OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Preparing for the Road Trip of a Lifetime -
sol 1669-1673, October 03-07, 2008:
Like a motorist preparing for a road trip, NASA’s Opportunity rover is
studying a “road atlas” of Mars, using details provided by a powerful
camera in orbit above the red planet. Opportunity’s road crew is
poring
over every detail of the landscape in images from the High-Resolution
Imaging Science Experiment on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Team members will use the data to select a route to “Endeavour Crater”
12 kilometers (7.5 miles) away.
Meanwhile, Opportunity continues traveling south around the rim of
“Victoria Crater,” stopping for photo shoots at selected locations
along
the way. During the past week, Opportunity drove a distance of 143
meters – more than twice the wingspan of two Boeing 747’s parked side
by side. The rover acquired images of a promontory inside the crater
known as “Cape Pillar” and began driving to another vantage point for
taking images of a promontory known as “Cape Victory.” Opportunity
also
studied the atmosphere, searched for Martian clouds, and scanned the
rover’s external dust-collection magnets.
Opportunity is healthy, with all subsystems performing as expected as
of
Martian day, or sol, 1673 (Oct. 7, 2008). Power has been superb,
averaging 652 watt-hours during the past week (100 watt-hours is the
amount of energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb for one hour.)
Sol-by-sol summary:
Besides measuring daily, dust-related changes in atmospheric clarity
with the panoramic camera, Opportunity completed the following
activities:
Sol 1669 (Oct. 3, 2008): Opportunity surveyed the sky at high Sun and
worked on a systematic survey of the rover’s surroundings using all 13
filters of the panoramic camera. The rover acquired a six-frame,
time-lapse movie in search of clouds with the navigation camera.
Before
relaying data to NASA’s Odyssey orbiter for transmission to Earth,
Opportunity measured atmospheric dust with both the panoramic and
navigation cameras.
Sol 1670: Opportunity searched for morning clouds by acquiring a
six-frame, time-lapse movie with the navigation camera. The rover took
thumbnail images of the morning sky for calibration purposes with the
panoramic camera. Before starting the day’s drive, Opportunity
acquired
a 4-by-1 panel of images with the panoramic camera. After the drive,
the
rover acquired a 2-by-1 and a 3-by-1 panel of images with the
navigation
camera.
Sol 1671: In the morning, Opportunity acquired a 6-by-1 tier of images
of the terrain, overlapping the frames to compensate for dust on the
lens of the panoramic camera. Using all 13 color filters of the
panoramic camera, the rover conducted a systematic survey and acquired
images of particles on the external magnets. After sending data to
Odyssey, Opportunity measured atmospheric argon with the alpha-
particle
X-ray spectrometer.
Sol 1672: Opportunity acquired thumbnail images of the sky for
calibration purposes with the panoramic camera and searched for
morning
clouds by acquiring six, time-lapse movie frames with the navigation
camera. Opportunity surveyed the sky at high Sun with the panoramic
camera, made another six-frame movie in search of clouds with the
panoramic camera, and took more thumbnail images of the sky with the
panoramic camera.
Sol 1673 (Oct. 7, 2008): Opportunity took thumbnail images of the
morning sky for calibration purposes with the panoramic camera and
produced a six-frame movie in search of clouds with the navigation
camera. Opportunity continued driving south and completed a “get fine
attitude” procedure to determine the rover’s exact position relative
to
the Sun. After the drive and before sending data to Odyssey,
Opportunity
took a 2-by-1 and 5-by-1 panel of forward-looking images with the
navigation camera, a 4-by-1 panel of images with the panoramic camera,
and a rearward-looking, 5-by-1 mosaic of images with the navigation
camera. Opportunity acquired a 3-by-1 and a 7-by-1 post-drive tier of
images with the navigation camera as well as a 4-by-1 panel of images
with the panoramic camera. Plans for the following day called for the
rover to take thumbnail images of the sky with the panoramic camera
and
look for clouds with the navigation camera.
Odometry:
As of sol 1673 (Oct. 7, 2008), Opportunity’s total odometry was
12,292.15 meters (7.64 miles).
SPIRIT UPDATE: Getting Ready to Make the Next Move - sol 1695-1701, October 09-15, 2008:
In recent weeks, increasing solar power has enabled Spirit to complete more science activities. Spirit has finished the 360-degree, full- color view of its winter surroundings, known as the “Bonestell panorama,” and acquired extra frames at super resolution to enhance details in the imagery. The rover also has documented seasonal changes in the atmosphere by measuring argon gas with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer.
The tradeoff has been that by funneling most available power into science activities, Spirit has not had much power for sending data to Earth. That is about to change, because Spirit’s on-board memory is nearly full. Instead of sending data only every fourth day, Spirit will begin relaying data every day to NASA’s Odyssey orbiter for transmission to Earth.
Rover operators will use the data to plan Spirit’s first, post-winter drive to adjust the rover’s position to keep the solar panels facing the Sun. The move will put the rover in optimum position before solar conjunction, when Earth and Mars will be on opposite sides of the Sun and communication will not be possible. Solar conjunction will take place on Martian days, or sols, 1745-1760 (Nov. 29-Dec. 15, 2008).
Meanwhile, Spirit is healthy, with all subsystems performing as expected as of sol 1700 (Oct. 14, 2008). Solar-array energy has been 242 watt-hours (100 watt-hours is the amount of energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb for one hour). After weeks of remarkably clear skies, atmospheric opacity or tau, a measure of the decrease in sunlight caused by atmospheric dust, has risen slightly to 0.294. Atmospheric dust levels remain low, but are beginning to trend upward and affect solar power levels. This increase is expected, as it has occurred at this time of year in each of the previous three Martian years.
The dust factor – the percentage of light penetrating dust on Spirit’s solar arrays – has remained steady. Only 32 percent of the sunlight reaching the arrays penetrates the dust to generate electricity.
Sol-by-sol summary
In addition to making daily measurements of the amount of atmospheric dust preventing sunlight from reaching the rover’s solar arrays, Spirit completed the following activities:
Sol 1695 (Oct. 9, 2008): Spirit checked for drift (changes with time) in the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, surveyed the sky and ground with the instrument, did survey work with the panoramic camera, and surveyed a surface target dubbed “Jules Verne” with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Sol 1696: Spirit surveyed the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and made some finishing touches to the lower edge of the full-color, 360-degree view of the rover’s winter surroundings by acquiring 3 panels of images known as “Bonestell lower tiers” 1, 2, and 3.
Sol 1697: Spirit used the miniature thermal emission spectrometer to survey the sky, the ground, and a target known as “Stapledon.” Spirit parked the panoramic camera mast assembly with the panoramic camera pointed below the horizon to minimize dust accumulation.
Sol 1698: Spirit took spot images of the sky for calibration purposes with the panoramic camera and spent much of the day recharging the battery.
Sol 1699: Spirit surveyed the sky at different elevations as well as the ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and used the panoramic camera to survey the horizon and take thumbnail images of the sky on the rover’s right (starboard).
Sol 1700: Spirit surveyed the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and took spot images of the sky with the panoramic camera. Spirit relayed information from Mars to NASA’s Odyssey orbiter for transmission to Earth.
Sol 1701 (Oct. 15, 2008): Spirit surveyed the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and monitored dust accumulation on the panoramic-camera mast assembly.
Odometry:
As of sol 1700 (Oct. 14, 2008), Spirit’s total odometry remained at 7,528.0 meters (4.7 miles).