:45 PM PDT