* Astronomy

Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Home -> Astronomy News -> Mission News -> Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
Post Info
TOPIC: Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
RE: Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
Permalink  
 

SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Preparing for Robotic Arm Work - sol 620-626, Oct 10, 2005:

Spirit is healthy and still performing science in the summit area of "Husband Hill."
The rover has acquired a 360-degree panorama from the top of Husband Hill, and has performed remote sensing of other targets of interest. Spirit drove back down to the clean face of the rock outcrop called "Hillary" to find a good position to perform work with the robotic arm.

Sol-by-sol summaries:
Sol 620 to 622 (Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, 2005): While perched on the summit of Husband Hill, Spirit spent the weekend acquiring a 360-degree colour mosaic. Team members took this opportunity to place the Moessbauer spectrometer on Spirit's compositional calibration target for a three-sol integration.
The compositional calibration target provides an independent, external reference source for calibrating the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and Moessbauer spectrometer. Both instruments also have their own internal calibration reference targets.
The compositional calibration target is made of a piece of magnetite rock from Earth, bonded to an aluminium base plate and covered by a protective coating that the Moessbauer spectrometer cannot detect.
The science team also wanted new measurements of the compositional calibration target with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer to supplement measurements from sols 614 to 619, but rover planners saw a rock under the rover. If the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer were on the compositional calibration target, the rock abrasion tool would be too close to this hazard.
The resolution was to do only a Moessbauer spectrometer integration.
Sol 623: There is a fascinating outcrop at the summit called Hillary. From the panoramic camera position on top of the summit, Spirit could access only very dusty areas of Hillary.
On sol 623, Spirit began the approach to the clean face. However, the drive did not take place due to a sequencing error.
Sol 624: The second approach attempt succeeded, with a 12-meter drive. From the new location, Spirit imaged potential workspace for the robotic arm. The images allowed rover planners to determine the best way to bump into position for robotic arm work.
Sol 625: A 3.4-meter bump put the desired target into the work space. However, the left front wheel is perched upon a small rock and not in full contact with the ground.
Sol 626: Since engineers could not tell if the rover was 100-percent stable, the team decided not to deploy the robotic arm. Instead, the plan is for Spirit to perform small manoeuvres. The hazard-avoidance cameras will take images at every step to stabilize the rover and confirm that it is in a safe position to perform robotic arm work.
As of the end of sol 626, (Oct. 6, 2005), Spirit has driven 4,993 meters.

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
Permalink  
 

Spirit panorama on Sol 618


Expand (333kb, 1024 x 372)


__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
Permalink  
 

SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Reaches True Summit - sol 614-619, Sept 29, 2005:

Spirit is healthy and has provided a spectacular view from the top of "Husband Hill." The rover has acquired numerous panoramas from both the navigation camera and panoramic camera. Spirit took coordinated observations with the panoramic camera and the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and observed the moons Phobos and Deimos at night.
Spirit has reached the true summit, which is in the eastern portion of the nearly level hilltop crest that Spirit reached in late August. Plans are to drive to a good imaging location. From the new location, Spirit will acquire a panorama of the plains and valleys below.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 614 (Sept. 24, 2005): Spirit took a panorama of "Tennessee Valley," and performed targeted remote sensing and atmospheric science. A planned Moessbauer spectrometer reading was not completed, due to a sequencing error.

Sol 615: Spirit used the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer on the compositional calibration target and took a picture of the compositional calibration target with the microscopic imager. The compositional calibration target provides an independent, external reference source for calibrating the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and Moessbauer spectrometer. Both instruments also have their own internal calibration reference targets.
The compositional calibration target is made of a piece of magnetite rock from Earth, bonded to an aluminium base plate and covered by a protective coating that the Moessbauer spectrometer cannot detect.
On sol 615, Spirit also performed targeted remote sensing.
Sol 616: Spirit drove about 10 meters towards the true summit and observed Phobos and Deimos at night.
Sol 617: Spirit took pictures from "Position 2" for a stereo panorama. Spirit also observed Phobos and Deimos at night.
Sol 618: Spirit drove 14 meters closer to "True Summit." Mid-drive, Spirit stopped to take a picture of a target called "Hillary." The informal name is in honour of Edmund Hillary. Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first to climb to the top of Mount Everest. They reached the summit on May 29, 1953. That summit, at 8,850 meters above sea level, is the highest place on Earth. The summit of Husband Hill is 106 meters above the Spirit landing site.
Sol 619: The plan is for Spirit to drive about 3.5 meters to the summit imaging location. Once at the new location, the plan is for Spirit to take a 360-degree panorama using the navigation camera.
As of the end of sol 618, (Sept. 29, 2005), Spirit has driven 4,973 meters.

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
Permalink  
 

Undulating bands of dark and light sand, sloping dunes, and scattered cobbles form an apron around a ridge of light-coloured rock that stands in bold relief against distant plains, as viewed by the "Spirit" rover from the top of "Husband Hill" on Mars.


Expand (267kb, 756 x 224)
Large (1.6Mb, 3833 x 1136)

From here, Spirit is looking north-northeast en route to examining more of the local geology of the "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater. A few days after taking this picture, Spirit investigated the small, sinuous drifts on the left, located north-northeast of the rover's position in this image. The last previous time Spirit examined a drift was on the rim of "Bonneville Crater" almost 500 Martian days, or sols, ago, in March 2004.

The largest light-coloured rock in the foreground is nicknamed "Whittaker." The cliff beyond it and slightly to the left is nicknamed "Tenzing." The highest rock on the ridge ahead has been dubbed "Hillary." Science team members selected the nicknames in honour of the earliest climbers to scale Mount Everest on Earth.

This view covers approximately 50 degrees of the compass from left to right. It is a mosaic assembled from frames Spirit took with the panoramic camera on sol 603 (Sept. 13, 2005). It was taken through a blue (430-nanometre) filter and is presented as a cylindrical projection.

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
Permalink  
 

Spirit Update, Sept 16, 2005: Testing Command Communications - sol 599-605,

Spirit has continued observations on the top of "Husband Hill," using the microscopic imager, alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and Moessbauer spectrometer on a target informally called "Irvine." Spirit has also completed three complicated drive sols. It is in position for doing work with the tools on the robotic arm in upcoming sols. During two nights, Spirit observed the moons Phobos and Deimos.

Also this week, Spirit performed two tests to validate the ability to send commands to Spirit via the Mars Odyssey orbiter through the rover's UHF (ultra-high frequency) radio. Downlink through the Odyssey UHF relay has been the principal means for getting data from Spirit. The new tests are for communicating the other direction: sending commands to Spirit via Odyssey UHF relay. The first test was similar to a 1-sol plan; the second contained multiple sequences that simulated a more complicated 3-sol planning day. The team sent old sequences and confirmed that the commands made it onboard the rover, and then the team deleted the files.
The first test was successful, and the team is anticipating data to come down from the second test.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sol 599 (Sept. 9, 2005): Spirit approached the target Irvine on the feature "Putative Dike." The drive was complex because the rover planners needed to make sure Spirit stayed out of the mast occlusion (or stop) zone.
Sol 600: Spirit deployed the robotic arm, took pictures with the microscopic imager, then placed the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer on a target. Spirit switched to the Moessbauer spectrometer at 10:30 in the morning, Mars local solar time, for continued observations.
Sol 601: Spirit performed a 24-hour Moessbauer spectrometer integration and made overnight observations of Phobos and Deimos.
Sol 602: Spirit performed another 24-hour Moessbauer spectrometer integration.
Sol 603: Spirit drove 16 meters, followed by a 4-meter drive using autonomous navigation. Spirit then performed an Odyssey UHF (ultra-high frequency) relay test.
Sol 604: Spirit performed targeted remote sensing operations.
Sol 605: Spirit successfully completed a complicated drive, including scuffing and turning. This was followed by another UHF (ultra-high frequency) test, and then overnight miniature thermal emission spectrometer observations. Spirit also entered restricted sols.
(Restricted sols occur when the timing of the communications pass from the Odyssey orbiter is too late in the Earth day to gather vital location and health information about the rover after it executed Recent commands. The team back on Earth must wait until the next day to find out where and how the rover is.)
As of the end of sol 605, (Sept. 15, 2005), Spirit has driven 4,935 meters.

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
Permalink  
 



Expand

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
Spirit panorama
Permalink  
 


Expand (196 kb,1024 x 239)
2x3 pancam mosaic (180 x 45 degrees) taken on sols 594, 595, and 597 using L257R127 filters.


__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
RE: Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
Permalink  
 

Working atop a range of Martian hills, NASA's Spirit rover is rewarding researchers with tempting scenes filled with evidence of past planet environments.

"When the images came down and we could see horizon all the way around, that was every bit as exhilarating as getting to the top of any mountain I've climbed on Earth" - Chris Leger, a rover planner at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena.


Expand
This "postcard" or 2-inch mini-panorama was taken by NASA's Spirit rover on martian day, or sol, 582 (August 23, 2005), just as the rover finally completed its intrepid climb up Husband Hill. The summit appears to be a windswept plateau of scattered rocks, little sand dunes and small exposures of outcrop. The breathtaking view here is toward the north, looking down into the drifts and outcrops of the "Tennessee Valley," a region that Spirit was not able to visit during its climb to the top of the hill.

The summit sits 82 meters above the edge of the surrounding plains. It is 106 meters higher than the site where Spirit landed nearly 20 months ago. Spirit and twin rover, Opportunity, successfully completed their three-month prime missions in April 2004. They have inspected dozens of rocks and soil targets since then, continuing their pursuit of geological evidence about formerly wet conditions on Mars.

"Spirit has climbed to the hilltop and looked over the other side, but NASA did not do this just to say we can do it. The Mars rovers are addressing fundamental questions about Martian history and planetary environments" -Doug McCuistion, NASA's Mars Exploration Program Director.

The crest of "Husband Hill" offers Spirit's views of possible routes into a basin to the south with apparently layered outcrops. Shortly after Spirit landed, it observed a cluster of seven hills about 3 kilometres east of its landing site. NASA proposed naming the range "Columbia Hills" in tribute to the last crew of Space Shuttle Columbia. The tallest of the hills commemorates Rick Husband, Columbia's commander.
Volcanic rocks covering the plain Spirit crossed on its way to the hills bore evidence of only slight alteration by water. When Spirit reached the base of the hills five months after landing, it immediately began finding rocks with wetter histories.



Expand
This approximate true-colour panorama was taken by the Spirit rover after it successfully trekked to the top of "Husband Hill," in the "Columbia Hills" of Gusev Crater. The "little rover that could" spent the last 14 months climbing the hills in both the forward and reverse directions to reduce wear on its wheels. This breathtaking view from the summit reveals previously hidden terrain to the south, where team members hope to direct Spirit in the future.


"This climb was motivated by science. Every time Spirit has gained altitude, we've found different rock types. Also, we're doing what any field geologist would do in an area like this: climbing to a good vantage point for plotting a route" - Steve Squyres, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, principal investigator for the rovers science instruments.

Researchers are viewing possible routes south to apparently layered ledges and to a feature dubbed "home plate," which might be a plateau of older rock or a filled-in crater.
The landing site and the Columbia Hills are within Gusev Crater, a bowl about 150 kilometres in diameter. It was selected for the Spirit mission because the shape of the terrain suggests the crater once held a lake. Volcanic deposits appear to have covered any sign of ancient lakebed geology out on the plain, but scientists say the hills expose older layers that have been lifted and tipped by a meteorite impact or other event.



Expand
This panorama is one of the first that NASA's Spirit rover snapped upon reaching the summit of "Husband Hill," located in "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater, Mars. It reveals the vast landscape to the east previously hidden behind the Columbia Hills. The rim of "Thira Crater" frames the distant horizon some 15 kilometres away. The summit area is divided by a shallow saddle that slopes north (left) into an area called "Tennessee Valley." Large amounts of sandy material have been blown up the valley and across the saddle in the left-to-right direction, creating the rippled piles of sand seen in this image.
The science team will examine bedrock and other materials in the summit area to determine their composition and the orientation of the rock layers. These and other observations will provide clues to how the rocks formed and how the hills were sculpted in the geologic past.

"We're finding abundant evidence for alteration of rocks in a water environment. What we want to do is figure out which layers were on top of which other layers. To do that it has been helpful to keep climbing for good views of how the layers are tilted to varying degrees. Understanding the sequence of layers is equivalent to having a deep drill core from drilling beneath the plains" - Ray Arvidson, Washington University, St. Louis, deputy principal investigator for the rovers' science instruments.

Both Spirit and Opportunity have been extremely successful. Their solar panels are generating plenty of energy thanks to repeated dust-cleaning events. Spirit has driven 4,827 meters, and Opportunity 5,737 meters.

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
RE: Spirit rover, Sol582
Permalink  
 

Looking eastwards from Husband hills on Sol 582.


Expand (1024 x 544)

__________________
Blobrana


L

Posts: 131433
Date:
RE: Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
Permalink  
 

View on Sol 581


Expand (1024 x 768)

__________________
«First  <  1 … 41 42 43 44 45 46  >  Last»  | Page of 46  sorted by
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.
Home -> Astronomy News -> Mission News -> Mars Exploration Rover Spirit


Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse 		Powered by ActiveBoard