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Rolling, Rolling, Rolling, Oops...
Pasadena CA (JPL) May 03, 2005 Opportunity used the spectrometers on its arm to examine the soil where the rover stayed for six sols, then resumed driving on sol 446. However, the drive ended after 40 meters when Opportunity was crossing a dune and dug into it. Engineers are using a test rover to evaluate options for getting off the dune.
Sol-by-sol summaries: Sol 444: Opportunity deep-slept overnight, and woke up to perform a sky survey while the Sun was high in the sky. We then changed tools to the Moessbauer spectrometer and started a 31-hour integration on the soil. Sol 445: In order to keep the Moessbauer integration running, the rover did not use the deep-sleep mode overnight. Today was devoted to continued Moessbauer integration on the soil. At last, we stopped the Moessbauer integration at 11:12 p.m. local time and Opportunity deep-slept for the rest of the night. Sol 446: We planned a drive of about 90 meters (295 feet). After driving about 40 meters (131 feet), Opportunity dug into soft dune material, impeding further progress. Imaging indicates all four corner wheels have dug in by more than a wheel radius as the rover attempted to climb over a dune about 30 centimeters (12 inches) tall. Opportunity is healthy and in a stable configuration but further analysis is needed to understand this event and plan future driving. Over next several sols, Opportunity will focus on remote sensing while on Earth a series of testbed runs are in progress to simulate terrain interaction and evaluate different egress options. As of sol 446 (ending on April 26, 2005), Opportunity's odometry total is 5,346 meters (3.32 miles). Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Mars Rovers at JPL Mars Rovers at Cornell SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com Lunar Dreams and more
Spirit Heading To 'Home Plate'
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 09, 2006Last week Spirit completed robotic-arm work on "El Dorado." The rover used all three of its spectrometers plus the microscopic imager for readings over the New Year's weekend. |
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