Mars rover Daily Updates - February 20, 2004 - Spirit Digs a Trench - Opportunity "El Capitan"

NASA - JPL ^ | 02-20-2004 | NASA/JPL

[Phil V.]

Daily Updates - February 20, 2004

Spirit Status for sol 47 Spirit Digs a Trench posted Feb. 20, 12 pm PST

On sol 47, ending at 12:36 p.m. February 20, 2004 PST, engineers woke Spirit up to the song "Dig Down Deep," by Hot Soup, and that's exactly what Spirit proceeded to do. The two-hour operation performed by Spirit's left front wheel resulted in a trench 7-8 centimeters deep (2.8 to 3.1 inches) that uncovers fresh soil and possibly ancient information.

Spirit dug this trench at "Laguna Hollow" the same way that Opportunity dug its 9-10 centimeter (3.5 to 3.9 inch) trench at Meridiani. However, because the ground at this location is harder, Spirit had to dig for twice as long as Opportunity – going back and forth over the surface 11 times instead of 6.

After the trench was completed, Spirit backed up one meter, or more than a yard, and analyzed the area with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer before driving forward 0.4 meters (15.7 inches) and imaging the excavation site with the panoramic camera. A final move forward of another 0.4 meters allowed Spirit to take front hazard avoidance camera images of the arm work volume which was then centered on the trench.

After stowing the arm, the rover did a series of miniature thermal emission spectrometer observations of several nearby rocks, "Buffalo," "Cherry," "Cotton," and "Jiminy Cricket," and a combined miniature thermal emission spectrometer and panoramic camera observation of "Beacon." Spirit also took panoramic camera images of its deck to observe dust accumulation on the instrumented solar cells and on the miniature thermal emission spectrometer calibration target.

Spirit then took a siesta from 2 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Mars Local Solar time and woke up for some more panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer observations of "Beacon," and miniature thermal emission spectrometer ground and sky stares. All activities up through the afternoon pass by the Mars Odyssey orbiter were completed successfully.

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Opportunity Status for sol 26 Enter the Rock Abrasion Tool posted Feb. 20, 8:30 am PST

On sol 26, which ended at 12:18 a.m. Friday, February 19, PST, Opportunity successfully obtained one final Moessbauer spectrometer reading of the trench, stowed the rover arm, and drove 15 meters (50 feet) to the "El Capitan" area. The drive was Opportunity’s longest yet and required the vehicle and planners to skirt the trench and avoid the lander.

The plan for sol 27, which will end at 12:57 a.m. Saturday, PST, is to first "supersize" the measurements of the "El Capitan" area with the panoramic camera, miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and microscopic imager. The mineralogy and geology teams have requested a minimum of three hours worth of "super resolution" and "super spectral" observations for the science instruments to get the most comprehensive coverage of this interesting site, which has varying textures and layers of dirt and rock.

After a short siesta in the early afternoon, Opportunity will drive 30 centimeters (12 inches) to sneak a bit closer to the rocks in "El Capitan" to get ready for the rock abrasion tool to do its work. After the drive, the Opportunity team plans to take a picture of the martian sky with the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer. If time permits, Opportunity will attempt to aim its cameras toward the heat shield in the far distance.

Over the weekend, Opportunity plans to find the perfect spot to use the abrasion tool and set it loose to grind away on "El Capitan," which will be the first use of the rock abrasion tool by Opportunity.

[Phil V.]

today's stereo strips . . . Spirit's trench . . .

Opportunity's worksite, "El Capitan" . . .

[Phil V.]

If you'd like to be on or off this MARS ping list please FRail me

[Phil V.]

Spirit's trench . . .

view full image

[blam]

Excellent. (bump)

[Phil V.]

work site - "El Capitan" . . .

view full image

[freedumb2003]

Is there some way to see these images? I know they had some in the red/blue eyeglasses vein and I remember when I was little kid there was some sort of technique with a small mirror, but I don't recall how it worked.

[LADY J]

Thanks for posting these. Amazing what those little guys are doing!

[Phil V.]

It IS possible!
Get a 12"sq piece of cardboard, floor tile . . . anything thin to place one edge on the divide between the left and right picure. Place the tip of your nose on the edge near you. Relax your eyes as though you're gazing off into the distance. PRACTICE! In time you'll bre able to train your eyes to bring the two images together for kool 3-d. (It took me about a week, but I'm and old fart!)

[smith288]

I just cross my eyes a little and match two landmarks and match them together and then focus...

Hard to explain but once you learn how to do it, its amazing. Much better than the red blue glasses in my opinion.

[Phil V.]

I also have a turn-of-the-century stereoscope that WORKS GREAT!

[freedumb2003]

WOW!!! It works! It works! I get a center "strip" that is a stereo vision of the 2 panels when I cross my eyes a little. Kind of like those "magic eye" things, which I ALWAYS see inverted -- as holes in stead of bumps.

But then my Mom's voice kicks in about it being permanent if you cross your eyes too long and the effect dissolves in a puff of childhood guilt! ;)

[DoughtyOne]

That was a great stereographic. It certainly changed my perspective when it kicked in.

I'm a photography buff and enjoy goofing around with it. I've taken some interesting photos at home, taking one shot then moving about four inches to the right or left, then taking another. You'd be surprised how easily these turn into stereographs, with full depth.

One poster aluded to the early 20th century sterographs. They were excellent. You can do even better with today's digital photography and top level printing at home.

If you get a chance, give it a try.

D1

[Semi Civil Servant]

It took about 20 seconds to get the "cross-eyed" technique to work for me. Thanks for the tip. (I guess all that time I spent in the mall staring at those 3-D posters finally paid off.)

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[norton]

It's 11:30 & I've just discovered that I can't do sterio when my eyes are tired.

But I can make the rocks multiply.

[Fledermaus]

IT DUG A TRENCH?

Oh no, morons will be whining about outsourcing!

[AdmSmith]

Here are some more 3D pictures of different objects incl astronomical.

http://nzphoto.tripod.com/stereo/stereo1.htm

[Phil V.]

Thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it. I've only been recently reactivated into 3-d viewing and have much to catch up on. Again, THANX!

[Dr._Joseph_Warren]

Great stuff!!! Keep it coming!!!

Can somebody clarify one point for me? Are they digging these trenches by locking four wheels and spinning the other two? Thanks.

[Phil V.]

To the best of my understanding, Dr., it is done by spinning just one wheel and using the other "drivers" to scoot fwd. and back one or more times.