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TOPIC: Mars Exploration Rover Spirit


L

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RE: Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
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SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Continues Work As Martian Days Grow Shorter - sol 889-896, July 07, 2006:

Spirit has been busy receiving new flight software upgrades, both directly from Earth via the rover's high-gain antenna and indirectly via relay from NASA's Odyssey spacecraft. Engineers anticipated that all flight software upgrades would be on board the rover by early in the week of July 10, 2006.
Spirit also successfully completed a procedure to correct for drift in the inertial measurement unit, resulting in more accurate pointing of the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Spirit remains healthy and continues to make progress on the rover's winter science campaign of experiments.
Spirit's handlers planned to have the rover spend part of the weekend calibrating the brush on the rock abrasion tool, using images from the panoramic camera and hazard avoidance cameras to characterise dirt build-up on the instrument.
Solar array input was down to about 290 watt-hours per sol (a hundred watt-hours is the amount of electricity needed to light one 100-watt bulb for one hour).

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 889 (July 4, 2006): Spirit studied the rock target "Halley" with the Mössbauer spectrometer.

Sol 890: Spirit calibrated the elevation actuator (a motor that controls horizontal tilt) in the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 891: Spirit made observations with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 892: Engineers transmitted an uplink of flight software files via X-band radio to the rover's high-gain antenna.

Sol 893: Plans call for Spirit to calibrate and take images of the rock abrasion tool.

Sols 894 to 896 (July 9 to 11, 2006): Plans call for Spirit to continue acquiring panoramic camera images for the "McMurdo Panorama."

Odometry:
As of sol 891 (July 6, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at 6,876.18 metres.

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SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Copes with Decreasing Solar Energy - sol 881-888, July 06, 2006:

With electrical power from Spirit's solar array down to about 300 watt-hours per Martian day, or sol, the science team is able to plan only one major activity per sol and often needs to devote one sol to recharging the rover's batteries. (A hundred watt-hours is the amount of electricity needed to light one 100-watt bulb for one hour.) Spirit remains healthy and continues to make progress on the winter science campaign.

Engineers successfully uploaded half of a new flight software upgrade and planned to take advantage of overflights by NASA's Odyssey orbiter to transmit more flight software files via UHF frequencies.
The rover team created a new technique for correcting drift (changes with time) in the rover's inertial measurement unit, which affects the pointing accuracy of the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. The IMU provides roll, pitch, and yaw information to the rover. Typically, rover handlers minimise error by having the rover complete a sequence of steps known as a "get fine attitude" based on the changing position of the sun relative to the rover. The rover then takes images with the hazard avoidance and navigation cameras, which provide guidance for positioning the robotic arm and driving as well as documenting the correction. The entire process takes about one hour, which at present is roughly equivalent to a week of winter science operations. Between these updates, the rover's onboard computer keeps track of attitude changes, but error builds up in this calculation over time.
The new process involves sending a command to Spirit with the position reported by the rover after the last quick "get fine attitude," on sol 855 (May 30, 2006). Rover drivers confirmed that the rover had not moved since then by checking images from the hazard avoidance cameras. Following the usual attitude adjustment, the team planned to direct the rover to take two new images with the navigation camera and compare those to images from sol 855 as an additional means of verifying the accuracy of the adjustment.

Sol-by-sol summaries

Sol 881 (June 25, 2006): Rover handlers spent one hour transmitting flight software files to Spirit via X-band frequencies using the rover's high-gain antenna.

Sol 882: Spirit completed a "bitty cloud" search designed to look for changes in the Martian sky, a photon transfer observation to measure electronic noise (unwanted signals) picked up by CCDs (charge-coupled devices -- imaging sensors that convert light into electrical current) in the left eye of the rover's panoramic camera, and observations of ground targets and atmosphere with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 883: Spirit conducted a 5-hour observation of the rock target "Halley" with the Mössbauer spectrometer. The rover also conducted morning atmospheric studies.

Sol 884: Spirit completed a photon transfer observation of the right eye of the panoramic camera.

Sol 885: Plans called for Spirit to conduct atmospheric studies of the Martian sky and ground using the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer. The rover's schedule also included another 5-hour study of Halley with the Mössbauer spectrometer.

Sol 886: Plans called for Spirit to conduct more "bitty cloud" observations, collect remote observations of the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, set the rover attitude, and calibrate the high-gain antenna.

Sol 887: Plans called for Spirit to acquire a single frame of column 21 of the "McMurdo panorama."

Sol 888 (July 3, 2006): Plans called for Spirit to recharge the batteries and make morning atmospheric studies.

Odometry:
As of sol 884 (June 28, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at 6,876.18 metres.

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L

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Low Ridge
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Stretching along "Low Ridge" in front of the winter haven for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit are several continuous rock layers that make up the ridge. Some of these layers form fins that stick out from the other rocks in a way that suggests that they are resistant to erosion. Spirit is currently straddling one of these fin-like layers and can reach a small bit of light-toned material that might be a broken bit of it. Informally named "Halley," this rock was broken by Spirit's wheels when the rover drove over it.

SpiritSol820
Expand (1.4mb, 1021 x 1024)

The first analyses of Halley showed it to be unusual in composition, containing a lot of the minor element zinc relative to the soil around it and having much of its iron tied up in the mineral hematite. When scientists again placed the scientific instruments on Spirit's robotic arm on a particularly bright-looking part of Halley, they found that the chemical composition of the bright spots was suggestive of a calcium sulphate mineral. Bright soils that Spirit has examined earlier in the mission contain iron sulphate.
This discovery raises new questions for the science team: Why is the sulphate mineralogy here different? Did Halley and the fin material form by water percolating through the layered rocks of Low Ridge? When did the chemical alteration of this rock occur? Spirit will continue to work on Halley and other light-toned materials along Low Ridge in the coming months to try to answer these questions.

Spirit took this red-green-blue composite image with the panoramic camera on the rover's 820th sol, or Martian day, of exploring Mars (April 24, 2006). The image is presented in false colour to emphasise differences among materials in the rocks and soil. It combines frames taken through the camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer, and 430-nanometer filters. The middle of the imaged area has dark basaltic sand. Spirit's wheel track is at the left edge of the frame. Just to the right of the wheel track in the lower left are two types of brighter material examined by Spirit at the Halley target. The bluer material yielded the evidence for a calcium sulphate mineral.

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L

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RE: Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
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SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit "Warms up the Engines," Continues Work on Mars - sol 874-880, June 23, 2006:

Since the beginning of Spirit's winter science campaign, the science and engineering teams have held joint meetings every few weeks to track campaign progress and come up with a strategic plan that balances engineering resources with science productivity. This week, Spirit began acquiring the 22nd column of the 27-column "McMurdo panorama" and completed the seventh of nine photon transfer calibrations - procedures designed to measure electronic noise (unwanted signals) picked up by imaging sensors that convert light into electrical current in the rover's cameras.

Spirit also conducted studies of a soil target nicknamed "Halley Brunt," which is an undisturbed exposure of bright, sparkly bits of soil near the rover's left front wheel. The work included 5 hours of examination with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, 10 hours of examination with the Moessbauer spectrometer, and acquisition of microscopic images.

For the first time on either rover, Spirit's battery heaters turned on at 8:15 a.m. local solar time on Mars on Sol 865 (June 9, 2006). The heaters activate automatically when local temperatures drop to about minus 19 degrees Celsius. The lowest allowable operating temperature is minus 20 degrees C.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 874 (June 18, 2006): Spirit acquired Part A of column 22 of the McMurdo panorama.

Sol 875: Spirit studied soil target "Halley Brunt" with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.

Sol 876: Spirit completed a photon transfer calibration of the microscopic imager. Spirit also acquired a panoramic view of a dune field called "El Dorado" and conducted remote studies using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 877: Spirit acquired navigation camera images of the rover's tracks and continued to make remote observations using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. While communicating with the Odyssey spacecraft as it passed overhead, Spirit calibrated the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, took images of a sand ripple using the hazard avoidance cameras, and made observations of the sky and ground using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 878: Spirit completed a dust monitoring assessment of the panoramic camera's mast assembly, acquired panoramic camera images to measure atmospheric dust opacity (known as a tau measurement), and conducted sky and ground observations using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 879: Plans called for Spirit to complete acquisition of Part B of column 22 of the McMurdo panorama and make more observations with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 880 (June 24, 2006): Plans called for Spirit to take microscopic images of Halley Brunt and then switch tools to the Mössbauer spectrometer for a 10-hour study of the same target.

Odometry:
As of sol 877 (June 21, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at 6,876.18 metres.

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SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Continues Work Even As Martian Winter Deepens - sol 867-873, June 21, 2006:

Spirit continues to be productive, even as winter conditions worsen. Spirit now receives about one-third as much solar energy as the rover received in mid-2005 while on "Husband Hill." That is, the rover now receives about 310 watt-hours per Martian day, or sol, compared with 900 watt-hours per sol last summer. (A hundred watt-hours is the amount of electricity needed to light one 100-watt bulb for one hour.) The power supply limits how much work Spirit can do each sol. Even so, Spirit acquired two more columns of the "McMurdo panorama" plus a mosaic of microscopic images of a third layer of soil in a target known as "Progress 3." In addition, Spirit completed six targeted studies using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, all while the rover was also communicating with the Odyssey spacecraft during its overhead pass.

The rover team also planned to begin sending new flight software, known as version R9.2, to Spirit. Two previous flight-software upgrades were sent solely via Spirit's high-gain, X-band antenna. The new uplink plan, however, calls for use of both X-band and UHF antennas because X-band communications with Spirit are often unavailable due to use of that frequency to support NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter during its aerobraking around the planet.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 867 (June 11, 2006): Spirit acquired the first portion of column 20 (a one-by-two mosaic) of the McMurdo panorama.

Sol 868: Spirit completed a "photon transfer calibration" of the front hazard-avoidance cameras. This procedure is designed to measure electronic noise (unwanted signals) picked up by imaging sensors that convert light into electrical current in the rover's cameras.

Sol 869: Spirit acquired the second portion of column 20 (a one-by-three mosaic) of the McMurdo panorama. The rover made targeted observations with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer on rock targets nicknamed "Riquelme" and "Zucchelli" while communicating with the Odyssey spacecraft as it passed overhead.

Sol 870: Spirit acquired microscopic images of the soil target known as "Progress 3" and made remote observations of the sky and ground using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 871: Spirit acquired images of the rock abrasion tool and spent 60 minutes communicating with Odyssey while conducting remote observations of rock targets nicknamed "Law-Ricovita," "Tor," "Scott Base," and "Arctowski" using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 872: Plans called for transmission of new flight software, version R9.2, to Spirit.

Sol 873 (June 17, 2006): Plans called for Spirit to acquire super-high-resolution images of a rock target known as "Korolev" using the panoramic camera.

Odometry:
As of sol 869 (June 13, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at 6,876.18 metres.

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SPIRIT UPDATE: Progress on Long-Term Experiments - sol 860-866, June 9, 2006:

Spirit is healthy and continues to make progress on the rover's winter science experiments. Spirit has begun work on a new "photon transfer calibration" experiment designed to measure electronic noise (unwanted signals) picked up by CCDs (charge-coupled devices -- imaging sensors that convert light into electrical current) in the rover's cameras. This week the rover conducted the calibration experiment on the panoramic camera and rear hazard-avoidance cameras.
Spirit also began an experiment to look for wind-driven changes in the Martian surface by making the first of several monthly checks, using all 13 filters of the panoramic camera, of a bright soil target nicknamed "Tyrone." In addition, that camera acquired column 18 of the "McMurdo panorama." Rover science team members prepared to have the rover remove another 2 millimetres of soil as part of a soil analysis experiment. The newly exposed soil target will be called "Progress 3."

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 860 (June 4, 2006): Spirit completed 30 minutes of remote sensing and conducted the photon transfer calibration on the panoramic camera. Demonstrating that the rover is capable of multi-tasking, Spirit spent 60 minutes communicating with NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft as Odyssey passed overhead while Spirit also studied Martian terrain targets with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 861: Spirit collected images with the microscopic imager and transmitted 70 megabits of data over UHF frequencies during a morning telecommunications link with Odyssey. Spirit also checked the three-dimensional movement of the rock abrasion tool at the end of the rover's instrument arm. This process involves taking measurements from encoders, which resemble dials on a safe. The encoders tick off the distance travelled by motor shafts and convert the mechanical motion into electronic signals. The results enable engineers to check for slippage or sticking that would necessitate changes in the amount of movement needed to position the instrument as desired.

Sol 862: Spirit acquired the first part of Column 18 (a 1-by-3 mosaic) of the McMurdo panorama. The rover spent 60 minutes communicating with Odyssey as it passed overhead, while also conducting remote targeted sensing using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 863: Spirit acquired the second half of Column 18 (a 1-by-3 mosaic) of the McMurdo panorama and took a picture of the Martian sunset.

Sol 864: Spirit took a 13-filter colour image of the Tyrone soil target using the panoramic camera and conducted analysis of the ground and sky at different elevations using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 865: Spirit completed the photon transfer calibration experiment on the rover's rear hazard-avoidance cameras.

Sol 866 (June 10, 2006): Plans called for Spirit to use the rock abrasion tool to brush away a third layer of soil 2 millimetres thick from the soil target called Progress. Spirit was to spend 54 minutes on the task as part of a progressive soil brushing experiment before documenting the spot with images from the panoramic camera using all 13 colour filters.

Odometry:
As of sol 863 (June 7, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at 6,876.18 meters.

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Spirit on Sol 864
SpiritSol 864

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SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Perfects Pointing Parameters, Collects Images Large and Small - sol 855-859, June 1, 2006:

Since arriving at the rover's current location on the 807th sol, or Martian day, of exploration (April 10, 2006), Spirit's knowledge of its attitude relative to the sun has drifted. The rover uses an onboard computer to keep track of attitude changes, but error builds up in this measurement over time. On sol 855 (May 30, 2006), rover planners transmitted an attitude update of 1.97 degrees to correct for the drift. After the update, Spirit re-acquired images from the same location to allow the science team to accurately target future observations.

Meanwhile, Spirit continued acquisition of the "McMurdo panorama" and removed another 2 millimetres of soil as part of a layer-by-layer soil study.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 855 (May 30, 2006): Spirit completed a quick get-fine attitude, which is a procedure completed every couple of weeks to correct any error in the rover's knowledge of its attitude relative to the sun. Spirit also took a 360-degree view of its surroundings with the navigation camera and a forward-looking view through the front hazard avoidance camera. The rover conducted remote sensing with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer during the overhead pass of the Mars Odyssey spacecraft.

Sol 856: Spirit acquired column 16 (a one-by-five mosaic) of the McMurdo panorama.

Sol 857: Spirit spent 80 minutes brushing away another 2 millimetres of soil from the soil target "Progress." This layer of the study is known as "Progress 3."

Sol 858: Plans called for Spirit to take microscopic images of Progress 3, conduct remote sensing with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer during the afternoon overhead pass of the Odyssey spacecraft, and take two panoramic-camera images during the Martian sunset.

Sol 859 (June 3, 2006): Plans call for Spirit to acquire column 17 (a one-by-three mosaic) of the McMurdo panorama.

Odometry:
As of sol 857 (June 1, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at 6,876.18 meters.

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SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Continues Studies of Martian "Winter Haven" - sol 847-854, May 26, 2006:

Spirit continued to collect images for the 360-degree panorama, now under construction, of the rover's "Winter Haven" on Mars. Rover planners anticipated that by the end of the Memorial Day weekend, Spirit would complete 15 of the 27 columns for the final product. Spirit also continued scientific studies of the soil target called "Progress" after brushing away about 6 millimetres of soil to reveal a second layer, dubbed "Progress 2." Rover team members prepared commands for the next round of scientific measurements, to include a 49.5-hour study divided over three Martian days, or sols, using the Mössbauer spectrometer.

Five of seven opportunities to transmit signals to Mars at higher-frequency X-band wavelengths were needed for higher-priority communications in support of aerobraking activities of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, so engineers continued sending commands to Spirit via the UHF link on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 847 (May 21, 2006): Spirit acquired a one-by-three mosaic for column 14 of the "McMurdo Panorama" and studied Progress 2 with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.

Sols 849 to 851: In the absence of an uplink for new commands, Spirit executed the master sequence from sol 848. Spirit continued downlinking data to Earth and charged the battery.

Sol 852: Plans called for Spirit to place the Mössbauer spectrometer on Progress 2 and start overnight collection and integration of data.

Sol 853: Plans called for Spirit to re-start analysis with the Mössbauer spectrometer for 3.5 hours, acquire all three frames of column 15 of the McMurdo panorama, and make targeted observations with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 854 (May 29, 2006): Plans called for an overnight study of Progress 2 with the Mössbauer spectrometer.

Odometry:
As of sol 850 (May 25, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at 6,876.18 meters.

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L

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Right Panoramic Camera Non-linearised Full frame EDR acquired on Sol 853 of Spirit's mission to Gusev Crater at approximately 12:36:58 Mars local solar time, camera commanded to use Filter 1 (436 nm).

SpiritSol853

Credit NASA/JPL/Cornell

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