[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rover Update - September 5, 2006

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Sep 5 19:54:59 2006
Message-ID: <200609052354.QAA03267_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Recovers from Software Reset, Makes Finishing
Touches to Winter Panorama - sol 943-949, September 05, 2006:

Spirit experienced a software reset during the evening overpass of the
Odyssey orbiter on sol 944 (Aug. 29, 2006). The rover was in the process
of receiving command sequences for the following two Martian days, sols
945 and 946 (Aug. 30-31, 2006). As a result of the reset, the rover went
into automode, meaning the rover did not attempt to execute a master
sequence of activities for the day. The apparent cause was that the
rover's central processing unit was overworked as several tasks were
running in parallel at the time. Engineers transmitted a new,
abbreviated plan of activities on sol 946 along with the plan of
activities for sol 947 (Sept. 1, 2006).

Spirit is healthy and continues to make progress on the rover's winter
science campaign. The rover spent part of the week filling in sections
of the rover deck for the "McMurdo panorama." Electrical power from the
rover's solar array has been holding steady at about 280 watt-hours per
sol (a hundred watt-hours is the amount of electricity needed to light
one 100-watt bulb for one hour).

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 943 (Aug. 28, 2006): Spirit acquired sky images with the navigation
camera. The rover scanned the atmosphere for opacity caused by dust and
scanned the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 944: Spirit acquired microscopic images of the soil target known as
"Halley Brunt." Spirit scanned the atmosphere for opacity caused by dust
and scanned the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission
spectrometer.

Sol 945: Spirit experienced a software reset and went into automode,
meaning the rover did not attempt to execute a master sequence of
activities for the day. The apparent cause was that the rover's central
processing unit was overworked.

Sol 946: Spirit remained in automode. Engineers transmitted an
abbreviated plan of activities for the sol along with the plan of
activities for sol 947.

Sol 947: Plans called for Spirit to acquire fill-in images for the
McMurdo panorama and to continue to make daily observations of the sky
and ground with the panoramic camera and the miniature thermal emission
spectrometer.

Sol 948: Plans called for Spirit to acquire Moessbauer data on the soil
target called "Halley Brunt" and to continue to make daily observations
of the sky and ground with the panoramic camera and the miniature
thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 949 (Sept. 3, 2006): Plans called for the rover to acquire fill-in
frames for the McMurdo panorama and to continue to make daily
observations of the sky and ground with the panoramic camera and the
miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Odometry:

As of sol 945 (Aug. 30, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at
6,876.18 meters (4.27 miles).
Received on Tue 05 Sep 2006 07:54:55 PM PDT