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ZL2VAL > ROVERS 08.02.04 22:53l 89 Lines 3146 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 6C0498ZL2VAL
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Subj: Spirit makes it's mark
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Sent: 040208/2024Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:35404 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : ROVERS@WW
Spirit Rover Drills 'First Planned Hole' in Martian Rock
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 04:00 pm ET
07 February 2004
The Spirit Mars Exploration Rover has achieved a "hole in one" -- that
is, grinding a hole in the rock dubbed Adirondack.
Sitting at its landing site within Gusev Crater yesterday, Spirit's Rock
Abrasion Tool (RAT) used two tiny diamond cutting heads that spin at
high speed to cut into the rock's surface.
The rock had been prepped for the RAT, with the same hardware brushing
off a select spot on the rock earlier.
After three hours of whirring, the RAT excavated a hole 1.8 inches (45.5
millimeters) in diameter and roughly 0.1 inch (2.7 millimeters) deep.
The RAT exposed fresh interior material of the rock for close inspection
with Spirit's microscopic imager and two spectrometers on the robotic arm.
Rock resistance
"We put the first planned hole in a rock on Mars," said Stephen Gorevan,
Payload Lead for the RAT and head of Honeybee Robotics in New York,
maker of the hardware. "It's a really great day for robotics and
planetary exploration everywhere."
Gorevan pointed out that the rock was found to be very strong. "It gave
us a lot resistance - and that's why we needed at least 3 hours to be able
to go this deep."
The RAT did not use a great deal of strength to grind the rock, Gorevan
told SPACE.com , using a modest 45 newtons, or 10 pounds of force.
Into the RAT hole
There was much preparation in making the historic grind.
Hours were spent looking at the rock. Great care was taken in deciding
the correct joint angles of the arm that holds the RAT.
"We're remembering it here, already, as the assault on Adirondack - if you
throw in the brushing too," Gorevan added during a telephone briefing
today with reporters.
Spirit's robotic arm was repositioned over the rock to lower a Moessbauer
spectrometer into the RAT hole, said Matt Wallace, Mars Exploration
Rover (MER) Mission Manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in
Pasadena, California.
The Mössbauer spectrometer is built to determine the composition and
abundance of iron-bearing minerals in rock and soil.
Onward to Bonneville
What scientists have learned about Adirondack's geological innards is
forthcoming, Wallace said.
The plan now, Wallace stated, has Spirit carrying out more study of
Adirondack with the rover's other scientific tools. The robot would then
drive about 9 feet (2.8 meters) towards a rock called "White Boat."
From there, Spirit's handlers at JPL are getting ready to begin a
step-by-step drive toward a crater that has been tagged as Bonneville.
Scientists are anxious to steer Spirit to the crater, approximately
1,150 feet (350 meters) away -- setting a new distance record for a
wheeled vehicle on Mars in the process.
=========================
73 de Alan, (Sysop ZL2AB).
AX25:ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
APRS:!3903.34S/17406.45E]
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Message timed: 09:20 on 2004-Feb-09 (NZ local)
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Points to ponder
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Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
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