[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rovers Update: September 25 - October 3, 2008

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2008 11:19:26 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200810071819.LAA04352_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit and Earth Stick Together - sol 1685-1689,
September 28 - October 03, 2008:

Spirit is poised to begin making more "phone calls" to Earth and
engineers are preparing to contact Spirit more frequently as a result of
improving solar power input on Mars. Though Spirit's energy levels are
still low, they are improving significantly as Martian winter gradually
fades into spring. The rover will use some of the energy to let
engineers and scientists know how things are going on Mars.

Spirit stays in touch by transmitting data at UHF frequencies to NASA's
Odyssey orbiter. Odyssey sends it to Earth. On the other end of the
line, engineers send new activity plans to Spirit using X-band
transmissions from Earth that go directly to the rover's dish antenna.
More frequent communication allows greater operational flexibility as
the rover gradually returns to a normal planning schedule and prepares
to drive again in mid- to late October.

Spirit's first post-winter drive will be short, just far enough to
adjust the rover's position so its solar panels remain tilted toward the
Sun as it moves higher in the sky. The goal is to have Spirit in the
best possible position before solar conjunction -- the time of year when
the Sun passes between Mars and Earth and temporarily prohibits
communication.

Meanwhile, Spirit has been working hard to complete the full-color
"Bonestell panorama" of the rover's winter surroundings. After a long
hiatus caused by power limitations, Spirit resumed making measurements
of argon gas in the Martian atmosphere.

Spirit is healthy, with all subsystems performing as expected as of sol
1686 (Sept. 30, 2008). Solar-array energy increased to 262 watt-hours
(100 watt-hours is the amount of energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb
for one hour). Skies remained clear, with tau, a measure of the amount
of sunlight blocked by atmospheric dust, at 0.134. Historically, dust
levels at this time of year have been higher. Rover operators are
keeping close tabs on atmospheric dust because of its potential impact
on the rover's power state.

Sol-by-sol summary

Spirit completed the following activities:

Sol 1685 (Sept. 28, 2008): Spirit listened for communications from Earth
with the rover's low-gain antenna, checked for drift -- changes with
time -- in the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, surveyed the sky
and ground with the instrument, and measured atmospheric opacity caused
by dust (tau) with the panoramic camera. Spirit monitored dust
accumulation on the panoramic-camera mast assembly and acquired column
22, part 2, and column 24, part 2 of the so-called "Bonestell panorama,"
a full-color, 360-degree view of the rover's winter surroundings,
created with all 13 color filters of the panoramic camera.

Sol 1686: Spirit received new instructions from Earth at X-band
frequencies sent to the rover's high-gain antenna and spent three hours
measuring argon gas in the Martian atmosphere with the alpha-particle
X-ray spectrometer. Spirit relayed data to NASA's Odyssey orbiter to be
transmitted to Earth.

Sol 1687: Spirit measured dust-related changes in atmospheric darkness
with the panoramic camera and acquired column 23, part 2 and column 25,
part 2 of the Bonestell panorama.

Sol 1688: Spirit checked for drift in the miniature thermal emission
spectrometer, surveyed the sky and ground with the instrument, and
measured atmospheric opacity caused by dust with the panoramic camera.
Spirit acquired column 27, part 2 and column 26, part 2 of the Bonestell
panorama. The rover supplemented panoramic-camera measurements of
atmospheric dust with measurements from the navigation camera and
acquired a four-frame movie in search of clouds with the navigation camera.

Sol 1689 (Oct. 3, 2008): Plans called for Spirit to measure dust-related
changes in atmospheric darkness with the panoramic camera and acquire
column 19, part 3 and column 21, part 3 of the Bonestell panorama. The
rover was to assess atmospheric dust levels with the navigation camera
and produce a four-frame, time-lapse movie of potential clouds passing
overhead.

Odometry:

As of sol 1686 (Sept. 30, 2008), Spirit's total odometry remained at
7,528.0 meters (4.7 miles).

------------------------------------------------------------------------

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Takes a Victory Lap - sol 1661-1668,
September 25-30, 2008:

A journey of 7.5 miles began with a partial victory lap around "Victoria
Crater," as Opportunity headed south toward enormous "Endeavour Crater."
Partway around the circuit, Opportunity passed the 7.5-mile mark of the
mission. In metric terms, the rover began a 12,000-meter, cross-country
trek by ending a similar 12,000-meter journey across uncharted terrain
and in and out of craters.

Opportunity also chalked up the second-longest drive of the mission on
sol 1663 (Sept. 27, 2008), advancing 153 meters (500 feet). Three days
later, Opportunity drove another 129 meters (423 feet), on sol 1666
(Sept. 30, 2008).

Along the way, the rover took advantage of opportunities to explore rock
layers and other features visible from the rim of Victoria Crater. The
first drive of the trek on Martian day, or sol, 1661 (Sept. 25, 2008)
included a drive-by photo shoot with the camera pointed at a small
crater known as "Sputnik Crater" on the edge of Victoria. That drive
covered 27 meters (89 feet).

Drive performance has been excellent, with very little wheel slippage on
this terrain. As a result, Opportunity is now in position to approach
Victoria Crater again. This time, the rover's itinerary will take it
onto a promontory called "Cape Victory" for a photo shoot of rock layers
visible in a neighboring promontory known as "Cape Pillar."

On its journey to the southeast, Opportunity will have route-planning
assistance from super high-resolution images taken by the Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter. Rover operators will use the images, which
reveal details as small as individual boulders, to plot the safest path.

Opportunity remains healthy, with all subsystems performing as expected
as of Martian day, or sol, 1666 (Sept. 30, 2008). Power continues to
improve, with sunlight generating 654 watt-hours of solar energy --
enough to light a 100-watt bulb for 6.5 hours (100 watt-hours is the
amount of energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb for one hour.)

Sol-by-sol summary:

Besides measuring daily, dust-related changes in atmospheric clarity
with the panoramic camera, Opportunity completed the following activities:

Sol 1661 (Sept. 25, 2008): Midway through the sol's drive, Opportunity
acquired a 3-by-1 panel of images of Sputnik using the navigation
camera. The rover acquired a 2-by-1 panel of forward-looking images with
the navigation camera. Before relaying data to NASA's Odyssey orbiter
for transmission to Earth, Opportunity took several tiers of post-drive
images, including a 4-by-1 tier with the panoramic camera as well as
3-by-1 and 7-by-1 tiers with the navigation camera.

Sol 1662: In the morning, Opportunity took thumbnail images of the sky
for calibration purposes with the panoramic camera. After sending data
to Odyssey, Opportunity measured argon gas in the Martian atmosphere
using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer.

Sol 1663: Opportunity searched for morning clouds by acquiring six,
freeze-frame images to be stitched together into a movie. Before the
day's drive, Opportunity acquired a 3-by-1 mosaic of images of Sputnik,
an image of another small crater nicknamed "Gauss," and a ripple profile
with the panoramic camera. Opportunity made the second-longest,
single-day drive of the mission, traveling a distance of 152 meters (449
feet). The rover acquired rearward-looking images of the ground near its
wheels with the hazard-avoidance cameras and relayed data to Odyssey.

Sol 1664: Opportunity searched for morning clouds by acquiring six movie
frames with the navigation camera. The rover acquired a 2-by-1 panel of
forward-looking images with the navigation camera. After driving another
129 meters (423 feet), Opportunity acquired a 3-by-1 tier of
navigation-camera images and a 7-by-1 and 6-by-1 tier of
panoramic-camera images. Using all 13 color filters of the panoramic
camera, Opportunity completed a systematic survey and took images of the
external magnets. After sending data to Odyssey, the rover measured
atmospheric argon.

Sol 1665: In the morning, Opportunity took spot images of the sky for
calibration purposes with the panoramic camera. The rover surveyed the
sky at high Sun and also measured albedo -- surface brightness -- with
the panoramic camera. After relaying data to Odyssey, Opportunity
measured argon gas in the atmosphere with the alpha-particle X-ray
spectrometer.

Sol 1666 (Sept. 30, 2008): Opportunity took morning thumbnail images of
the sky for calibration purposes with the panoramic camera. In
conjunction with the day's drive, the rover took a 2-by-1 panel of
forward-looking images with the navigation camera. Opportunity acquired
a 3-by-1 and a 7-by-1 post-drive tier of images with the navigation
camera as well as a 4-by-1 panel of images with the panoramic camera.
After sending data to Odyssey, Opportunity measured atmospheric argon.
Plans for the following day called for the rover to take spot images of
the sky with the panoramic camera, monitor dust accumulation on the
rover mast, and acquire a six-frame movie in search of Martian clouds.

Odometry:

As of sol 1666 (Sept. 30, 2008), Opportunity's total odometry was
12,188.15 meters (7.53 miles).
Received on Tue 07 Oct 2008 02:19:26 PM PDT