[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rover Update - July 21, 2006

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Jul 21 15:58:11 2006
Message-ID: <200607211955.MAA27035_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Clears Away Dust, Gets New Software Upgrade - sol
904-907, July 21, 2006:

Beginning July 22, 2006, in the early hours of the rover's 907th Martian
day, Spirit is scheduled to begin knitting together and testing all 200
pieces of a new flight software package transmitted to the rover in
recent weeks. Spirit remains healthy despite experiencing lower amounts
of solar energy during the Martian winter.

The deepest part of the Martian winter - that is, the Martian winter
solstice - will be on Aug. 8, 2006. The lowest amount of solar energy
the rover is expected to receive is 275 watt-hours per sol (a hundred
watt-hours is the amount of electricity needed to light one 100-watt
bulb for one hour). The rover typically spends at least one sol
recharging the batteries following each sol of heavy science activities.

During sols 904 through 907, Spirit continued work on the "McMurdo
panorama," examined rock target "Halley Brunt" with the microscopic
imager, and took atmospheric measurements with the miniature thermal
emission spectrometer.

Spirit also completed a test of the rock abrasion tool. Rover handlers
ran the grind motor on the rock abrasion tool backward three times to
remove a clod of dust that was thought to be interfering with the
operation of the device. After running the motor backward for three
seconds at three different voltages -- 5 volts, 8 volts, and 10 volts --
engineers concluded that the tool was operating normally and that it
either never had a problem or dislodged whatever was stuck beneath the bit.

Sol-by-sol summary:

Sol 904 (July 19, 2006): Spirit monitored atmospheric dust with the
panoramic camera and acquired a mosaic of microscopic images of a rock
and soil target known as "Halley Brunt Offset1." The rover ran the rock
abrasion tool backward to remove dust. In preparation for traversing and
collecting data from a laminated patch of soil known as "Palmer," the
rover suspended the Moessbauer spectrometer above the target and
documented the position of the instrument with the hazard avoidance
cameras. Spirit continued to make progress on the McMurdo mosaic,
acquiring one frame of column 24.

Sol 905: Spirit monitored atmospheric dust with the panoramic camera,
acquired another frame of column 24 of the McMurdo panorama, checked for
drift (changes with time) in the pointing of the miniature thermal
emission spectrometer, and surveyed the sky and ground with the
miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 906: Commands for uplink on sol 906 call for Spirit to monitor
atmospheric dust with the panoramic camera. The plan also includes
Spirit's task for the morning of sol 907, before that morning's uplink.
This task is for Spirit to build the rover's new flight software
package, a process that entails assembling, validating, and saving many
thousands of lines of computer code sent from Earth in small packages
during the past few weeks.

Sol 907 (July 22, 2006): Plans called for Spirit to monitor atmospheric
dust with the panoramic camera and check for drift (changes with time)
in the pointing of the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Spirit
was also scheduled to conduct surveys of the sky and ground with the
miniature thermal emission spectrometer and acquire the first frame of
column 25 of the McMurdo pan.

Odometry

As of sol 904 (July 19, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at
6,876.18 meters (4.27 miles).
Received on Fri 21 Jul 2006 03:55:38 PM PDT