[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rovers Update - September 2, 2005

[Ron Baalke]

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

SPIRIT UPDATE: Studying the Summit - sol 584-591, Sept 02, 2005:

Perched on the crest "Husband Hill," Spirit took images for a 
summit panorama and used instruments on the robotic arm to 
investigate soil targets.

Science team has compiled a list of experiments they would like 
Spirit to execute while the rover is on the summit. This list 
includes:

o Assess the inner basin and image potential drive paths 
o Assess the surrounding terrain and image "Cumberland Ridge" 
o Routinely observe the atmosphere during the day and the moons 
  at night 
o Study undisturbed soils, scuffed soils, and drift deposits 
o Study the structural geology of Husband Hill, including dips 
o Observe outcrops and rocks 
o Take images for a rover self-portrait 
o Complete a panorama on top of the "Columbia Hills" 
o 
Finalize exit strategy 
Spirit has already completed some of the above observations. It 
has taken frames for the self-portrait, looked at soil targets, 
and imaged the two moons of Mars -- Phobos and Deimos -- twice. 
After completing the initial summit imaging, Spirit drove 
southeast to another point in the crest area to assess more of 
the Cumberland Ridge and surrounding terrain.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 585 (Aug. 25, 2005): Spirit performed remote sensing 
operations, did a Moessbauer spectrometer integration, and 
imaged Phobos and Deimos.

Sol 586: Spirit performed remote sensing operations, did a 
Moessbauer spectrometer integration, and imaged the rover 
deck.

Sol 587: Spirit changed tools from the Moessbauer spectrometer 
to the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.

Sol 588: Spirit continued with robotic arm operations using the 
microscopic imager and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.

Sol 589: Spirit retracted the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer 
and stowed the robotic arm. The rover backed away to image the 
area where the robotic arm had been working, then drove to the 
southeast. Drive distance for the sol was 21 meters (69 feet).

Sol 590: Spirit continued the drive in the east-southeast 
direction for another 14.2 meters (47 feet).

Sol 591: Spirit turned to point the UHF antenna for better 
communications with the Odyssey orbiter. Spirit performed remote 
sensing at "South Point 1."

As of the end of sol 591, (Sept. 1, 2005), Spirit has driven 
4,862 meters (3.02 miles).

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OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Cautious Recovery - sol 566-573, 
Sept 02, 2005:

Recovery from the sol 563 power-off event is well underway. 
Each sol, the team has planned one new activity. By sol 570 
(Aug. 31, 2005), the rover had successfully performed 
observations with the panoramic camera, navigation camera, 
and miniature thermal emission spectrometer and had completed 
a short alpha particle X-ray spectrometer integration (with 
the robotic arm stowed) and a 6.5-meter (21-foot) blind drive.

Additional precautions are being taken with each sol's plan, 
including shutting down after the morning uplink (to save the 
high-gain antenna position, thus preventing an X-band fault in 
case of another anomaly) and waiting 15 minutes after wakeup to 
start any science activities.

Sol-by sol summaries:

Sols 566 through 568 (Aug. 27 through Aug. 29, 2005) were devoted 
to engineering activities. Science activities were put on hold 
over the weekend while engineers investigated the sol 563 reset.

Sol 569: Spirit completed step two in the post-anomaly recovery 
plan: a short blind drive. (Step one, remote sensing with the 
panoramic camera and navigation camera, was performed on sol 565). 
The 6.5-meter (21-foot) drive executed perfectly, and all motor 
currents were nominal.

Sol 570: This sol marked the first use of the miniature thermal 
emission spectrometer since the sol 563 reset, which was step 
three in recovery from the anomaly. After waking from a nap and 
waiting 15 minutes, the rover performed a short alpha particle 
X-ray spectrometer integration with the robotic arm stowed. This 
was simply to test the payload service board, which controls the 
spectrometers. Five minutes after the end of the alpha particle 
X-ray spectrometer test, a low-elevation raster was taken 
successfully with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. 
The resulting data product has been received on Earth.

Sol 571: Spirit completed a blind drive of 11.8 meters (38.7 feet) 
designed to take it across some outcrop then over a small ripple.

Sols 572 and 573 (Sept. 2 and Sept. 3, 2005): Commands sent for 
these sols are for observations with the panoramic camera and 
navigation camera.

Opportunity's total distance driven on Mars, as of Sept. 2, 2005, 
is 5,755 meters (3.58 miles).