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ZL2VAL > ROVERS 25.02.04 12:31l 99 Lines 4409 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 210556ZL2VAL
Read: GUEST
Subj: Rovers status, 24th Feb
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<DB0MRW<OK0PKL<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0AR<ZL2BAU<ZL2BAU<ZL1AB<
ZL2AB
Sent: 040225/1009Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:36566 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : ROVERS@WW
Update: Spirit and Opportunity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SPIRIT UPDATE: Making Ground - sol 51, Feb 24, 2004
To inspire a morning "run" on sol 51, which ended at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday,
PST, Spirit woke up to Vangelis' "Chariots of Fire." The rover deployed
its arm, took microscopic images of the soil in front of it and then
proceeded toward its target, "Middle Ground." Spirit drove 30 meters
(98.4 feet), breaking its own record for a single-sol traverse. Along
the way, Spirit paused to image rocks on both sides of the drive path
with its panoramic camera.
The auto-navigational software that drove the last 12 meters (39.4 feet)
of the traverse to the "Middle Ground" target warned Spirit that the
slope into the hollow that houses it was too steep (according to
parameters set by rover engineers). Spirit then paced along the rim,
looking for a safe way down. Unable to locate a secure path into the
crater before the sol ended, Spirit ended up facing slightly west of
north instead of northeast, as called for by the plan. This orientation
will reduce the amount of data the rover can return (due to interference
between the UHF antenna and items on the rover equipment deck), but it
will be corrected in the coming sols.
As of today, Spirit has moved 183.25 meters (601.21 feet) and is now
roughly 135 meters (442.91 feet) from its landing site, Columbia
Memorial Station.
The intent for the next several sols will be to drive Spirit into
"Middle Ground" and take a full panorama of the surrounding area to
identify scientifically interesting rocks.
Spirit Update Archive <./status_spirit.html>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: A Beautiful Grind - sol 30, Feb 24, 2004
On sol 30, which ended at 2:56 a.m. Tuesday, February 24, Opportunity
performed its first rock abrasion tool operation on a rock target known
as 'McKittrick Middle Rat' at the El Capitan site inside the crater. The
tool shaved the rock over a period of two hours, grinding into a total
depth of about 4 millimeters (.16 inches).
The auspicious day began with the song 'Rock'n Me' by Steve Miller and
some miniature thermal emission spectrometer sky surveys and sky stares
to study the atmosphere. After completing these activities, Opportunity
took a short siesta to recharge its batteries. The rover has been doing
a lot of science work at night, and the season on Mars is changing to
winter, so the rover has less energy to work with than it did earlier in
the mission. The martian days are getting shorter and the sun angle is
not allowing either rover to power up the solar panels as much as in the
past.
Opportunity woke up from its nap at 11:30 Local Solar Time on Mars to
run through the series of commands required to retract the alpha
particle X-ray spectrometer and close its doors; take several
microscopic images of another nearby rock abrasion tool target called
'Guadalupe;' flip the wrist; take a microscopic image of "McKittrick
Middle Rat;" and place the rock abrasion tool on its target to run at
13:00 Local Solar Time.
After the abrasion tool was retracted, a series of microscopic images of
the scene were taken, and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer was
successfully placed into the abrasion tool's hole late in the day.
Some additional panoramic camera, miniature thermal emission
spectrometer readings, and hazard avoidance camera imagery was completed
through the day.
The plan for sol 31, which will end at 3:36 a.m. Wednesday, February 25,
is to continue getting long Mössbauer readings of the rock abrasion tool
hole and to prepare the tool for more work again on sol 33 or 34.
During the martian night, early on sol 29, Opportunity woke up and moved
its arm again to switch from the Mössbauer spectrometer to the alpha
particle X-ray spectrometer. Additional close-up inspections are planned
for later in sol 29, which ends at 2:17 a.m. Monday. Plans for sol 30
feature the use of the rock abrasion tool to grind through the surface
at one target on "El Capitan."
=========================
73 de Alan, (Sysop ZL2AB).
AX25:ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
APRS:!3903.34S/17406.45E]
IP :zl2val@qsl.net
Message timed: 22:58 on 2004-Feb-25 (NZT)
Message sent using WinPack-AGW V6.80
Points to ponder
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Insanity is contagious, You catch it from your kids.
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