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ZL2VAL > ROVERS 14.03.04 11:28l 104 Lines 4762 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 1F0626ZL2VAL
Read: GUEST
Subj: Status, 13th March
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Sent: 040314/0846Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:37562 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : ROVERS@WW
Update: Spirit and Opportunity
SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Sits Still for Science - sol 68, Mar 13, 2004
Spirit spent all of sol 68, which ended at 2:28 a.m. PST on March 13,
2004, at the "Bonneville" crater location. It began the morning
operating the panoramic camera to acquire the first images of what will
be a 360-degree shot of "Bonneville's" rim and basin, and the "Columbia
Hills" to the southeast.
Spirit also moved the instrument deployment device, or rover arm, into
position to acquire panoramic camera images of the magnets on the rock
abrasion tool. It then placed the Moessbauer spectrometer on soil for a
short integration after taking five microscopic imager images.
Around 13:35 Mars Local Solar time, one of Mars' moons, Deimos, passed
in front of the sun. Scientists and rover controllers took this
opportunity to image the moon's transit with the panoramic camera before
completing mini thermal emission spectrometer observations of the crater
interior.
Spirit's work isn't over though. The Moessbauer will continue analyzing
the soil at "Bonneville's" rim through the night.
Sol 69, which will end at 3:07 a.m. PST on March 14, 2004, will also be
a no-drive sol during which Spirit will acquire the second half of the
360-degree panoramic camera image of Bonneville. Spirit will also
perform remote sensing of the inside of the crater and analyze soil
targets with the Messbauer and alpha particle x-ray spectrometer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Aiming for Shark's Tooth - sol 47, Mar 12, 2004
On sol 47, which ended at 2:10 p.m. PST on Friday March 12, Opportunity
awoke to "No Particular Place to Go" by Chuck Berry in recognition of
the stay at "Berry Bowl." Engineers also played "That's Amore" by Dean
Martin in honor of the Phobos moon's transit across the sky.
Opportunity finished remnants of activities from the past sol's research
at "Berry Bowl." The sol started with the hazard avoidance camera taking
a picture of the "Berry Bowl" area as a context picture. The miniature
thermal emission spectrometer then performed some "sky stares" of the
atmosphere. At 11:30 Local Solar Time, the robotic arm started moving.
It picked up the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and moved to a new
location nearby, then switched to the Mössbauer spectrometer. Both
spectrometers are searching for clues about the chemical composition of
the mysterious "blueberries."
Later, Opportunity took panoramic camera images of the suite magnet on
the rover itself, which is collecting atmospheric dust samples to
understand why the martian dust is so magnetic. The panoramic camera
also took images of a target dubbed "Fool's Silver," which contains an
interesting angular feature in the outcrop.
After all the morning's hard work, Opportunity took a short siesta to
rest and recharge. Opportunity reawakened a few hours later to take more
images of the atmosphere with the miniature thermal emission
spectrometer and panoramic camera. Those were taken in the same
locations as the morning measurements to compare the atmospheric data
throughout the sol.
At 15:40 Local Solar Time, Opportunity took about a dozen images of the
Sun to catch the eclipse by the martian moon, Phobos. Opportunity once
again shut down for a nap and woke up at 4:53 Local Solar Time, sol 48,
for a tool change and a communications session with the Odyssey orbiter.
While the rover was awake for the Odyssey pass, the rover heated up the
robotic arm, which had chilled to almost -80 degrees Celsius (-112
degrees Fahrenheit). The motors cannot move at that frigid temperature,
so the rover arm heated for 32 minutes to surpass the operational
temperature of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). As the rover
arm quickly cooled, the heat lasted long enough (5 minutes) for the arm
to twist its wrist and change instruments from the Mössbauer
spectrometer back to the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.
The rest of the plan for sol 48, which will end at 2:49 p.m. PST on
Saturday, March 13, is to perform quite a few complicated maneuvers.
Opportunity plans to brush an area with the rock abrasion tool, analyze
the brushed area with the spectrometers, then drive 10 meters (33 feet)
along the slippery slopes of the outcrop to "Shark's Tooth" in
"Shoemaker's Patio."
=========================
73 de Alan, (Sysop ZL2AB).
AX25:ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
APRS:!3903.34S/17406.45E]
IP :zl2val@qsl.net
Message timed: 21:46 on 2004-Mar-14 (NZT)
Message sent using WinPack-AGW V6.80
Points to ponder
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marriage
~~~~~~~~
If you want your spouse to listen and pay strict attention to every word
you say, talk in your sleep.
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