Mars Rover Spirit Mission Update Thread

[najab]

Hot damn! That Spirit has really done some driving.

 

[thechemist]

A small Panorama from Sol 318 images. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[fangsheath]

What we see there is the tip of the spur that runs northwest off of Husband Hill. I will call it Northwest Spur for now. The entirety of it can be seen in this panorama.<br /><br />There is a lot to be said for proceeding northeastward to the main ridge (more or less straight down the middle of your panorama). We would soon get a look at large areas of terrain we have seen only from orbit. But in a funny way, I hope that doesn't happen. I think they would be very tempted by the sights to delay the quest for Husband Hill, and I believe that even more compelling terrain awaits us to the south of the peak.<br /><br />Ah well. It's all good.

 

[JonClarke]

That is an amazing panorama. What intrigues me is how black the sky appears on the left hand side. Is this because there has been extensive settling of atmospheric dust or is it related to sun angle?<br /><br />Jon<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[centsworth_II]

<font color="yellow">"I believe that even more compelling terrain<br />awaits us to the south of the peak."</font><br /><br />Then again, it may not be possible to explore the south side<br />until the summer sun is high, perhaps eight months from now.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[thechemist]

First of all sorry everybody for posting such a wide image.<br />Jon, all images in that panorama were taken between 13.12 and 13.50 in the afternoon of Sol 318, <br />using the same filter L2 (753 nm). <br />Usually the L7/R1 combination is used for panoramas, and in them the sky looks bright.<br /><br />The Sol 294 pancam images offer a good chance to see the effect of camera <br />filter on the darkness of the sky. Only L5, L6 and L7 show bright skies.<br /><br />I don't think that the sun angle contibutes much to this. <br />Dust might play a role, however I am not familiar with its effect on such images.<br />Remember also that we have onboard autocalibration of pixel intensity in these images, <br />plus we do not know the exposure times for each one.<br />Cheers.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[eric_apollo]

Subject: User Name: Mental_Avenger<br /><br />To Whom It May Concern,<br /><br />The above person, user name Mental_Avenger has continued to purposely spread lies and disinformation about the International Space Agency and Mr. Rick Dobson.<br /><br />This person has taken a number of user names on Space.Com and on other Space Message Boards, to spread their lies and disinformation.<br /><br />This person has, and is, working either with, or on the behalf of, some unknown organization or group that has been conducting a focused smear and propaganda campaign now for a number of years against the International Space Agency and Mr. Rick Dobson.<br /><br />This person has been baiting people, and entering posts which the International Space Agency has made, with the "specific purpose" of slandering, causing trouble, and spreading lies & disinformation. And to specifically disrupt and derail these positive posts, and to chase people away. This persons malicious and vindictive actions have been constant and very threatening.<br /><br />We are asking that these slanderous and illegal acts be stopped, and that we obtain the personal information of this person for legal action for criminal defamation of character and slander, and to report this person to Law Enforcement for making terroristic threats against the Chairman & CEO of the International Space Agency, Mr. Rick Dobson. This person "Mental_Avenger" has been making a number of terroristic threats against the Chairman & CEO of the International Space Agency, Mr. Rick Dobson.<br /><br />The International Space Agency or Mr. Dobson has never done anything wrong on Space.Com, and has never been anything less than positive, or has presented anything other than uplifting and factual information to the Space.Com community and posting board.<br /><br />It is criminal to allow this person "Mental_Avenger" to defame, smear, and attack legitimate organizations and people with impunity. This is not a freedom of speech issue, as th

 

[fangsheath]

The rover is on the move again, it has become apparent that they do not intend to run along the north slope of West Spur, but it is not yet clear if they are going to run up Northwest Spur toward Husband Hill or drive northeastward toward the pass between Clark and Husband Hills. We are really getting quite close to Husband Hill now, only about 2 football fields distance. That's about how far we've come from the Clovis area!

 

[fangsheath]

Spirit is very close to the foot of Northwest Spur now, I think they are going to run up the spur toward Husband Hill. The light situation gets better by the day, the sun angles are now comparable to what they were back in late June (about 36 degrees off the zenith at mid-day here at Gusev). Now if those pesky dust storms will stay away, maybe we can make it to the summit. Today is 18 Aug on Ames' Mars calendar.

 

[fangsheath]

I have updated these images with the approximate location of the vehicle as of the most recently posted Navcam images. Notice the interesting variable-albedo area in the upper right. Judging from the elevation map (top), we should be able to see this area fairly shortly as we ascend Northwest Spur.

 

[mah_fl]

Its nice to have an updated map of the route Spirit has taken, but I wish they would do it more often. Can't wait for the view down into the valley <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[farmerman]

Does anyone know the current state of spirit's sticky or bad wheel. Is it working now, or does the problem still exist? I've lost track about the wheel.

 

[fangsheath]

Here is an excerpt from the Dec 7 Spirit update:<br /><br />The amount of electric current drawn by the motor of the right front wheel continues to be a concern. However, during a recent drive the current draw was closer to normal than it had been in preceding weeks. Engineers will continue to limit use of this wheel by driving backwards when terrain allows, dragging it 90 percent of the time.

 

[thechemist]

This Navcam image from Sol332 shows Spirit's course in the semi-plains so far:<br />image link<br /><br />I think in a couple of Sols Spirit will try to climb up towards Husband Hill's top. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[centsworth_II]

I can see for miles and miles.<br /><br />I can't wait to see the same view on the OTHER side of the hills. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[fortytwo]

Farmerman said:<br />"Does anyone know the current state of spirit's sticky or bad wheel. Is it working now, or does the problem still exist? I've lost track about the wheel. "<br /><br />I don't know if this zig-zagged track is just from climbing or because of the bad wheel, but I remember earlier images of this sort showed much straighter tracks. This is taken from the "Images of Mars" board in "Space Science & Astronomy".<br /><br />http://uplink.space.com/attachments//95238-2N154158930EFFR0M1.jpg

 

[centsworth_II]

That track is just what you would expect from the rover driving backwards with a stuck (or shut off) right front wheel. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[thechemist]

Have a look at this thread from the MER forum for some info and experiments on Spirit's sand trails, provided by djellison <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> :<br />link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[farmerman]

thanks everyone for the wheel info. I hope spirit can drive for a long time yet, there's alot to see yet.

 

[thechemist]

This 2-Navcam-stitch is indicative of the slope Spirit is sitting on around Sol 330.<br />It experienced 90% slippage on this location. The arrow points to West Spur, where it all started <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[thechemist]

Is this some kind of atmospheric phenomenon including clouds that they try to observe ?<br />All 4 NavCam images uploaded today at exploratorium are like this one :<br /><br />image link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[centsworth_II]

Refraction of sunlight by ice upper atmospheric ice crystals?<br /><br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/weatherwise/factfiles/basics/earthsun_effects.shtml <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[thalion]

They may be trying to record clouds, but I'm 90% sure the rings in that image are internal reflections of the lenses.

 

[redgryphon]

Just noticed that Spirit is nearly half way through Sol 335. That means Spirit has now been cruising Gusev Crater for half a Mars year! (One Martian year = 668.6 sols)<br /><br />Here's hoping Spirit makes it a full lap of the Sun on Mars.

 

[centsworth_II]

<font color="yellow">"Here's hoping Spirit makes it a full lap of the Sun on Mars."</font><br /><br />It's gotten through the worst part, solar energy-wise.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>