Spirit continued to make progress on the rover's winter campaign of science observations, acquiring microscopic images and data about rock composition with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Spirit took images of the spacecraft deck for incorporation into the "McMurdo panorama."
Spirit remains healthy. Electrical power from the rover's solar array has been holding steady at about 280 watt-hours per sol (a hundred watt-hours is the amount of electricity needed to light one 100-watt bulb for one hour).
Sol-by-sol summaries:
Sol 933 (Aug. 18, 2006): Spirit acquired super-resolution images of a basalt hill nicknamed "Dome Fuji" with the panoramic camera and monitored dust on the pancam mast assembly. Spirit scanned the atmosphere for opacity caused by dust and scanned the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Sol 934: Spirit acquired touch-up images for the McMurdo panorama with the panoramic camera. Spirit scanned the atmosphere for opacity caused by dust and scanned the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Sol 935: Spirit acquired panoramic camera images of a rock target called "Prat" and measured the magnitude of sunlight in addition to scanning the horizon and sky with the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Sol 936: Spirit acquired data from a rock target called "Wasa" with the miniature thermal spectrometer. The rover continued to make daily observations of the sky and ground with the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Sol 937: Spirit acquired microscopic images of a ripple called "Palmer" and scanned for wind-related changes in a sand target known as "Rothera." Spirit continued to make daily observations of the sky and ground with the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Sol 938: Spirit acquired super-resolution, panoramic camera images of a possible meteorite candidate known as "Vernadsky." The rover continued to make daily observations of the sky and ground with the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Sol 939: Spirit acquired super-resolution, panoramic camera images of a target known as "Scott Base." Spirit continued to make daily observations of the sky and ground with the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Sol 940: Plans called for Spirit to acquire images of the rover deck with the panoramic camera and acquire miniature thermal emission spectrometer data on a rock target known as "Law-Racovita." Plans called for continued daily observations of the sky and ground with the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Sol 941: Plans called for Spirit to acquire panoramic camera images of the rover deck as well as continue to make daily observations of the sky and ground with the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Sol 942 (Aug. 27, 2006): Plans called for Spirit to continue acquiring panoramic camera images of the rover deck, collect data about elemental composition of the rock target called "Halley Brunt," and make daily observations of the sky and ground with the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
Odometry:
As of sol 938 (Aug. 23, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at
6,876.18 meters (4.27 miles).------------------------------------------------------------------------
OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Closer and Closer to 'Victoria' - sol 913-919, August 25, 2006:
Opportunity is healthy and located only 218 meters (715 feet) from the rim of "Victoria Crater." Opportunity's odometer clicked past the
9-kilometer (5.5-mile) mark as it drove 237.81 meters (780 feet) during the week. The terrain within the annulus, or ring, of material surrounding Victoria is homogeneous and flat, which is favorable for long drives. The team planned a trenching activity for sol 919 (Aug. 25, 2006) to prepare for a robotic arm campaign during the weekend.Sol-by-sol summaries:
Sol 913 (Aug. 18, 2006): Opportunity used its panoramic camera to conduct a 13-filter systematic foreground observation, gathered a systematic foreground raster with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and used the navigation camera in support of that spectrometer. The rover measured the atmosphere's clarity (a measurement called "tau") with the panoramic camera and used the miniature thermal emission spectrometer for observations of targets "Tenerife" (a boulder) and "Tenerife BG" (soil near the boulder).
Sol 914: Opportunity drove 71.72 meters (235 feet) then took images from its new position with the navigation camera and the panoramic camera. The rover also conducted a test to aid the design effort for NASA's
2009 Mars Science Laboratory. Opportunity's navigation camera took an image of the sunset. The image was designed to help in development of an algorithm for determining the rover's position using the sun and the time of day. The miniature thermal emission spectrometer observed sky and ground during the afternoon communication-relay pass of NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter.Sol 915: The rover conducted monitoring of dust on the panoramic mast assembly (the rover's "neck" and "head"), used the panoramic camera to survey clasts (rock fragments) and used the miniature thermal emission spectrometer to observe sky and ground.
Sol 916: The rover drove backwards for 88.82 meters (291 feet).
Sol 917: Opportunity drove backwards 77.27 meters (254 feet) and took mosaics of images with the navigation camera. Before the Mars Odyssey pass, the rover took a panoramic camera tau measurement. During the orbiter's pass, the miniature thermal emission spectrometer conducted a foreground stare. The rover also took a panoramic camera 13-filter foreground image.
Sol 918: Opportunity did untargeted remote sensing, including: a panoramic camera albedo measurement, a navigation camera rear-looking mosaic, a front hazard avoidance camera image for potential robotic-arm work, and a miniature thermal emission spectrometer seven-point sky and ground observation. The rover also took a panoramic camera tau measurement before the first of two Odyssey passes and a miniature thermal emission spectrometer sky and ground observation during the first Odyssey pass.
Sol 919: Plans call for Opportunity to take a panoramic camera image of the location selected for trenching, then to advance 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) and use a wheel to dig the trench, pausing to take images. Next in the plan are navigation camera mosaics in the forward and rear directions, then observations of sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer during the Odyssey pass.
As of sol 918 (August 24, 2006), Opportunity's total odometry was
9,015.19 meters (5.60 miles).