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TOPIC: Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
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SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Races Against Time and Dwindling Sunlight - sol 758-763, Feb 24, 2006:

In a race to collect as much scientific data as possible before the onset of Martian winter, Spirit climbed to the top of "Home Plate" and acquired images of the surrounding terrain. Each day, Spirit logs a reduction in the total amount of solar energy collected as the sun sinks lower on the planet's northern horizon.
The science team's objective is to do as much science as possible while concentrating on a drive campaign that will move the rover to the north-facing slopes of "McCool Hill." The team has already begun mapping routes to McCool, where Spirit will attempt to survive a second Martian winter with its solar panels tilted toward the sun.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 758 (Feb. 19, 2006): Spirit conducted targeted remote sensing and acquired 13-filter images of a target dubbed "Wilmington," as well as mosaics of the surrounding terrain, with the panoramic camera.

Sol 759: Spirit edged closer to a rock nicknamed "James 'Cool Papa' Bell."

Sol 760: Spirit acquired images of its work area with the navigation and panoramic cameras. The rover also conducted atmospheric observations.

Sol 761: Spirit used the microscopic imager to acquire images of a rock target called "Stars." Then the rover brushed that target with the rock abrasion tool and examined it again with the microscopic imager after the brushing. Spirit then began checking the mineral composition of the Stars target with the Mössbauer spectrometer.

Sol 762 (Feb. 23): Spirit continued the Mössbauer study of Stars. Following an overhead pass of the Odyssey orbiter, Spirit began an analysis of Stars with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer. Scientists planned to have the rover continue collecting scientific data over the weekend from another target, nicknamed "Crawfords."

As of sol 762 (Feb. 23, 2006), Spirit's total odometry was 6,589.83 metres.

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Sol 760


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Sol 758

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Homeplate on Sol 751


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Large traverse map for Sol 749 (old)


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Sol 755.


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Home Plate Sol 743

SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Studies Layered Rocks - sol 750-755, Feb 17, 2006:

Spirit will soon be on top of the rugged plateau known as "Home Plate,"which features the most spectacular layering Spirit has yet encountered, and begin taking images of the surrounding terrain. Spirit had a productive week investigating two rock targets, "Barnhill" and "Posey."
A restricted planning period (resulting from periodic, limited opportunities to communicate with overhead satellites) gave Spirit an opportunity to spend a few sols (Martian days) engaged in untargeted remote sensing and atmospheric science. The rover also charged its batteries. The science team is assigning nicknames to surface features honouring star players and managers of the Negro Leagues of baseball in the first half of the 20th century.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 750 (Feb. 11, 2006): Spirit examined a rock target dubbed "Pitcher" with the microscopic imager, then completed an overnight study of a rock target dubbed "Fastball" with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.

Sol 751: Spirit stowed the robotic arm and executed a commanded, 5.3-meter drive to Posey using visual odometry. The drive went exactly as planned and ended with the rover in place to immediately begin scientific studies with the robotic arm without further adjustment of the rover's position.

Sol 752: Spirit conducted light remote sensing and recharged the rover's batteries.

Sol 753: Spirit acquired images of a rock target dubbed "Gray" using the microscopic imager, brushed a surface target known as "Manager" using the rock abrasion tool, and completed an 18-hour analysis of Manager using the Moessbauer spectrometer. The science team opted to complete an overnight Moessbauer study before conducting an overnight alpha particle X-ray spectrometer study in order to decide how long to stay at this location. Because the Moessbauer spectrum was similar to that of an earlier un-brushed target nicknamed Barnhill, the team directed the rover to resume driving after collecting the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer data.

Sol 754: Spirit took after-brushing images of Manager with the microscopic imager, finished the analysis of Manager with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, and took panoramic camera images of Barnhill.

Sol 755 (Feb. 16, 2006): Before moving on, Spirit rolled back from Manager and collected data from the site with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. The rover paused to take mid-drive images with
the navigation camera before "sliding into" Home Plate after driving 10 meters using visual odometery and 1.5 meters using autonomous navigation.

Odometry: As of sol 755, Spirit's total odometry was 6,575 meters.


Sol 748

-- Edited by Blobrana at 18:13, 2006-02-17

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SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Reaches "Home Plate" - sol 743-749, Feb 10, 2006:

After several months of driving, Spirit finally reached the semicircular geologic feature dubbed "Home Plate" in Gusev Crater. Spirit first got a good view of Home Plate in late August, after cresting "Husband Hill." After that, the rover made scientific observations near the summit before commencing an ambitious drive of 848 meters in 94 Martian days, or sols, to get to Home Plate. Spirit is now studying a rock target called "Barnhill" just below the tabletop-like surface of Home Plate using instruments on the rover's robotic arm. Science team members have begun calling Home Plate the "Burns Cliff of Gusev" because of its layered appearance and steep slopes, which is reminiscent of, but smaller than, "Endurance Crater," explored by Spirit's twin, Opportunity, on the opposite side of Mars in 2004.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 743 (Feb. 4, 2006): Spirit performed untargeted remote sensing and drove 45.7 meters, navigating with the guidance of engineers.

Sol 744: Spirit completed an autonomous drive of 17.5 meters, checked its orientation, and took post-drive images of surrounding terrain.

Sol 745: Spirit completed light remote sensing and recharged the battery for the coming week.

Sol 746: Spirit moved 9 meters closer to the target nicknamed "Barnhill." Following the approach, Spirit was perched at a tilt of 27 degrees.

Sol 747: Spirit carefully unstowed the robotic arm, continuously checking the rover's own tilt, which changes when the arm is deployed. Engineers expected a change in tilt of less 0.3 degrees; the actual change was minus 0.048 degrees. Spirit then performed scientific analysis as planned with the microscopic imager and Moessbauer spectrometer.

Sol 748: Spirit continued conducting scientific studies using the Moessbauer instrument and began acquiring a large mosaic of images with the panoramic camera.

Sol 749: The team proceeded with plans to have the rover change tools to the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, continue to acquire panoramic images, and conduct other remote sensing.

As of sol 749 (Feb. 11, 2006), Spirit's total odometry was 6,589 meters.

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Sol 743:

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SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Completes Mile No. 4 on Mars - sol 735-742, Feb 06, 2006:

Spirit is healthy and continues to make progress toward "Home Plate" after driving more than 150 metres, taking images, making atmospheric observations, and analysing geology.

Spirit completed two diagnostic tests of the dynamic brakes on sol 735(Jan. 27, 2006) after the team detected a dynamic brake fault associated with the left-front and right-rear steering actuators on Sol 733. The tests were copies of tests that were run after a similar anomaly on sol 265 for Spirit. Also on sol 735, the rover performed a small wheel wiggle after its drive to test the dynamic brakes. The wheel wiggle steered the wheels slightly, then steered them straight. No dynamic brake warnings were observed. The intermittent behaviour of the relay status that controls the dynamic brakes, as well as the results of the diagnostic activities, are consistent with the behaviour observed after the sol 265 anomaly. The team continued with the same resolution, which was to instruct the rover to ignore the dynamic brake error status. Driving has continued with normal steering function.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 735 (Jan. 27, 2006): Rover planners had a busy day of preparing and executing a dynamic brake diagnostic test in addition to a day of driving. Spirit drove 26.3 metres without using the steering motors on the left-front and right-rear wheels. Results of the diagnostic testing were consistent with behaviour following an anomaly on sol 265 (Oct. 1, 2004). Spirit also acquired panoramic camera images of "Allegheny Ridge" and "YuGong."

Sol 736: Rover science team members discovered an interesting rock and decided to spend a couple of days studying it with instruments on Spirit's robotic arm. Spirit collected a mosaic of microscopic images and collected spectrographic information with the Moessbauer instrument. Spirit took panoramic camera images of rock targets called "Xing Tian," "GongGong," "Luo Zu," "Sui Ren," "Cang Jie," and used the miniature thermal emission spectrometre to examine "Cang Jie," "Sui Ren," "Ho Ji," and "Luo Zu."

Sol 737: Spirit made remote sensing observations of Ho Ji and atmospheric observations using the rover's panoramic camera.

Sol 738: Spirit began driving around a rocky ridge that separated the rover from Home Plate, travelling an additional 33.7 metres. Following a complete analysis of diagnostic tests run on sol 735, rover drivers decided to follow the same recovery plan used after the sol 265 anomaly, and Spirit continued to drive without incident.

Sol 739: Spirit drove 30.5 metres. The rover stopped after 5 metres of autonomous navigation because of a sequencing error. Rover drivers added an automated flight check to the sequence to catch future errors of a similar nature. Spirit was unable to complete most of the planned post-drive imaging.

Sol 740: Rather than wait another day for Spirit to take a set of post-drive images, rover drivers gave Spirit the go-ahead to navigate independently using onboard instruments. Spirit drove 17 metres autonomously.

Sol 741: Spirit drove 43.5 metres to the top of a gently sloping ridge, providing an excellent view of the path to Home Plate.

Sol 742 (Feb. 3, 2006): Spirit prepared for a day of driving 30 metres as directed by rover drivers plus driving 15 metres to 20 metres autonomously.

Odometry:
As of sol 741 (Feb. 2, 2006), Spirit's total odometry was 6,430 metres .

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