[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rover Update - August 31, 2004

From: David Freeman <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Aug 31 17:22:56 2004
Message-ID: <4134EC54.8020605_at_fascination.com>

Dear Ron, List;
I note a rather, to me, suspect practice ....Mars rover updates do not
say what they are finding scientifically, or not recently, or often...
For instance, billy bob and roy went fishing today on this here lake.
 Big Bass, Big Bass! The two zebco reels worked flawlessly, Yahoo,
brand new rhino rods, the barometer was just right, the minkota trolling
motor moved us around to the left near the bank, and we addressed a
murky old stump where we checked the fish finder and then cast some
really nice rapala's out to the greatest habitat we had ever seen in our
lives. We throw out a bobber and a juicy 'ol night crawler just in case....
And then the story ends......Tomorrow is another day....another report,
The Two zebco reels worked flawlessly, Yahoo, brand..........you can get
the idea.
So, what are we finding in these here rocks that are interesting,
Ebenezer would be a great candidate to spill what we are finding, think?
Seems suspicious we don't have a press release with REAL information,
other than navigation to different rocks.....where's the beef?
More...Bob and friends go to Nevada, perfect weather....oops, a
different ending....
Dave Freeman

Next episode: Bert and Ernie learn to drive a jeep in the woods!

Ron Baalke wrote:

>
>http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status.html
>
>SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit has been etching into 'Ebenezer' - sol 219-231,
>August 31, 2004
>
>During sols 219 through 223, Spirit completed science observations at
>the "Clovis" rock outcrop. So Spirit packed up and slowly moved on.
>Winter is approaching and temperatures continue to drop. Power is always
>a major concern as available energy fluctuates between 300 and 400
>watt-hours per sol, but Spirit continues the quest, climbing ever higher
>into the Columbia Hills. Spirit has climbed more than 13 meters (43
>feet) in elevation from Hank's Hollow, at the base of Columbia Hills,
>but currently is at an elevation of 37 meters (121 feet) above its
>landing site on the plains of Gusev Crater!
>
>On sol 224, operators became concerned that Spirit's batteries might be
>entering a very low state of charge, so Spirit shut down to charge the
>batteries.
>
>Sol 225 was truly a mega-activity sol. Spirit awoke at 11:20 a.m., Gusev
>local solar time and stayed awake well past the afternoon communication
>session with NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter without taking a nap. Spirit
>hasn't done that in a long time. The rover extended its arm and used its
>rock abrasion tool to brush seven circular patches on Clovis. After the
>first five brushings, the arm was moved out of the way and an image was
>taken of the circles. These five brushing circles resemble the Olympic
>rings.
>
>After completing the brushing, Spirit performed a 30-minute reading with
>its alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, imaged the seven rings using its
>microscopic imager, stowed its arm and drove one meter (three feet)
>backward, farther off of the Clovis outcrop. Spirit's day was far from
>over. The rover performed post-drive observations with its navigation
>camera, observations with its miniature thermal emission spectrometer
>concurrent with the afternoon Odyssey pass, and panoramic camera
>observations before shutting down. Another gold medal performance for
>Spirit!
>
>Total odometry after sol 225 was 3,605 meters (2.24 miles), a Mars record.
>
>>From sols 226-229, Spirit stopped at a rock dubbed "Ebenezer" for
>several sols of intense science. Ebenezer is roughly 8 meters (26 feet)
>from Clovis.
>
>While at Ebenezer, Spirit was facing south of east, with its nose
>pitched up 21 degrees. This orientation was very favorable from a power
>perspective since the sun tracks to the north. Spirit's daily solar
>energy input increased about 10 percent as a result. Spirit also had a
>great view of the Gusev plain from this location.
>
>On Sol 230, Spirit used the rock abrasion tool to brush a target on
>Ebenezer and took an overnight alpha particle X-ray spectrometer reading
>on the brushed area. On Sol 231, which ended on Aug. 27, the abrasion
>tool ground for two hours into the same spot it had brushed. An alpha
>particle X-ray spectrometer reading in the resulting hole began the
>morning of Sol 232.
>
>Over the next few sols, the plan is for Spirit to drive to its next
>target, which is yet to be determined.
>
>
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>
Received on Tue 31 Aug 2004 05:23:32 PM PDT