[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rover Update - September 25, 2007

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 08:53:00 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200709271553.IAA13617_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Makes Progress Across "Home Plate" -
sol 1315-1320, September 25, 2007:

Spirit is healthy after finishing a remote sensing campaign at Site 2 on
"Home Plate." The work included collecting long-baseline stereo images
of "Husband Hill," studying a possible fracture in the bedrock, and
conducting reconnaissance looking west, southwest, and south in search
of drive paths and geological information.

On Sol 1315 (Sept. 14, 2007), Spirit began driving toward Site 3, about
30 to 40 meters (100 to 130 feet) away from Site 2 at the southern end
of Home Plate. Scientists wanted to gain elevation for a better view of
the southern part of Home Plate and "Low Ridge." They planned to use
instruments at the end of the rover's robotic arm to document alteration
trends from northwest to southeast across Home Plate and get a better
look at vesicular basalts and potential "Comanche"-class rocks (so named
for rocks examined earlier in the mission while Spirit was crossing
Husband Hill).

Later the same day, after the rover completed the drive, the Odyssey
orbiter went into safe mode, and Spirit stayed put to perform remote
sensing. On sols 1318 and 1319 (Sept. 17-18, 2007), Spirit communicated
directly with Earth via the high-gain antenna, enabling the operations
team to confirm that the rover was still healthy and had successfully
completed the sol 1315 drive. On Wednesday, September 19th, Odyssey
resumed relaying data from Spirit via UHF radio transmissions, clearing
the way for Spirit to continue driving to Site 3.

Sol-by-sol summary

In addition to measuring atmospheric opacity with the panoramic camera,
surveying the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission
spectrometer, and checking for drift (changes with time) in the
miniature thermal emission spectrometer, Spirit completed the following
activities:

Sol 1315 (Sept. 14, 2007): Spirit surveyed a soil target known as
"Broth" and rock targets known as "Vichyssoise" and "Cioppino" with the
miniature thermal emission spectrometer. The rover drove toward Home
Plate Site 3, acquiring images along the way with the hazard avoidance
cameras. After the drive, Spirit took images of the surroundings with
the navigation and panoramic cameras.

Sol 1316: Spirit acquired 8 minutes worth of movie frames in search of
dust devils using the navigation camera. Spirit acquired a panel of
navigation camera images looking to the rear and a mosaic of panoramic
camera images of the fracture. The rover surveyed the external
calibration target with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 1317: Spirit monitored dust accumulation on the rover mast with the
panoramic camera and acquired full-color images of the foreground using
all 13 filters of the panoramic camera. The rover completed a survey of
rock clasts with the panoramic camera. Spirit scanned the foreground
using both the navigation camera and miniature thermal emission
spectrometer. Spirit recalibrated the panoramic camera's measurements of
atmospheric opacity.

Sol 1318: Spirit took thumbnail images of the sky with the panoramic
camera and checked the external calibration target with the miniature
thermal emission spectrometer. The rover spent most of the sol taking
measurements of atmospheric dust.

Sol 1319: Spirit continued to check the external calibration target with
the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and acquired movie frames in
search of dust devils with the navigation camera.

Sol 1320 (Sept. 20, 2007): Spirit took thumbnail images of the sky with
the panoramic camera and monitored dust accumulation on the mast with
the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Odometry:

As of sol 1315 (Sept. 14, 2007), Spirit's total odometry was 7,214
meters (4.48 miles).
Received on Thu 27 Sep 2007 11:53:00 AM PDT