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ZL2VAL > ROVERS 07.02.04 11:54l 78 Lines 2929 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 5173-ZL2VAL
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Subj: Opportunity doing wheelies
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Sent: 040207/1021Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:35262 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g $:5173-ZL
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : ROVERS@WW
Opportunity Slips into High Gear
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 05:00 pm ET
06 February 2004
Engineers are spinning their wheels on the red planet, getting a driving
lesson in steering the Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover at Meridiani
Planum.
The robot fell short in wheeling toward an exposed rock outcrop, perhaps
due to soil slippage Friday. Rover operations at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California plan to complete the drive to
the exposed rock on Saturday.
Opportunity is being guided toward a section of outcrop now named
"Snout," Matt Wallace, JPL's Opportunity Mission Manager, said today
during an early morning press briefing.
Rolling across the floor of a crater, Opportunity moved a little over 5
feet (1.6 meters), not quite making it to an intended stopping spot.
Touch and go
Prior to tomorrow's drive, it?ll be a "touch and go" day for
Opportunity, Wallace said. The rover will flex its instrumented arm,
reaching down toward the martian soil.
Another set of pictures are to be taken using the arm-mounted
Microscopic Imager. Scientists want to continue to catalog the soil
inside the crater in which Opportunity is driving over, Wallace said.
Once the arm is re-stowed, the robot is to finish its trek to Snout.
Opportunity will then study in detail the selected rock outcrop section,
making use of a suite of science tools.
"From there it looks like the scientists are asking us to start an arc
along the bottom of the outcrop area," Wallace said. The rover will make
a progression of short drives parallel to the rocks, stopping for
science at choice spots.
Soil slippage
Wallace told SPACE.com that the cause of Opportunity falling short its
destination is not entirely clear. "I'm pretty sure what we're seeing is
soil slippage," he noted.
The robot is climbing up the side of the crater, now pitched up by
almost 13 degrees, Wallace said. "Everything is kind of pointing to the
idea that we're getting somewhere between 10 to 20 percent of slip
during these traverses."
Given a better understanding of what type of soil Opportunity is
wheeling across and how those wheels handle that soil, rover operators
should be able to adjust to the situation, Wallace said.
"The rover continues to operate nominally. She's healthy and happy and
continues to do the job she was sent to do," Wallace said.
==============================
73 de Alan
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Points to ponder
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ever notice that the people who are late are often much jollier than the
people who have to wait for them?
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