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Opportunity Slipping Like A Dune Buggy
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 29, 2008 During the past week, Opportunity has been trying to reach a patch of dust between two crests of the ridge surrounding "Victoria Crater." The rover approached the ridge from the west, driving on flat ground, on Martian days, or sols, 1648 and 1650 (Sept. 12 and Sept. 14, 2008). Then, after reaching a staging position, Opportunity began to climb the ridge. That's when the rover's wheels began slipping excessively on the sandy slope. Rover drivers decided to give Opportunity another chance to make it up the slope by loosening the slip constraints. This allowed Opportunity to keep trying to climb the slope with a higher rate of wheel slippage. If the attempt to do this as planned on sol 1654 (Sept. 18, 2008) is not successful, rover drivers may try a different approach or abandon the effort. After the dust patch campaign, plans call for Opportunity to drive south toward a 20-kilometer-wide (12-mile-wide) crater 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) away. Opportunity is healthy, and all subsystems are performing as expected. Based on the latest data from sol 1653 (Sept. 17, 2008), the rover has 582 watt-hours of solar power available each day. (One hundred watt-hours is the amount of energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb for one hour.) In addition to measuring dust-related changes in atmospheric clarity each day with the panoramic camera, Opportunity completed the following activities: Sol 1648 (Sept. 12, 2008): Opportunity stowed the robotic arm and began driving toward the dust patch. Just before and after ending the drive, Opportunity took images with the hazard-avoidance and navigation cameras, respectively. The rover acquired a 4-by-1 panel of images, called the "Bagnold mosaic," with the panoramic camera. Sol 1649: Opportunity took full-color images, using all 13 filters of the panoramic camera, of a target nicknamed "Drummond." After relaying data to NASA's Odyssey orbiter for transmission to Earth, Opportunity measured argon gas in the Martian atmosphere with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer. Sol 1650: In the morning, Opportunity took thumbnail images of the sky with the panoramic camera. The rover continued driving toward the dust patch and documented progress before and after ending the drive by taking images with the engineering cameras. Opportunity acquired another 4-by-1 panel of images for the Bagnold mosaic before sending data to Odyssey. Sol 1651: Opportunity searched for morning clouds in the Martian sky by taking six time-lapse, movie frames with the navigation camera. The rover took spot images of the sky for calibration purposes, surveyed the horizon, and surveyed the sky at low Sun with the panoramic camera. Sol 1652: In the morning, Opportunity searched for clouds passing overhead by taking six time-lapse, movie frames with the navigation camera. The rover checked for drift -- changes with time -- in the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and also conducted a test of the instrument. Before beginning the day's drive, Opportunity used the spectrometer to study a target dubbed "Velvet" and survey the sky and ground at different elevations. The rover then attempted to drive up the ridge to the dust patch, acquiring images along the way with the hazard-avoidance and navigation cameras. Opportunity sent data to Odyssey for transmission to Earth. Sol 1653: Opportunity acquired a 3-by-1 mosaic of westward-looking images with the navigation camera and took images in total darkness with the panoramic camera for calibration purposes. Sol 1654 (Sept. 18, 2008): Upon rising, Opportunity took more "dark current" images with the panoramic camera for calibration purposes. The rover tried once more to drive to the dust patch, taking images before and after ending the drive with the hazard-avoidance and navigation cameras. Before proceeding with plans to measure atmospheric argon, Opportunity transmitted data to Odyssey for relay to Earth. Odometry: As of sol 1653 (Sept. 17, 2008), Opportunity's total odometry was 11,796.22 meters (7.33 miles). Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Spirit's Warming Up On Mars
Pasadena CA (SPX) Sep 25, 2008With Martian winter on the wane, Spirit is using significantly less energy to stay warm. During the winter solstice, Spirit needed 90 watt-hours to run the heater. Now, the rover uses between 30 and 40 watt-hours. |
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