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Spirit Analyzing Keystone

A section of the Methuselah outcrop. A stunning picture of this broken ridge line, and the rover tracks behind it, will be available in a mosaic, in a few days. False color frame available in desktop size - 1024x768. NASA Data, processed using MarsMidnight Browser.

Pasadena CA (JPL) May 04, 2005
Spirit is in excellent health. The rover spent the week from April 22 to April 30 studying an outcrop called "Methuselah," and focusing on the "Keystone" rock. Before Spirit drives away from this spot, it will have analyzed this feature with every tool in the science payload.

Sol-by-sol summaries

Sol 462 (April 22, 2005): Spirit drove 3.8 meters (12.7 feet) to reach a place to stop for the weekend and perform remote sensing.

Sol 463: Spirit performed light remote sensing to save space in the flash memory for the weekend.

Sols 464-466: Spirit took extensive imaging of Methuselah. It used its panoramic camera to shoot frames that will be joined together into a mosaic view. Spirit also took images with its miniature thermal emission spectrometer and made atmosphere observations.

Sol 467: Spirit did a 4.75-meter (16-foot) drive to Keystone, a rock that is part of the Methuselah outcrop. The rover also used its miniature thermal emission spectrometer to examine a target informally called "Abigail."

Sol 468: Spirit used the panoramic camera and the miniature thermal emission spectrometer to takes images of Abigail and another target called "Priscilla."

Sol 469: Spirit took pictures of Keystone with the microscopic imager and performed an overnight alpha particle X-ray spectrometer integration on Keystone.

Sol 470: Spirit finished acquiring mosaic pictures of Keystone with the microscopic imager, dusted the target with the rock abrasion tool brush, and performed another overnight alpha particle X-ray spectrometer integration.

As of sol 470 (ending on April 30, 2005), Spirit's odometry total is 4,310.68 meters (2.68 miles).

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Spirit Heading To 'Home Plate'
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 09, 2006
Last 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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