[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rovers Update - January 15-22, 2009

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 16:30:55 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200902100030.QAA17843_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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

SPIRIT UPDATE: On the Move - sol 1791-1797, January 15 - January 22, 2009:

Communication problems during the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday led to
the postponement of a drive planned for sol 1791 (Jan. 15, 2009) to sol
1793 (Jan. 17, 2009). Once the drive began, however, Spirit was able to
go ahead with characterization of a rock target known as "Stapledon."
Studies began with a stack of microscopic images taken at different
focal lengths, then moved to compositional analysis using the
alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer. On sol 1797 (Jan. 22, 2009), Spirit
was to drive toward a prospective "on-ramp" to Home Plate, but a portion
of the commands was corrupted during transmission and rejected by the
rover. That particular drive is now planned for sol 1798 (Jan. 23,
2009). Also on sol 1797 Spirit was slated to take a deep sleep for the
first time, as part of overall attempts to minimize power usage when not
driving.

Future plans call for Spirit to drive south across Home Plate toward
Goddard/Von Braun with all haste in order to reach the next "Winter
Haven" before the end of the summer season.

Spirit is healthy and all subsystems are performing as expected as of
the downlink of information from Mars for sol 1797 (Jan. 22, 2009).
Solar-array energy is around 199 watt-hours (almost enough energy to
light a 100-watt bulb for two hours). Tau (a measure of the amount of
sunlight blocked by dust in the atmosphere) dropped to 0.536, slightly
lower than last week. The dust factor, a measure of the amount of
sunlight penetrating dust on the solar panels, is 0.2461, meaning that
only about one-fourth of the sunlight reaching Spirit's solar arrays
penetrates the layer of dust to generate electricity.

Sol-by-sol summary

In addition to making daily measurements of atmospheric darkness caused
by dust, Spirit completed the following activities:

Sol 1791 (Jan. 15, 2009): Spirit completed a timed drive. At the end of
the drive, Spirit took images with the hazard-avoidance and navigation
cameras.

Sol 1792: Spirit took lossless-compression, full-color images, using all
13 filters of the panoramic camera, of a patch of material exposed in
the wheel tracks called "Thunderbolt."

Sol 1793: Spirit completed another timed drive, acquired
hazard-avoidance camera images, and took a post-drive, 5-x-1 tier of
navigation-camera images.

Sol 1794: Spirit acquired full-color, lossless-compression images, using
all 13 filters of the panoramic camera, of Thunderbolt.

Sol 1795: Spirit acquired a 3-by-1 tier of panoramic-camera images
looking in the drive direction.

Sol 1796: Spirit checked for drift (changes with time) in the miniature
thermal emission spectrometer, used the instrument to study the target
called Robert Heinlein, unstowed the robotic arm, and acquired a
1-by-1-by-5 stack of stereo (3D) microscopic images of Stapledon. The
rover placed the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer on the target and,
after relaying data to Odyssey, measured the elemental composition of
Stapledon with the instrument.

Sol 1797: Spirit was slated to check for drift (changes with time) in
the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, use the instrument to study
the target called Robert Heinlein, stow the robotic arm, and drive,
stopping mid-drive to take panoramic-camera images of Stapledon. At the
end of the drive, the rover was to take images with the hazard-avoidance
and navigation cameras. These events were rescheduled when a corrupted
command sequence prevented them from taking place.

Sol 1798: Plans called for Spirit to take panoramic-camera images of a
rock feature called "Mustang" along with spot images of the sky for
calibration purposes.

Odometry

As of sol 1797 (Jan. 22, 2009), Spirit's total odometry was 7,531.60
meters (4.68 miles).

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

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Happy Anniversary! - sol 1770-1776, January 15-21,
2009:

Happy anniversary to both Spirit and Opportunity for completing five
Earth-years exploring the surface of Mars!

Opportunity's goal this past week has been to put the pedal to the metal
and acquire drive-by images of a crater dubbed "Ranger Crater."

Preliminary results from last week's shake of the mirror on the
miniature thermal emission spectrometer on sol 1771 (Jan. 16, 2009)
indicated that no dust was removed as engineers had hoped.

Opportunity is healthy, and all subsystems are performing as expected as
of the downlink of information on sol 1776 (Jan. 21, 2009). Solar energy
levels are at 613 watt-hours (slightly more than the amount of energy
needed to light a 100-watt bulb for six hours). Tau, a measure of
sunlight-blocking dust in the atmosphere, is 0.455. The dust factor, a
measure of the proportion of sunlight penetrating dust on the solar
arrays, is 0.6196.

Sol-by-sol summary

In addition to monitoring daily dust-related changes in atmospheric
clarity with the panoramic camera and relaying data to NASA's Mars
Odyssey orbiter for transmission to Earth, Opportunity completed the
following activities:

Sol 1770 (Jan. 15, 2009): Opportunity drove and acquired image mosaics
with the navigation and panoramic cameras. The rover measured argon gas
in the Martian atmosphere using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer
and went into a mini-deep sleep.

Sol 1771: Opportunity completed a systematic foreground quarter survey
using all 13 color filters of the panoramic camera. The rover checked
for drift (changes with time) in the miniature thermal emission
spectrometer, conducted a utility test of the instrument, and completed
a post-shake test calibration by looking at the ground and sky.
Opportunity measured argon gas in the Martian atmosphere using the
alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and went into a mini-deep sleep.

Sol 1772: Opportunity surveyed the sky at low Sun with the panoramic
camera and, after relaying data to Odyssey, measured argon gas in the
Martian atmosphere using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer. The
rover went into a mini-deep sleep.

Sol 1773: Opportunity took morning, thumbnail images of the sky with the
panoramic camera and full-color images, using all 13 filters of the
panoramic camera, of a target dubbed "Thassos." The rover acquired a
6-by-1 panel of images of pavement textures using the panoramic camera.
After measuring argon gas in the Martian atmosphere using the
alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer, Opportunity went into a mini-deep sleep.

Sol 1774: Opportunity drove 115.36 meters (378.48 feet) and acquired new
image mosaics with the navigation and panoramic cameras, including a
360-degree view with the navigation camera. After the day's activities,
the rover went into a deep sleep.

Sol 1775: In the morning, Opportunity surveyed the sky at high Sun with
the panoramic camera. The rover completed a systematic foreground
quarter survey with all 13 color filters of the panoramic camera. After
relaying data to Odyssey, Opportunity measured argon gas in the Martian
atmosphere using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and went into a
mini-deep sleep.

Sol 1776 (Jan. 21, 2009): In the morning, Opportunity took spot images
of the sky with the panoramic camera for calibration purposes.
Opportunity drove 29.90 meters (98.10 feet) to approach Ranger Crater
and completed a quick get fine attitude to check the rover's precise
location relative to the Sun. The rover acquired new image mosaics with
the navigation and panoramic cameras and took a Tau measurement of
atmospheric dust at sunset. Opportunity then went into a deep sleep. The
following morning, Opportunity was to take spot images of the sky for
calibration purposes with the panoramic camera, acquire time-lapse movie
frames in search of clouds with the navigation camera, and monitor dust
accumulation on the panoramic-camera mast assembly.

Odometry

As of sol 1776 (Jan. 21, 2009), Opportunity's total odometry was
13,866.70 meters (8.62 miles).
Received on Mon 09 Feb 2009 07:30:55 PM PST