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Opportunity Set For Two Weeks Of Operational Independence
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 02, 2008 Opportunity is getting ready for solar conjunction, the time when the Sun is in the line of sight between Earth and Mars. During this two-week period, from Nov. 30, 2008 to Dec. 13, 2008, the mission team will not send new commands to the rover. The science team plans to position Opportunity on a rock outcrop, possibly near a cobble the rover can study with the Moessbauer spectrometer, during this time interval. Opportunity began the week with a 93-meter (310-foot) drive on Sol 1709 (Nov. 13, 2008). The drive allowed the rover to reach a large expanse of bare outcrop. Another drive on Sol 1710 (Nov. 14, 2008), covering 17 meters (56 feet), placed the rover near potential targets of scientific interest. A candidate target, a cobble about 8 meters (30 feet) away, became the objective of the drive on Sol 1713 (Nov. 17, 2008). The 8-meter drive positioned the cobble, now nicknamed "Santorini", within the work volume of the science instruments on Opportunity's robotic arm. The challenge for the team was the placement of the science instruments on Santorini using only 4 degrees of freedom of the robotic arm instead of the usual 6. The rover is not able to change the azimuth of the shoulder joint, that is, move it from side to side, because the shoulder azimuth joint (Joint 1) is disabled due to degraded performance. On Sol 1714 (Nov. 18, 2008), Opportunity successfully placed the Moessbauer spectrometer on a faceted surface of the cobble. The contact switches on the instrument confirmed that the spectrometer had touched the surface. An analysis by the spectrometer is now under way. Rover operators plan to have Opportunity integrate Moessbauer measurements of Santorini for the two-week period of solar conjunction. Opportunity is acquiring a panorama of images using multiple filters of the panoramic camera and making daily observations of atmospheric dust as well as measuring atmospheric argon using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer APXS. The rover is creating occasional, time-lapse movies of clouds with the navigation camera. This coming weekend, engineers plan another attempt to remove dust from the miniature thermal emission spectrometer mirror by shaking it. As of Sol 1715 (Nov. 29, 2008), the solar array energy was 565 watt-hours (100 watt-hours is the amount of energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb for one hour). The atmospheric opacity (tau) was 0.747 and the dust factor (a measure of sunlight-blocking dust on the solar arrays) was 0.694. Sol-by-sol summary In addition to measuring dust-related changes in atmospheric clarity with the panoramic camera and relaying data from Mars to NASA's Odyssey orbiter for transmission to Earth, Opportunity completed the following activities: Sol 1709 (Nov. 13, 2008): Opportunity drove 93 meters (300 feet) toward outcrop, made atmospheric observations with the panoramic camera, acquired targeted images with the panoramic and navigation cameras, and measured argon gas in the atmosphere with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer. Sol 1710: Opportunity drove 17 meters (56 feet) on outcrop, made atmospheric observations with the panoramic camera, acquired targeted images with the panoramic and navigation cameras, and measured argon gas in the atmosphere with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer. Sol 1711: Opportunity completed atmospheric observations with the panoramic camera, acquired targeted images with the panoramic camera, and measured atmospheric argon with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer. Sol 1712: Opportunity completed atmospheric observations with the panoramic camera, measured atmospheric argon with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer, and acquired navigation-camera images for a time-lapse movie in search of clouds. Sol 1713: Opportunity drove 8 meters (30 feet) toward Santorini, made atmospheric observations with the panoramic camera, and acquired navigation-camera images for a time-lapse movie in search of clouds. Sol 1714: Opportunity placed the Moessbauer spectrometer on Santorini, integrated measurements of the cobble with the spectrometer, and acquired targeted images and studied the atmosphere with the panoramic camera. Sol 1715 (Nov. 19, 2008): Opportunity continued the integration of data from Santorini with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer, acquired panoramic-camera images of multiple targets, and used the camera to make atmospheric observations. Odometry As of sol 1715 (Nov. 19, 2008), Opportunity's total odometry was 13,616.47 meters (8.46 miles). Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Mars Rover Team Sets Low-Power Plan For Spirit
Pasadena CA (SPX) Nov 17, 2008After assessing data received from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on Thursday, mission controllers laid out plans for the rover to conserve its modest energy during the next few weeks. |
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