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ZL2VAL > ROVERS 23.02.04 21:42l 71 Lines 3049 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : B10549ZL2VAL
Read: GUEST
Subj: Update 21st Feb
Path: DB0FHN<DB0THA<DB0ERF<DB0FBB<DB0GOS<DB0EEO<DB0RES<ON0BEL<ZL2TZE<WA7V<
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Sent: 040222/2023Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:36456 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : ROVERS@WW
SPIRIT UPDATE: Down in the Trench - sol 48, Feb 21, 2004
On its 48th sol, ending at 1:16 p.m. Saturday, PST, Spirit maneuvered
its robotic arm successfully within the challengingly tight confines of
the trench that the rover had dug into the floor of "Laguna Hollow" the
preceding sol.
Spirit used the microscopic imager on the arm to take pictures of
details in the wall and floor of the trench during the morning. Then
Spirit rotated the tool turret at the end of its arm and placed the
Moessbauer spectrometer in position to read the mineral composition of
the soil on the trench floor. That reading was designed to last about 12
hours, from mid-sol into the martian night. Spirit's panoramic camera
and miniature thermal emission spectrometer were also used during the
sol for studies of sky and rocks.
Spirit has been told to wake up and switch from the Moessbauer
spectrometer to alpha particle X-ray spectrometer on the trench floor
during the pre-dawn hours of the next sol. Later on sol 49 (which ends
at 1:56 p.m. Sunday) and early on sol 50, plans call for using those
spectrometers on the walls of the trench and making additional
observations of the "Laguna Hollow" area. Then Spirit is slated to
resume its trek toward the rim of the crater nicknamed "Bonneville," now
estimated to be about 135 meters (443 feet) northeast of the rover's
current location.
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OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Supersized Science - sol 27, Feb 21, 2004
On sol 27, ending 12:57 a.m. Saturday, PST, Opportunity successfully
"supersized" the measurements of the "El Capitan" area with the
panoramic camera, miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and
microscopic imager. The rover team is analyzing "super resolution" and
"super spectral" observations from the science instruments and currently
locating the best spots to place the rock abrasion tool.
Opportunity also drove 33 centimeters (13 inches) closer to "El Capitan"
to better poise the robotic arm for use of the rock abrasion tool
sometime over the next four or five sols, which will be the first use of
the rock abrasion tool by Opportunity.
On sol 28, ending at 1:38 a.m. Sunday, PST, plans call for Opportunity
to take extensive microscopic images of "El Capitan," which is a rich
science target because it has multiple layers and varied textures on the
upper and lower areas of the rocks, implying multiple changes in the
geologic history of this area.
The Mars Odyssey orbiter is scheduled to fly over Opportunity during sol
28 with increased data communications capabilities to 256 kilobits per
second, which is five times the speed of normal home computer modems.
=========================
73 de Alan, (Sysop ZL2AB).
AX25:ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
APRS:!3903.34S/17406.45E]
IP :zl2val@qsl.net
Message timed: 09:17 on 2004-Feb-23 (NZT)
Message sent using WinPack-AGW V6.80
Points to ponder
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Insanity is contagious, You catch it from your kids.
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