[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Team Sets Low-Power Plan for NASA's Spirit

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:54:30 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200811180054.QAA28950_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20081114a.html

Mars Rover Team Sets Low-Power Plan for NASA's Spirit
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
November 14, 2008

After assessing data received from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
on Thursday, mission controllers laid out plans for the rover to
conserve its modest energy during the next few weeks.

Spirit's solar panels produced 161 watt hours of energy on the Martian
day that ended Thursday, under a sky that had cleared appreciably from
four days earlier, when a dust storm slashed energy output to 89 watt
hours. However, the dust buildup on the panels themselves has worsened.
Only 30 percent of the light hitting them gets through the dust and is
usable by the photovoltaic cells, down from 33 percent before the storm.

"Spirit is not out of the woods yet," said John Callas of NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., project manager for Spirit and
its twin, Opportunity. "The storm and all its dust have not gone away
completely. And this is the time of the Martian year when storms like
this can occur. So the plan ahead is to stay cautious with the rover and
work on recharging the batteries while waiting out the rest of the
storm's activity."

A four-day plan being transmitted to Spirit today, Nov. 14, tells the
rover to keep some heaters turned off and conduct only limited
observations and communications. That plan will be followed by similar
low-power sequences for the rest of the month.

On Nov. 30, Spirit will begin a two-week period with no new commands
sent from Earth, while the sun is between Earth and Mars. Even before
the storm that is now subsiding, the rover team did not plan to drive
Spirit away from its location at the north end of a low platform called
"Home Plate" until after that period of suspended commanding.

###
Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

NEWS RELEASE: 2008-214
Received on Mon 17 Nov 2008 07:54:30 PM PST