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ZL2VAL > ROVERS 09.03.04 11:44l 52 Lines 1654 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 0D0601ZL2VAL
Read: GUEST
Subj: Why grinder ground to a halt
Path: DB0FHN<DB0FOR<DB0SIF<DB0EA<DB0RES<ON0AR<VK6HGR<VK3KAY<ZL2TZE<ZL2AB
Sent: 040309/1016Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:37345 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : ROVERS@WW
March 9, 2004
Mars rover motor stalls on its rock grinder tool
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA engineers figured out why a grinding tool
on the Mars rover Opportunity failed to even leave a mark on a rock
that scientists had targeted during the weekend.
The grind motor in the rock abrasion tool stalled, most likely
because of dust and dirt, as well as temperature variations, NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement Monday.
Tests confirmed the motor's voltage can be safely increased to
prevent a future stall, the lab said.
Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, use the rock abrasion tools to
grind through surface layers so that other instruments can determine
the mineral composition. The tools have been essential in helping
scientists conclude there is evidence of water sometime in the past
at both rover sites.
Before Opportunity's Martian day ended Monday morning, it placed a
spectrometer on a rock target called "Mojo 2" and also used its
panoramic and navigation cameras to prepare for study of a future
target named "Berry Bowl."
The bowl-like depression contains a number of curious round objects
that scientists have called "blueberries."
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73 de Alan, (Sysop ZL2AB).
AX25:ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
APRS:!3903.34S/17406.45E]
IP :zl2val@qsl.net
Message timed: 23:02 on 2004-Mar-09 (NZT)
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Points to ponder
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Marriage
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