[meteorite-list] Mars Exploration Rover Update - March 17, 2005

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Mar 21 13:24:58 2005
Message-ID: <200503180048.j2I0mqn11450_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status.html

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Arrives at 'Vostok' - sol 396-402,
March 17, 2005

After a long, sustained series of traverses (with a few stops along the
way to see the sights) Opportunity has reached "Vostok Crater." The
rover began a set of in-situ measurements on the soil and rock of
Vostok. The miniature thermal emission spectrometer instrument seems to
be showing some symptoms of its age, resulting in some failed images;
diagnostic observations using the instrument will be performed shortly.
Opportunity otherwise continues to be in excellent health.

Sol-by-sol summaries:

Sols 396 and 397 (March 5 and 6) were designed as a two-sol plan, with
two sols of driving toward Vostok. The intent was to cover about 130
meters (427 feet) through combined directed-drive segments and
autonomous-navigation segments on sol 396, followed by another 60-meter
(197-foot) autonomous-navigation drive on sol 397. However, due to a
partially misdefined waypoint (correct coordinates, but with too small a
radius) on the first sol, Opportunity drove farther in its directed
drive than intended. A safety timeout was triggered, and no driving took
place on sol 397. The issue was quickly analyzed and fully understood by
the mobility team and the rover planners, so nominal traverse planning
resumed on sol 398.

In the meantime, the miniature thermal emission spectrometer failed some
command executions, and a command was uplinked on sol 396 to prevent
further use of this instrument until diagnostic testing is completed.

Sol 398 was primarily a drive sol, with Opportunity covering 95 meters
(312 feet) via a combination of directed drives and autonomous navigation.

At the end of a 35-meter (115-foot) traverse, Opportunity finally
reached Vostok during sol 399. The crater is almost completely buried in
sand.

On sol 400, thanks to fortuitous positioning of the rover, in-situ
targets were already in the work volume of the robotic arm, eliminating
the need for an approach sol. Opportunity proceeded to examine a soil
target, "Laika," and a rock, "Gagarin," with its microscopic imager,
then positioned the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer for later
measurements on Gagarin. After taking a panoramic image of Vostok, the
rover took a long nap, waking up for its afternoon downlink and to begin
taking data with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer. Opportunity
awoke again before midnight to stop the integration, and then went into
the deep-sleep mode until morning.

Since the plan called for Opportunity to continue in-situ measurements,
the team chose to combine sols 401 and 402 as a two-sol plan. For sol
401, the plan is to use the brush of the rock abrasion tool brush on
Gagarin and capture a microscopic imager mosaic afterwards. This will be
followed by an evening alpha particle X-ray spectrometer measurement of
the brushed surface, and then by a mini-deep sleep. On sol 402, ending
on March 11, the rover will grind Gagarin for two hours with the rock
abrasion tool, then perform an early morning alpha particle X-ray
spectrometer integration on the resulting hole.
Received on Thu 17 Mar 2005 07:48:51 PM PST


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