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Mars Rover Update Spirit Driving On Five Wheels
Pasadena CA (SPX) Mar 19, 2006 Spirit continued to make progress toward the peak named McCool, located in the Columbia Hills of Gusev Crater, despite a reduction in solar energy and problems with the rover's right front wheel. The mission team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Saturday it plans to have the rover spend the winter on the hill's north-facing slopes, where the tilt toward the Sun would maximize daily power output by the solar panels. On Spirit's 779th sol, or Martian day (March 13), the drive actuator on the right front wheel stalled during a turn to adjust the position of the rover's antennas. The stall ended the day's drive, which brought Spirit 29 meters (95 feet) closer to McCool, still approximately 120 meters (390 feet) away. Engineers then tested the wheel on sols 781 and 782 (March 15 and 16) - on a testbed at JPL as well as remotely on Spirit. They said they need further analysis to determine what caused the right front actuator to stop working. The operations team has successfully commanded Spirit to drive using only five of its six wheels, and engineers plan to have Spirit continue driving backward with five healthy wheels while dragging its right front wheel. Meanwhile, Opportunity has finished science observations at the Payson outcrop. The rover has been operating in restricted mode, so its team could plan a drive only every other day. Even so, Opportunity started the journey away from the rim of Erebus crater. Back on the regular schedule, the team next plans to drive the rover farther south. Sol-by-sol summaries: Spirit: Sol 778 (March 12): Spirit spent the day conducting remote atmospheric sensing. Sol 779: Spirit drove about 29 meters (95 feet) and acquired post-drive images. This was the sol that a fault in the right front wheel drive actuator terminated the drive. Sol 780: The rover spent the day recharging its batteries, re-transmitting information about the previous day's drive to Earth, and collecting additional imagery of the right front wheel. Sol 781: Spirit completed diagnostic tests and drove 3.9 meters (13 feet) using only five wheels. Diagnostic tests showed the right-front-wheel problem involved the drive actuator, not steering. Sol 782: Controllers planned a drive of approximately 12 meters (40 feet) using only five wheels. Sol 783 (March 17): The operations team planned to have Spirit spend the day inactive to charge its the batteries. As of sol 781 (March 15), Spirit's total odometry was 6,797 meters, or 4.22 miles. Opportunity: Sol 757 (March 11): At the start of the sol, Opportunity perched at an entrance to a second half-pipe - the team's term for shallow troughs near the Payson outcrop in Erebus crater. There was more rubble and less nicely layered outcrop than at the previous half-pipe, and a dune blocked the exit to the south. The team decided to drive part-way in for outcrop imaging. Before the drive, Opportunity's panoramic camera acquired images of a target called Yuman. The rover drove roughly 20 meters (66 feet) and then acquired standard post-drive imaging plus a panoramic camera mosaic of target Hokan, and a miniature thermal emission spectrometer scan of the same target. The next morning the rover collected part two of the Hokan panorama. Sol 758: Opportunity drove about 17 meters (about 56 feet) back out of the half-pipe, with a quick stop mid-way to collect a small panoramic camera mosaic of target "Yavapai." At the end of this sol, Opportunity had completed all planned science at Erebus and was ready to start driving south. Sol 759: This sol was a recharge day, with a few atmospheric and cloud observations. Sol 760: On the road again! This sol, Opportunity completed a 33.5-meter (110-foot) drive south over a patch of outcrop, then down the trough of two dunes. Sol 761: The rover conducted observations of the atmosphere and the ground with the panoramic camera and the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Sol 762: Opportunity started the sol in front of a long, flat trough. The team planned a drive of approximately 50 meters (164 feet) south along this path. Sol 763 (March 17, 2006): The team planned atmosphere and cloud observations. Opportunity's total odometry as of sol 761 (March 15) was 6735.31 meters, or approximately 4.2 miles. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Mars Rovers JPL NASA Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com Lunar Dreams and more
Spirit Says Good-Bye To Home Plate
Pasadena CA (SPX) Mar 18, 2006For the past several weeks, NASA's Spirit rover has been examining spectacular layered rocks exposed at a formation called Home Plate, in the Columbia Hills. The rover has been driving around Home Plate's northern and eastern edges of Home Plate, on the way to McCool Hill. |
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