[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rover Update - September 22, 2006

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Sep 22 19:16:55 2006
Message-ID: <200609222316.QAA23688_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Activates New Software - sol 964-969,
September 22, 2006:

Following some dramatic scrambling by rover handlers to command both
Mars Exploration Rovers to switch to new flight software during a bit of
a traffic jam at the Red Planet, Spirit successfully woke up and began
operating with the new software. The X-band frequency for communicating
directly with Earth had become unavailable while being used by NASA's
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter during critical events for that mission. As
in the past, engineers were able to use the UHF-band frequency to relay
commands indirectly to the rovers via NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. Time
was of the essence in order to begin running and testing the new
software before solar conjunction in October, when Mars will be on the
opposite side of the sun from Earth and radio communication will be
intermittent for a couple of weeks.

The new software gives the rover enhanced autonomous operational
capabilities to be tested in coming months.

Sol-by-sol summary:

Sol 964 (Sept. 19, 2006): Spirit halted operations temporarily while
awaiting instructions from Earth. Rover handlers originally planned to
have the rover reboot using the new flight software by sending a command
over the X-band uplink. The X-band became unavailable when it was needed
by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The team sent the reboot command via
the UHF-band antenna on the Odyssey orbiter later the same day.

Sol 965: At 11 a.m. local solar time on Mars, Spirit woke up for the
first time running the new flight software, known as version R9.2. Later
the same sol, or Martian day, Spirit ran a series of engineering
sequences to establish operating parameters for data products and imaging.

Sol 966: Spirit set operating parameters for driving and operating the
rover's robotic arm. The rover measured atmospheric dust using the
panoramic camera.

Sol 967: Plans called for Spirit to continue to test the new software.
Science activities remained light as the uplink team waited for both
Spirit and Spirit's twin, Opportunity, on the other side of Mars, to
reboot using the new software.

Sol 968: Plans called for Spirit to return to relatively normal science
operations without moving the robotic arm, while team members awaited
confirmation that the rover had established the correct operating
parameters for the arm. Spirit was to complete 5 hours of analysis of
dust on the rover's capture magnet using the alpha particle X-ray
spectrometer.

Sol 969 (Sept. 24, 2006): Plans called for Spirit to measure surface
reflectivity with the panoramic camera, measure atmospheric dust, and
complete a morning scan of the sky and ground with the miniature thermal
emission spectrometer, followed by similar observations in the
afternoon. Spirit was also instructed to measure sky brightness, check
for changes over time in the panoramic camera, and study a soil target
known as "Tyrone" with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Odometry:

As of sol 965 (Sept. 20, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at
6,876.18 meters (4.27 miles).
Received on Fri 22 Sep 2006 07:16:52 PM PDT