[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rover Update - May 26, 2006

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue May 30 00:09:56 2006
Message-ID: <200605300004.RAA20416_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Continues Studies of Martian "Winter Haven" -
sol 847-854, May 26, 2006:

Spirit continued to collect images for the 360-degree panorama, now
under construction, of the rover's "Winter Haven" on Mars. Rover
planners anticipated that by the end of the Memorial Day weekend, Spirit
would complete 15 of the 27 columns for the final product. Spirit also
continued scientific studies of the soil target called "Progress" after
brushing away about 6 millimeters (a quarter of an inch) of soil to
reveal a second layer, dubbed "Progress 2." Rover team members prepared
commands for the next round of scientific measurements, to include a
49.5-hour study divided over three Martian days, or sols, using the
Moessbauer spectrometer.

Five of seven opportunities to transmit signals to Mars at
higher-frequency X-band wavelengths were needed for higher-priority
communications in support of aerobraking activities of NASA's Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter, so engineers continued sending commands to
Spirit via the UHF link on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 847 (May 21, 2006): Spirit acquired a one-by-three mosaic for column
14 of the "McMurdo Panorama" and studied Progress 2 with the alpha
particle X-ray spectrometer.

Sols 849 to 851: In the absence of an uplink for new commands, Spirit
executed the master sequence from sol 848. Spirit continued downlinking
data to Earth and charged the battery.

Sol 852: Plans called for Spirit to place the Moessbauer spectrometer on
Progress 2 and start overnight collection and integration of data.

Sol 853: Plans called for Spirit to re-start analysis with the Moessbauer
spectrometer for 3.5 hours, acquire all three frames of column 15 of the
McMurdo panorama, and make targeted observations with the miniature
thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 854 (May 29, 2006): Plans called for an overnight study of Progress
2 with the Moessbauer spectrometer.

Odometry:

As of sol 850 (May 25, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at
6,876.18 meters (4.27 miles).
Received on Mon 29 May 2006 08:04:14 PM PDT