Trekking Toward Husband Hill

MARSDAILY

This view from where Spirit stood on its 149th martian day (June 3, 2004) shows, on the hillside at the center of the image, the terrain that the rover is crossing six months later. The view is a mosaic of several frames taken with Spirit's panoramic camera.

Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 15, 2004
Spirit drove five of the last seven days, continuing its trek towards the top of "Husband Hill." Spirit's intermediate goal is a ridge dubbed "Larry's Lookout," which is roughly 75 meters (246 feet) away.

Getting there using Spirit's current path will be a challenge given the sand, slope, and rocks in this area. Spirit paused for a set of weekend observations of a rock called "Wishstone." Total odometry for the mission is now 3,944 meters (2.45 miles).

The amount of electric current drawn by the motor on the right front wheel is in the normal range. Near the end of Spirit's long series of drives from "Bonneville Crater" to the "Columbia Hills," the right front wheel began to draw roughly twice the current of the other five wheels.

The increased current prompted engineers to limit the use of this wheel to preserve its life. Since arriving at the hills, Spirit has had relatively few driving days.

The rover team's current working theory on this problem suggests that the recent rest periods have allowed the lubricant in this wheel to redistribute, causing the current draw to return to normal.

Periodic rest days will be included in rover drivers' plans, and Spirit will alternate forward and backward driving to keep the lubricant in all of the wheels more evenly distributed.

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

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

MARSDAILY

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.

NUCLEAR SPACE NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program Boeing-Led Team to Study Nuclear-Powered Space Systems	MOON DAILY Moon Could Meet Earth's Future Energy Demands: Scientists Scientists Call For Global Cooperation In Space Programme China To Launch Lunar Orbiter By Late 2007 Japan's Lunar Dream Hit By Technical Snags, Cash Crunch: Space Officials
SPACE TRAVEL Space Race 2: Selling Space A Chance To Imagine The Future CNES Gives Green Light To Multitude Of Exploration Missions Riding In Magnetic Bubbles	OUTER PLANETS What Melted Quaoar, The Ice Planet? Nuclear-Powered Mission To Neptune Could Answer Questions About Planetary Formation Enigmatic Kuiper Object Quaoar Might Be Outgassing Latest Adaptive Optic Images Of Uranus Surpass Hubble
JOVIAN DREAMS Space Scientist Proposes New Model For Jupiter's Core The Moon Eclipses Jupiter Jupiter's Gets All Spotty In Rare Triple Moon Transit SiRF Joins iNavSat Consortium In Euro Galileo Concession Bid	VENUSIAN HEAT
SATURN DAILY First Flyby Of Dione Cassini Successfully Completes Titan Flyby From The Dark Side Outer C Ring Detail	TECH SPACE Building a Gigapixel-Sized Image Scientists Find Atomic Clues to Tougher Ceramics Ice Study Could Stop People Slip-Sliding Away Evergreen Unveils Thin Wafer Breakthrough For String Ribbon Solar Tech

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement