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Spirit Waiting Out The Winter
Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 18, 2008 Spirit's battery levels are slowly edging upward, thanks to a slight decrease in atmospheric dust (Tau) and a gradual increase in sunlight as winter gives way to spring. Early in the week, Spirit spent two Martian days carrying out contingency plans following a temporary delay in data transmission from Earth. Spirit implemented the so-called "runout" portion of an earlier master sequence on sols 1628 and 1629 (Aug. 1-2, 2008). Subsequent relays of new instructions from Earth on sols 1629 and 1632 (Aug. 2 and Aug. 5, 2008) went off without a hitch. Spirit remains healthy, with all subsystems performing as expected as of sol 1630 (Aug. 3, 2008). Sol-by-sol summary In addition to using the panoramic camera to make daily measurements of dust-related changes in atmospheric clarity, Spirit completed the following activities: Sol 1628 (Aug. 1, 2008): Spirit implemented the runout portion of the master sequence of commands already on board the rover. Sol 1629: Upon awakening, Spirit continued to implement the runout portion of the master sequence sent earlier. Spirit then received new instructions directly from Earth via the rover's high-gain antenna. Sol 1630: Spirit acquired column 13 of the "Bonestell panorama" using all 13 color filters of the panoramic camera. The rover relayed fresh data from Mars at UHF radio frequencies to NASA's Odyssey orbiter to be transmitted to Earth. Sol 1631: Spirit recharged the batteries. Sol 1632: Spirit received new instructions from Earth via the rover's high-gain antenna. Sol 1633: Spirit acquired six freeze frames for a time-lapse movie in search of Martian clouds using the navigation camera. The rover took spot images of the sky for calibration purposes with the panoramic camera and monitored dust on the panoramic-camera mast assembly. Sol 1634 (Aug. 7, 2008): Spirit transmitted fresh data to Odyssey to be relayed to Earth. Odometry: As of sol 1634 (Aug. 7, 2008), Spirit's total odometry remained at 7,528.0 meters (4.7 miles). Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Opportunity Fights Uphill Battle
Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 11, 2008"Victoria Crater" continues to challenge Mars rover drivers as they try to find a location where Opportunity can do scientific studies of rocks near the "Cape Verde" cliff face. They have been trying to drive the rover to a location nicknamed "Nevada" after a rock shaped somewhat like the state of Nevada. Getting there, however, has been challenging. |
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