Posted on 04/19/2004 6:32:28 PM PDT by Phil V.
Daily Updates - April 19, 2004
Opportunity Status for sol 84
On the Way to 'Fram Crater'
posted Apr. 19, 5:30 pm PDT
Opportunity began sol 84, which ended at 3:34 p.m. PST on April 19, with some remote sensing observations and analysis with the microscopic imager and Moessbauer spectrometer. At 13:13 Mars Local Solar time, Opportunity began a 25-meter (82 feet) drive toward "Fram Crater," taking images of its surroundings on the way. At the conclusion of the drive the rover acquired more remote sensing.
Opportunity will spend sol 85, which ends at 4:13 p.m. PST on April 20, 2004, using the instruments on its instrument deployment device to investigate a rock target at Fram Crater.
Spirit Status for sol 102 - 104
'Missoula Crater' in Site
posted Apr. 19, 11 am PDT
Spirit had a busy weekend, culminating with a 75-meter (246-feet) drive toward "Missoula Crater" on sol 103, which ended at 2:33 a.m. PST on April 18. The sol before the drive, Sol 102, which ended at 1:54 a.m. on April 17, was an easier day for Spirit. Its main objectives were to use the panoramic camera and mini thermal emission spectrometer to acquire photometric and atmospheric measurements.
Before beginning the drive on sol 103, Spirit took panoramic camera images to help planners localize the rover during the long traverse. It then used the panoramic camera and mini thermal emission spectrometer to take a look back at the wheel tracks. Once this information was onboard, the rover began to drive.
Rover controllers planned the first 37 meters (121.4 feet) of the drive, but Spirit used the updated autonomous navigation software to see it through the remaining 38 meters (124.7 feet). Between the two drives, Sprit imaged its surroundings with the panoramic and navigation cameras for context. At the end of the 75-meter (246-feet) drive, Spirit rested a mere 40 meters (131.2 feet) from its destination at the rim of "Missoula Crater." From that spot, it took mini thermal emission spectrometer observations of the sky and ground along with panoramic and navigation camera images to plan the next drive.
Sol 104, which ended at 3:13 a.m. PST on April 19, was a remote sensing day for Spirit. It included a search for dust devils and panoramic camera imaging of Mars' moon Phobos as it transits across the sun and sets.
Twin NASA rovers roll up to craters on opposite sides of Mars
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - NASA's twin Mars rovers pulled up to the rims of separate craters on Monday as they continue to explore opposite sides of the Red Planet.
Both stops were intended as intermediate pauses on longer journeys undertaken by both Spirit and Opportunity, said Cornell University astronomer Steve Squyres, the mission's main scientist.
Spirit arrived at Missoula Crater, a 330-foot-wide depression, as it continues to roll eastward toward a cluster of low-slung hills. Spirit was to snap a panorama of the crater on Tuesday before continuing on its trek in Gusev Crater to the Columbia Hills.
Halfway around Mars, Opportunity reached a crater of its own, this one just one-tenth the diameter. Initial images of the shallow bowl nicknamed Fram Crater show jumbled blocks of rock outcrop, Squyres said.
Mission members are steering Opportunity toward Endurance Crater, which is an estimated 500 feet in diameter. It lies roughly 700 feet and about a week's drive beyond Fram Crater.
In recent days, Opportunity's cameras have begun to reveal details of the larger crater's rocky lip, including a stark white, 3-foot-high section of bedrock.
Scientists are eager for the rover to closely examine that band of rock, since it could expand on their understanding of the wet environment once found at the site, called Meridiani Planum.
Opportunity landed in a small, rock-rimmed crater. Subsequent analysis of the rock revealed it formed in water, perhaps a shallow sea, that could have been hospitable to life.
The rock outcrop at Endurance could be 30 or more feet high, implying it formed over a far longer period of time than did the curb-sized outcrop first spied at Opportunity's landing site within Eagle Crater, Squyres said.
Both rovers recently received new software in part to enable them to travel farther than before. Opportunity on Saturday rolled 462 feet, setting a one-day distance record for the $835 million double mission.
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On the Net: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html
A Soyuz rocket carrying the international space station's next crew roared to life and rocketed away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan late Sunday, kicking off the ninth expedition to the orbital outpost.
. . .
Hope to see some good stuff at the craters,, but I want that shot from the top of one of the Columbia hills..
Do you know what a rover is rated for climb-wise, grade and all?
Remember the old moon buggy 8-? Next time .. ;-)
The Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Monday April 19, 2004, carrying Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka, Flight Engineer Mike Fincke and European Space Agency Astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands to the International Space Station (news - web sites). Padalka and Fincke will spend six months on the Station, while Kuipers returns home April 30 with the current residents of the complex. (AP Photo/NASA (news - web sites), Bill Ingalls)
American flight engineer Michael Fincke (L), Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers (R) and Russian flight commander Gennady Padalka wave before heading to Soyuz TMA-4 craft to blast off to the International Space Station (news - web sites) at Russia's cosmodrome Baikonur in Kazakhstan, April 19, 2004. Fincke and Padalka will spend around six months on the orbital platform, while Kuipers will return to Earth after 11 days of conducting experiments. REUTERS/Mikhail Grachyev
Hills Still a Distant Goal for Spirit
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this grey-scale panoramic camera image on sol 100, April 14, 2004. It captures Spirit's future destination at the highlands informally named "Columbia Hills". In this image, the hills are approximately 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) to the southeast. Scientists believe the hills may consist of different and potentially older rock units than the basalts that Spirit has observed so far.
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