Mars Rover Spirit Mission Update Thread

[thechemist]

<font color="yellow"> Fangsheath <i> And this is the large outcrop of which I spoke. </i></font><br /><br />Yap, this is it, up close and personal :<br /><br />http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/navcam/2004-07-31/2N144577475EFF8200P1746R0M1.JPG<br /><br />And it is massive ! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

We're really getting our money's worth out of these two rovers. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[thechemist]

Indeed, we are Leo.<br />When I first saw the hill, and in view of the hesitation and tests that Oppy had to do before going down in Endurance, I never thought that Spirit would climb up the hill <b> so fast </b> going backwards and in 5 wheels.<br />Yet it is right there (almost) at the top. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[centsworth_II]

<i>"And it is massive!"</i><br /><br />Just the tip of the iceberg (so to speak). It looks about the size of the rover. Just the right size for a human Mars explorer to sit on, relax, take in the view, and have a picture taken.<br /><br />This rock looks different (to my untrained eye) than the outcrops at the base of the hill. If it is, I wonder what the relationship is between the two sorts of rock. Is the core of the hill one solid mass (this being the exposed tip) and was another rock formation layed down around the hill? Or did the hill push up through an existing formation? I could go on with guesses, I can't wait to see what the scientists say about it all. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jaredgalen]

<font color="yellow"> "I could go on with guesses, I can't wait to see what the scientists say about it all."</font><br /><br />I can't wait either, but are they ever going to give another press conference!?!??!<br />Between the long waits between web updates and the press conferences (or lack of) I'm getting really frustrated.<br /><br />Being totally ignorant when it comes to all the issues that are being looked at, geology etc, I have no other way to understand what's going on. I really relied on these updates. I'm guessing it's a funding issue. But does it cost a lot of money to put a couple of pages of info and updates on their site??<br />Sorry, I'm just in the mood for a rant. I'm done now.

 

[thechemist]

Well, no news about a JPL briefing yet, but there are fresh images of the top-of-the-hill outcrop from Spirit uploaded just a minute ago.<br /><br />http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/ <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[fangsheath]

Tidbits have come in, the phrase water-rich fluids has appeared more than once now on the JPL site. With reference to the rock Sabre, recently RATed, it has this to say: "Scientists speculate that this relatively soft rock (compared to others analyzed by Spirit) may have been modified by water. Small cracks in the surface outside the drill holes may be the result of interactions with water-rich fluids."<br /><br />Pot of Gold was said to have contained pyroxene and olivine. These are minerals that form at high temperatures, often from magma. However, it also contained hematite, and speculation on both the JPL website and others is that it was a basalt that was significantly altered by water or "water-rich fluids." In the process, some of the rock was altered to form iron oxide (hematite). This cannot explain why Sabre was so soft, because olivines, pyroxenes, and hematite all tend to be hard minerals.<br /><br />I should also mention that a trench made by Spirit as it approached the Columba Hills was examined with the Mini-TES, and the spectra have been interpreted as indicating kieserite, an evaporite that was seen in some abundance at Eagle Crater. It was suggested that subsurface water had risen and deposited this sulfate near the surface.

 

[thechemist]

This is very interesting, fangsheath.<br />Especially in view of several rocks looking like Sabre seen at the top of the hill:<br /><br />http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/navcam/2004-08-02/2N144577386EFF8200P1746R0M1.JPG<br /><br />Kieserite is hydrated magnesium sulfate (MgSO4*H2O).<br />Is this the famous bright material then ?<br />Here is an image of kieserite from the webmineral page :<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[jaredgalen]

Hope they do a panoramic of the horizon, haven't come across any of it to stitch together myself yet.<br />Did this though

 

[thechemist]

I posted a partial image of the horizon (just 2 stiched pictures) at the "Images of Mars" thread in S&A.<br />Don't know if it is approved yet though.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[jaredgalen]

I hadn't looked there in a while. I found some horizon shots too, I was looking in the wrong folder.<br /><br />Thanks

 

[thalion]

I think that this one mission (counting both MERs) will rewrite the books on Mars more than any other since the Viking landers. And the best is yet to come. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[fangsheath]

Lamination, lamination, gotta love that lamination. There is so much to study here, I could easily see the rover spending the rest of the winter on West Spur. We are only days away from aphelion now, Mars will soon start moving closer to the sun again.

 

[centsworth_II]

Hey, fangsheath, did you see this in the article linked by smerral? <br /><br /><i>"Spirit scientists in the next month will try to drive their rover up a ridge where it can take panoramic photos over the winter."</i><br /><br />I don't know if the reporter has inside info., or what ridge is being referred to, but maybe they <i>are</i> planning on climbing higher than West Spur.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[thechemist]

Well, I am stunned !<br />Are these berries hanging from the rocks on the left ?<br />Am I seeing things ?<br /><br />I cut/pasted/sharpened the following image from this PanCam image. <br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>I feel better than James Brown.</em> </div>

 

[fangsheath]

I read that, as always it is difficult to interpret these articles. Reporters often get the information over the phone and misinterpret what is said. I think it is very likely that Spirit will still be on West Spur a few months from now. I think she is referring to the ridgetop of West Spur, which we will probably reach within a month. Of course the distinction between West Spur and Husband Hill is somewhat arbitrary, but the peak of Husband Hill, if the rover ever gets there, is still almost certainly months away.

 

[silylene old]

<i>Well, I am stunned ! <br />Are these berries hanging from the rocks on the left ? <br />Am I seeing things ? <br /></i><br /><br />Good eye! You may be right, and if so, those are huge stalks and berries. <br /><br />Or maybe they are just a juxtaposition of cracks and shadows. I can't wait till we get closer. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[aaron38]

What kind of rock is that in the above picture? Has it been determined yet?<br /><br />It looks very folded and twisted and flowing. To my untrained eye it looks like lava.

 

[centsworth_II]

So then it looks (to me) like this: Spirit will pass the winter exploring West Spur's ridge. There sure won't be a lack of rock outcrops to study! Then when the sun is high enough in the martian spring, the mission will continue on to Lookout Point. <br /><br />I wonder if, just as Opportunity heads deeper into Endurance than originally indicated, Spirit will head higher toward the summit of Husband Hill than now planned, as new outcrops loom enticingly in the rover's view. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jaredgalen]

On Sol 201 they tried to do drive put it was stopped because of an excessive tilt angle of 25.6 degrees, with the max allowed being set to 25 degrees.<br />The next day they set the maximum angle allowed to 32 Degrees!<br />This seems like a huge step!! With all the small loose stones scattered about I would think that they would be slightly more cautious. <br />Have they met this kind of tilt before with Spirit or are they just using their experience with Oppy?

 

[bushuser]

Yes, I think the experience with Oppy has helped them become more adventurous. Besides, they really want to reach a point where the ground tilts Spirit at a favorable angle towards the winter sun.

 

[alexblackwell]

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE<br />JET PROPULSION LABORATORY<br />CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY<br />NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION<br />PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011<br />http://www.jpl.nasa.gov<br /><br />Guy Webster (818) 354-6278<br />Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.<br /><br />Don Savage (202) 358-1727<br />NASA Headquarters, Washington<br /><br />News Release: 2004-191 August 4, 2004<br /><br />Mars Exploration Rover Mission Status<br /><br />NASA's Spirit rover has climbed higher into rocky hills on Mars, and<br />its twin, Opportunity, has descended deeper into a crater, but both<br />rovers, for the time being, are operating with some restrictions while<br />team members diagnose unexpected behavior.<br /><br />Both rovers have successfully operated for more than double the span<br />of their three-month primary missions. They have been conducting bonus<br />science in extended missions since April.<br /><br />While Spirit was executing commands on Aug. 1, a semiconductor<br />component failed to power on as intended. The component, a<br />programmable gate array, directly affects usability of the rover's<br />three spectrometer instruments. Subsequent commands for using the<br />miniature thermal emission spectrometer in that day's sequence<br />resulted in repeated error messages.<br /><br />Engineers on the Mars Exploration Rover team at NASA's Jet Propulsion<br />Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., have determined the most likely cause is<br />a timing issue of one instruction reaching the gate array microseconds<br />before another that was intended to precede it. If that diagnosis is<br />confirmed, a repeat could be avoided by inserting a delay between<br />commands that might reproduce the problem, engineers expect. Until<br />then, the rover science team's daily choices for how to use Spirit do<br />not include using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, the<br />Moessbauer spectrometer or the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.<br /><br />"While w

 

[spacechump]

Well its about time they start to show some age and this news I was expecting at some point. I hope they figure out Spirit's problem as the spectrometers provide a good deal of the info about the surroundings..more than you can get from images. But its amazing to see how much they can squeeze out of the rovers and when the time comes that instruments start to fail hopefully they will continue to drive to different targets and gather images until contact is lost altogether.<br /><br />

 

[mah_fl]

It will be a very sad day when the IDD stops working, but hopefully the PAN CAM will work a long long time <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[zavvy]

<b>Cornell astronomers report how rover Spirit's cameras have detected variations in Martian soil</b> <br /><br />LINK<br /><br />EMBARGOED: NOT FOR RELEASE UNTIL 2 P.M. ET, THURSDAY, AUG. 5, 2004 <br /><br />Contact: Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.<br />Office: 607-255-3290<br />E-Mail: bpf2@cornell.edu<br /><br />ITHACA, N.Y. -- The eyes aboard the Mars rover Spirit are delivering ground truth. <br /><br />After more than six months of examining the photographic and spectral data from the rover, Mars mission scientists confirm that the albedo -- which is the percentage of sunlight reflected on the red planet's dusty surface -- indicates important variations in mineral and dust composition. <br /><br />"Spirit landed in a medium brightness region of Gusev crater, and on this mission has crossed into brighter and darker areas travelling to Bonneville crater and beyond," says Jim Bell, associate professor of astronomy at Cornell University and the lead scientist on the high-resolution, color, stereo panoramic cameras, known as Pancams, carried by Spirit and its twin rover, Opportunity. Says Bell, "The albedo changes that we noticed with Pancam correlate with the changes seen from the Mars orbiters above. This is ground-truth information." (Bonneville was the first crater the rover examined after its landing.) <br /><br />The albedo findings are detailed in a research paper, which, along with 10 other papers resulting from Spirit's journey across the Martian surface, are published this week in a special issue of the journal Science (Aug. 6, 2004). The issue, in which 120 authors -- including several from Cornell -- participate, features a 2-foot long, eight-fold poster of Pancam views of Spirit's landing site in Gusev crater. <br /><br />The issue's most prominent author is Steve Squyres, Cornell professor of astronomy and leader of the science team on the twin-r