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Spirit Making Progress In Climb Down Columbia Hills
Pasadena CA (SPX) Dec 02, 2005 Spirit is healthy and making good progress downhill. The short-term goal is to drive toward couple of interesting features dubbed "Comanche" and "Miami." A decision on which target to choose for close examination will be made after the drive images come down from sol 680 (Dec. 1, 2005). Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Spirit used all four devices on its robotic arm -- the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, the Moessbauer spectrometer, the microscopic imager, and the rock abrasion tool (the brush on the abrasion tool) -- to study an outcrop area called "Seminole. The two targets for use of those tools on this outcrop were informally named "Abiaka" and "Osceola". The names refer to native American tribes in Florida. The investigations of the targets' composition identified abundant olivine and indicated that the outcrop is mafic (bearing a class of usually dark-colored minerals rich in magnesium and iron). As of sol 679 (Nov. 30, 2005), Spirit has driven 5,463 meters (3.39 miles).
related report Opportunity's commands for sol 654 (Nov. 25, 2005) included unstowing the arm to begin using the tools on it for examining the layered outcrop that the rover had driven to three sols earlier. The arm is always stowed during drives. This time, a shoulder-joint motor that is needed for unstowing the arm stalled, and the arm stayed stowed. In subsequent sols, engineers worked to narrow the range of possibilities for the cause of the stall. Among the remaining possibilities is that, after working more than seven times longer than originally planned, the lubrication is degrading. One possible fix would be to increase the duration of the allowed motor start-up, to overcome the increased initial friction. The first diagnostic activity for the arm was performed sol 659, where a very small motion was recorded. Future diagnostic activities and continuing analysis will be performed to further characterize the shoulder-joint motor in upcoming sols. As of sol 659 (Nov. 30, 2005), Opportunity has driven 6,502 meters (4.04 miles). Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com Lunar Dreams and more
Spirit Heading To 'Home Plate'
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 09, 2006Last week Spirit completed robotic-arm work on "El Dorado." The rover used all three of its spectrometers plus the microscopic imager for readings over the New Year's weekend. |
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