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Spirit Measures Highest Columbia Hill
Pasadena CA (SPX) March 5, 2006 New measurements from NASA's Spirit rover show the peak in the Columbia Hills formation of Gusev Crater on Mars called McCool - after astronaut Willie McCool - is about 85 feet (26 meters) taller than its neighbor, Husband, named after mission commander Rick Husband. Rover scientists originally thought Husband was the taller peak, but Spirit's measurements have been confirmed by new digital maps created from orbital images by the Mars Global Surveyor. "McCool Hill will be a historical landmark for Spirit," said Ron Li of Ohio State University, a member of the rover science team. "She will likely spend the upcoming martian winter there exploring the north-facing slope." Spirit has now been traversing and studying slopes, rocks, and sand deposits in the Columbia Hills of Gusev Crater for more than a year. With winter approaching, mission controllers are studying possible locations where the rover can continue its surface surveys while positioning its solar cells to produce the maximum power possible. Li and his team calculated the actual height of McCool above the surrounding plain based on satellite data. By comparing Mars Global Surveyor's measurements of Husband to Spirit's surface measurements, which are more accurate than measurements from farther away, Li's team was able to improve height estimates for McCool. The new data show that Husband is 351 feet (107 meters) higher than the point where Spirit landed on the plain at Gusev. Li's team further estimated that McCool is 436 feet (133 meters) tall, or 85 feet higher than its neighbor - although the revised height for McCool has an estimated margin of error of about a dozen feet to a hundred feet (a few meters to a few tens of meters). Meanwhile, Spirit successfully completed four Martian sols of driving clockwise around the rim of the Home Plate formation toward the south and east. The rover is currently spending three sols studying a rock target called Fuzzy Smith using three instruments on the robotic arm: the microscopic imager, the M�ssbauer spectrometer and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer. During the coming week, Spirit will communicate with Earth in UHF-only mode to avoid disrupting communications between NASA and its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is due to enter orbit on March 10. Sol-by-sol summaries: Sol 763 (Feb. 25, 2006): Spirit completed scientific studies of a rock target called Crawfords. Sol 764: Spirit drove 22.7 meters (74.4 feet) and acquired post-drive images with the panoramic and navigation cameras. Sol 765: Spirit acquired panoramic camera images of a transit of the Martian moon Phobos and recharged the batteries for the next day of driving. Sol 766: Spirit drove 37 meters (121 feet), acquired post-drive images, and conducted atmospheric observations. Sol 767: Spirit drove 29 meters (95 feet), acquired post-drive images, and conducted atmospheric observations. Sol 768: Spirit drove 14.26 meters (47 feet) to the top of white outcrops on the rim of Home Plate. Sol 769: The rover began a three-day campaign of scientific observations on a rock target dubbed Al "Fuzzy" Smith, using instruments on the rover's robotic arm, including the microscopic imager, alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and M�ssbauer spectrometer. Sol 770: Plans were for Spirit to continue scientific studies of Fuzzy Smith. As of sol 770 (March 3), Spirit's total odometry was 6,693 meters (4.16 miles). Opportunity is traversing its way alongside the outcrop called Payson. Its team is running the rover in restricted sols, so most of the plans are short (about 10 meters or 33 feet) drives on one sol, followed by remote sensing at the new location. The team continues to command Opportunity to unstow its robotic arm at the end of each drive, as done successfully on sols 745 and 747. This strategy allows Opportunity to drive with the arm safely stowed in its designed position and then unstow it before another night of stressful changes in temperature. Sol-by-sol summaries: Sol 744 (Feb. 26, 2006): Opportunity conducted targeted remote sensing at Payson. First the rover took an image of a target called Dude Ranger with the panoramic camera. Later it completed two targeted stares with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer on Mysterious Rider and Rainbow Trail. Sol 745: This sol began with some atmospheric observations with the thermal emission spectrometer and the panoramic camera. Opportunity also took panoramic camera images of magnets. After data was sent, the rover stowed its arm and drove 10.18 meters (33.4 feet). Following the drive, Opportunity unstowed its arm, and used the navigation camera and panoramic camera to take images from the new location. The team then had Opportunity go into deep sleep mode. Sol 746: Opportunity performed untargeted remote sensing, including more panoramic camera images of Payson, miniature thermal emission spectrometer stares at sky and ground, and other panoramic camera imaging. Sol 747: This sol's blind drive started with a 0.75 meter (2.5 feet) bump backwards with a heading change of 10 degrees to avoid a rock in Opportunity's path. Once clear of the rock, the drive continued with a slip check 5.6 meters (18.4 feet) in and finished 11.5 meters (37.7 feet) down the pipeline. Opportunity stowed before the drive and unstowed it afterwards. The rover reached a position about 5 meters (16.4 feet) away from Payson outcrop. Sol 748: Opportunity used the panoramic camera to take a 13-filter image of Payson, Wilderness Track and Maverick Queen. It also used the miniature thermal emission spectrometer on the same targets, and relayed data home via NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. Sol 749: Plans call for this to be the first of two sols in a row of targeted remote sensing on Payson. Opportunity is still sitting about 5 meters (16.4 feet) away from the outcrop and taking panoramic camera images of targets called Code of the West, Deer Stalker, Twin Sombreros, Thunder Mountain and Fugitive Trail. Opportunity will stay up after the Odyssey pass for miniature thermal emission spectrometer stares on the afternoon's panoramic camera targets before shutting down for deep sleep. Sol 750: More targeted remote sensing is planned at Payson with panoramic camera snapshots in the early morning before the high-gain antenna data pass to get better light on the outcrop. Opportunity is not getting deep sleep tonight in order to support the morning Odyssey pass to achieve greater data volume return. Opportunity's total odometry as of sol 749 (March 3): 6616.97 meters (4.11 miles). Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Mars Exploration Rovers JPL Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com Lunar Dreams and more
Two Other Mars Missions Heating Up
St. Louis MO (SPX) Mar 03, 2006Two Mars orbiter missions - one from NASA, the other from the European Space Agency (ESA) - will open new vistas in the exploration of Mars through the use of sophisticated ground-penetrating radars, providing international researchers with the first direct clues about the Red Planet's subsurface structure. |
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