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Opportunity On The Road Again
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 12, 2006 NASA's Opportunity rover remains healthy, and the mission team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory has successfully extracted the rover from the Martian dune they have called Jammerbugt. The rover first backed into the dune on Martian day, or sol, 830 (May 24) to increase its northerly tilt. By sol 833's drive, the wheels became partially embedded, hampering Opportunity from making significant progress. Controllers began the extraction process on sol 836, commanding the rover to drive forward over its previous tracks. They completed the extraction on sol 841, and Opportunity has resumed the drive toward Victoria Crater. Sol-by-sol summaries: Sol 837 (June 1): This was the second sol of the extraction effort. Controllers commanded Opportunity to take 10 steps of one-meter (3.3 feet) each. To prevent the rover from moving too far or in a way that the team did not expect, the drive commands included checks on tilt, yaw, suspension angles, and distance traveled. The team employed several safety checks, some redundant, to stop the rover after it had safely reached outcrop. Opportunity's instruments recorded forward motion of approximately 8 centimeters (3.1 inches). Sol 838: This was the first sol of a three-sol weekend plan with three identical drives planned. At first, only the sol 838 drive was uplinked to the rover. Controllers held go/no-go meetings over the weekend to review Opportunity's progress and decide whether the next drive sequence was safe to uplink. The first sol of the three-sol plan was the third sol of the extraction effort. The drive plan was identical to sol 837's, except the team steered the wheels slightly down-slope. In 10 meters (33 feet) of commanded motion, the rover made only 4.2 centimeters (1.7 inches) of progress, with progress decreasing as the drive continued. Images showed the wheels were more caked after the drive than before it. The progress during this drive was on par with what was observed when Opportunity was embedded in Purgatory Dune. Sol 839: This was the fourth sol of the extraction effort. The sequence was identical to the previous sol's. Opportunity made approximately 5 centimeters (2 inches) of progress, which was slightly better than in the preceding sol, but with a similar trend of less progress toward the end of the drive. The wheels appeared cleaner. Sol 840: The fifth sol of the extraction effort was identical to the previous sol's. Downlink for this came in about 3 a.m. Monday morning (June 5), and controllers called it a great way to start the week, with 28 (11 inches) of progress made. The front wheels were significantly less buried and they were cleaner. Based on the Purgatory experience, these were taken as signs that the rover was about to break free. Sol 841: On the sixth sol of the extraction effort, the sequence was similar to the previous sol's, but with tighter limits to make sure the rover didn't exceed the drive goal. Controllers commanded the rover to take 10 steps of one-meter (3.3 feet) each, but only three were executed. After visual odometry measured 2.8 meters (9.2 feet) of progress and a corresponding change in heading, the drive stopped as intended. The first step showed only 18 percent slip, and the next two steps showed essentially no slip. All six wheels reached outcrop. This sol began on June 5, Danish Constitution Day. The holiday commemorates the anniversary of the signing of the Danish Constitution of 1849, which established Denmark as a constitutional monarchy, and also honors the constitution of 1953, which was adopted on the same date. Denmark provided magnet arrays for Opportunity's and Spirit's studies of airborne dust. In honor of Danish colleagues, the rover team decided to use Danish names for targets in the area of Opportunity's current location. Sol 842: Opportunity took high-resolution imaging of the newly named dune, Jammerbugt, where it had become temporarily embedded. The informal name comes from a bay named Jammerbugt (The Bay of Wailing) on the north coast of Denmark, known for its many shipwrecks. Opportunity also acquired the standard set of post-drive imaging to assist in planning the next drive. Sol 843: Back on the road again, Opportunity retraced its steps about 5 meters (16.4 feet) back to another outcrop patch. From there, the planned route started south, down a trough parallel to the one the team had previously chosen. The rover drove 11.3 meters (37 feet), but no southerly progress was made. Sol 844 (June 9): Opportunity completed a 20-meter (66-foot) drive southward. Controllers included slip checks in the commands, to stop the drive in case of excessive slip. Odometry: As of sol 843 (June 8), Opportunity's odometry totaled 7,985.5 meters (4.96 miles). Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Mars Exploration Rovers Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com Lunar Dreams and more
Stationary Spirit Progressing On Long-Term Experiments
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 12, 2006Closing in on two-and-a-half years of operations in the hostile Martian environment and suffering from a stuck right-front wheel, NASA's Spirit rover nevertheless remains otherwise healthy and continues to make progress on the rover's winter science experiments. |
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