Mars rover Daily Updates -Spirit Making Ground - Opportunity-A Beautiful Grind

NASA - JPL ^ | 2-24-2004 | NASA/JPL

[Phil V.]

Daily Updates - February 24, 2004

Spirit Status for sol 51 Making Ground posted Feb. 24, 2 pm PST

To inspire a morning "run" on sol 51, which ended at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, PST, Spirit woke up to Vangelis’ "Chariots of Fire." The rover deployed its arm, took microscopic images of the soil in front of it and then proceeded toward its target, "Middle Ground." Spirit drove 30 meters (98.4 feet), breaking its own record for a single-sol traverse. Along the way, Spirit paused to image rocks on both sides of the drive path with its panoramic camera.

The auto-navigational software that drove the last 12 meters (39.4 feet) of the traverse to the "Middle Ground" target warned Spirit that the slope into the hollow that houses it was too steep (according to parameters set by rover engineers). Spirit then paced along the rim, looking for a safe way down. Unable to locate a secure path into the crater before the sol ended, Spirit ended up facing slightly west of north instead of northeast, as called for by the plan. This orientation will reduce the amount of data the rover can return (due to interference between the UHF antenna and items on the rover equipment deck), but it will be corrected in the coming sols.

As of today, Spirit has moved 183.25 meters (601.21 feet) and is now roughly 135 meters (442.91 feet) from its landing site, Columbia Memorial Station.

The intent for the next several sols will be to drive Spirit into "Middle Ground" and take a full panorama of the surrounding area to identify scientifically interesting rocks.

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Opportunity Status for sol 30 A Beautiful Grind posted Feb. 24, 11:15 am PST

On sol 30, which ended at 2:56 a.m. Tuesday, February 24, Opportunity performed its first rock abrasion tool operation on a rock target known as 'McKittrick Middle Rat' at the El Capitan site inside the crater. The tool shaved the rock over a period of two hours, grinding into a total depth of about 4 millimeters (.16 inches).

The auspicious day began with the song 'Rock'n Me' by Steve Miller and some miniature thermal emission spectrometer sky surveys and sky stares to study the atmosphere. After completing these activities, Opportunity took a short siesta to recharge its batteries. The rover has been doing a lot of science work at night, and the season on Mars is changing to winter, so the rover has less energy to work with than it did earlier in the mission. The martian days are getting shorter and the sun angle is not allowing either rover to power up the solar panels as much as in the past.

Opportunity woke up from its nap at 11:30 Local Solar Time on Mars to run through the series of commands required to retract the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and close its doors; take several microscopic images of another nearby rock abrasion tool target called 'Guadalupe;' flip the wrist; take a microscopic image of "McKittrick Middle Rat;" and place the rock abrasion tool on its target to run at 13:00 Local Solar Time.

After the abrasion tool was retracted, a series of microscopic images of the scene were taken, and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer was successfully placed into the abrasion tool's hole late in the day.

Some additional panoramic camera, miniature thermal emission spectrometer readings, and hazard avoidance camera imagery was completed through the day.

The plan for sol 31, which will end at 3:36 a.m. Wednesday, February 25, is to continue getting long Moessbauer readings of the rock abrasion tool hole and to prepare the tool for more work again on sol 33 or 34.

[from occupied ga]

your political discussions and resulting flame fests. That way, people who want to discuss the latest pictures or data can do so, and

1. First, my comments are on the economics rather than the politics.
2. Second. No one is forced to respond.
3. Third, although I do not claim to have a spotless record in starting flame, I think at least on this thread I only responded to insults with insults, and responded to reasonable argument with the best reasonable approach I could. I don't find flame fests as you so aptly named them particularly interesting. No where near as interesting as peoples' ideas on why private funding of space exploration is a bad idea
4. Fourth, It ain't much science. We see pictures of rocks and dirt. Granted rocks and dirt on Mars, but what did anyone expect to see? Green tentacled martians? Where are the mineral analyses?
5. Fifth since you can't divorce the economics of science from the science itself, since it all comes down to resource allocation, I see relevance in asking the question even if it is the same question.
6. Sixth you make the claim that I hijacked the thread. This is nonsense. Most of my posts were in response to other peoples' posts. I started a dialog with Frank_discussion, but most of the others jumped me for my views.
7. Seventh, I find your attempt to control the content of the threads somewhat annoying. I got the impression from reading the purpose of FR that this wsite was supposed to facilitate rolling back decades of government largess of something like that, not provide a platform for cheerleading a big government spending program - no matter how much you like science.
8. Ninth, I like science myself, I just like the idea of the free market determining whatscience gets funded.
9. Tenth, If you really remember what I said in other mars threads, you will remember I am not against space exploration. I just think it should be privately funded and keep giving the Keck telescope as an example of how much more gets done for the dollar when the funds are private

I've run out of things to say for now, so in conclusion - no If you don't like what I have to say, don't read it. If you don't like flame fests, don't start one. (and you didn't here) If you think that $820 million taxpayer dollars for Mars pictures is a good us of $820 million, then I disagree.

[FireTrack]

Critters? I'm inclined to think we are looking at forams and bryozoa-like creatures (there, now I'm committed)

Wow! ;-)

Here are a few more I found for ya... NASA finally started releasing more images.

[FireTrack]

Ping

[Liberty Tree Surgeon]

I've run out of things to say for now...

This is my point. You've stated your case on numerous threads, and you've entertained responses (some civil, some otherwise) on those same threads. Most who visit these threads have seen your point of view. To continue posting the same thing over and over moves beyond debate and into trolling, which can be loosely defined as posting items with the intention of generating a heated response. I'm not attempting to control the threads, I'm asking you to control yourself.

LTS

[MrNeutron1962]

This is no secret: "Controllers are looking at an issue on Opportunity. Telemetry from the rover indicates a small power draw, which engineers suspect is a heater on the science arm's shoulder joint that is operating during the cold period of the each day instead of simply when the arm is being used. Mission manager Jim Erickson says it is too soon to say what, if any, impact this will have. "

This was posted on Spacefilght Now at 17:30 GMT on Monday 1/26/2004.

From: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/status2.html

[ArrogantBustard]

It sure would have been nice if someone at NASA would have had the foresight to put RTGs

Whenever they (NASA) use or even propose the use of RTGs, Michio Kaku and his merry band of luddites screech and howl like baboons. Remember the hysteria when Cassini was launched?

[from occupied ga]

. To continue posting the same thing over and over moves beyond debate and into trolling, which can be loosely defined as posting items with the intention of generating a heated response.

Even if I agreed with you, which I don't, Then this would presuppose that it's always the same people who read these thread. You might know my viewpoint, but someone else does not.

I'm not attempting to control the threads, I'm asking you to control yourself.

No you're trying to limit discussion on the threads to things you want to hear and to people you want to hear from by asking me not to post my opinions. If one follows your "logic," then none of the regular posters on these threads would be allowed to post anything, because we already know that they favor taxpayer funded space exploration, we already know that they go oooh and aaah over the martian rocks and dirt. Further your "request" that I not post my opinions because you don't like them runs contrary to

We're working to roll back decades of governmental largesse, ...

Because despite your obvious approval of the recipient of the largess, NASA is government largesse. Your "request" for me to stop expressing my opinions simply because you don't like them is denied. If you don't like what I have to say don't read my comments and if you don't want to get into a dialog with me don't ask.

I note that you failed to respond to most of what I said to you, but simply reiterated your request that I not engage in these discussions. Well I'll reiterate - no, and I'll make a further suggestion to you. You "control yourself" and stop posting because we already know your opinions.

[Aracelis]

Holy cr...cow! That thing in the middle looks like a belemnite!

[Fitzcarraldo]

Upper right corner - Trilobite?

[Liberty Tree Surgeon]

I didn't need to respond to your list, since I know what your position is and why your relaying it to us. The point remains that you show up on every thread with the same message, engage a new person, and then post the same thing phrased different ways in every response.

Guess what, none of your bellyaching is going to make those rovers disappear in a puff of smoke. All you are doing is making a nuisance of yourself to the FReepers who want to view and discuss the latest images of "rocks and dust" (see, I've heard it so much, I know the refrain). This is not an issue of limiting discussion, but of repetition.

LTS

[Aracelis]

Ok, I guess I can speculate as widly as anyone else now. I wish I knew the scales of these images. "Parallel evolution"? Hmmm...Cambrian explosion of biodiversity, what was possibly different about the Sun and it's radiation during this time? Actually I would expect any life on Mars to be more like the ecosystems we find surrounding black smokers, life dependant upon geothermal activity.

[from occupied ga]

Whatever

[Fitzcarraldo]

Or cross-contamination between planets? There was a lot of asteroid impact activity in the pre-cambrian.

[Aracelis]

That's on my mind too, but I think it will be a long time before that question is settled...plus the question of "who" might have contaminated "who". (Ok, my grammer stinks...I'm a geologist. We're used to simply grunting in the field.)

[RightWhale]

To continue posting the same thing over and over

I don't believe we can reasonably object to posting the same thing over and over when the posts are on separate threads and are days apart. The obnoxious spam posts are those that hit many threads nearly simultaneously with nearly irrelevant info. We ought to consider the cost of science, although I believe not enough is spent from the public coffer on science.

[FireTrack]

"Holy cr...cow! That thing in the middle looks like a belemnite!"

I'm wondering what if any are the odds the "Vegas Bookies" are giving on finding life on Mars and if it's too late to get in on the action!

[RightWhale]

Over on the APOD thread, if you happened to see the astronomy image of the day, it looks like dark energy is doing the same thing to the universe that a finite oil supply is doing to us. There might not be an eventual end to the pretty lights, but there could be a peak and we might be past the peak.

[Aracelis]

Look at the top middle circled area. Kinda looks like a rugose coral...

[from occupied ga]

it looks like dark energy is doing the same thing to the universe that a finite oil supply is doing to us. There might not be an eventual end to the pretty lights, but there could be a peak and we might be past the peak.

I can't get worried about dark energy due to the time frame :-) (Especially since no one knows what dark energy is)

[FireTrack]

I think we're looking at the fossilized remains of an ancient sea bottom that was teeming with life! I just can't imagine anything else that would develop into what we're seeing in these images.

It's going to take a time for the enormity of this to soak in if true.