[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rover Update - May 14, 2007

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 15 May 2007 08:27:28 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200705151527.IAA07246_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Continues Studies of Interesting Material Near
'Home Plate' - sol 1186-1192, May 14, 2007:

Spirit is healthy and has finished investigating a patch of churned-up,
white-toned, silica-rich material known as "Gertrude Weise."

Meanwhile, the rover's first attempt to autonomously place the Moessbauer
spectrometer on a target was successful. Spirit backed up over Gertrude
Weise to a spot 2 meters (6.6 feet) beyond it and placed the Moessbauer
spectrometer on the target. Spirit did not immediately follow up with
placement of the microscopic imager on the target to avoid potential
collisions.

Plans called for Spirit to coordinate searching for dust devils on the
ground with overhead scans of terrain by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
on sol 1191 (May 10, 2007). Also on sol 1191, the rover was to combine
searching for dust devils with searching for clouds. This activity was
meant as a stress test, as Spirit has already successfully completed
such searches independently.

Sol-by-sol summary:

In addition to daily observations of atmospheric dust levels with the
panoramic camera and surveys of the sky and ground using the miniature
thermal emission spectrometer, Spirit conducted the following activities:

Sol 1186 (May 5, 2007): Spirit acquired full-color, 13-filter images of
a target called "Kathryn Beare" using the panoramic camera and studied
Kathryn Beare and targets known as "GertrudeWeise2" and "Janice Ohara"
using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 1187: Spirit acquired full-color, 13-filter images of Gertrude
Weise, drove 5 meters (16 feet) to approach the soil target, and
autonomously placed the Moessbauer spectrometer on target. The rover
acquired a 360-degree panorama of the terrain using the navigation
camera and also acquired a mosaic of images using the panoramic camera.

Sol 1188: Spirit took thumbnail images of the sky using the panoramic
camera before spending the afternoon recharging the battery with energy
from the rover's solar array.

Sol 1189: Spirit acquired movies and searched for dust devils using the
navigation camera and touched a surface with the Moessbauer spectrometer.
Spirit then began analysis of a target called "Kenosha Comets,"
collecting microscopic images and placing the alpha-particle X-ray
spectrometer on the target. The rover acquired data from targets known
as "Virginia Bell" and "Nancy Warren" using the miniature thermal
emission spectrometer. After exchanging data with the Odyssey orbiter,
Spirit conducted a 12-hour, overnight analysis of Kenosha Comets using
the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer.

Sol 1190: Spirit began the day acquiring a full-color, 13-filter
panorama of Virginia Bell using the panoramic camera. The rover switched
tools from the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer to the Moessbauer
spectrometer for continued study of Kenosha Comets. The rover acquired
data from a target known as "Thelma Hundeby" before conducting a
23-hour, overnight study of Kenosha Comets with the Moessbauer spectrometer.

Sol 1191: Plans called for Spirit to acquire panoramic-camera movies in
search of dust devils in tandem with overhead scans of terrain by the
High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on the Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter. Plans also called for the rover to search for clouds, study
Gertrude Weise with the Moessbauer spectrometer, and acquire full-color,
13-filter images of a target known as "Muriel Bevis" and of the horizon
with the sun halfway below it.

Sol 1192 (May 11, 2007): Plans called for Spirit to stop the Moessbauer
spectrometer, survey the rover's calibration target and tracks with the
miniature thermal emission spectrometer, conduct a low-sun survey,
analyze Gertrude Weise and another target known as "Elizabeth Mahon"
with the Moessbauer spectrometer, and survey Muriel Bevis using the
miniature thermal emission spectrometer. The rover was to acquire
panoramic camera images of the calibration target and conduct a low-sun
survey of "McCool Hill." The following morning, Spirit was to acquire
thumbnail images of the sky using the panoramic camera and survey a
target known as "Marie Wegman" using the miniature thermal emission
spectrometer.

Odometry:

As of sol 1187 (May 6, 2007), Spirit's total odometry was 7,108.60
meters (4.42 miles).
Received on Tue 15 May 2007 11:27:28 AM PDT