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Dan Gaines |
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Matt Keuneke |
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Bill Nelson |
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Colette Lohr |
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| P R E V I O U S M I S S I O N M A N A G E R S |
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Cindy Oda |
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Richard Morris |
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Al Herrera |
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Byron Jones |
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Mark Adler |
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Leo Bister |
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Beth Dewell |
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Emily Eelkema |
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Jeff Favretto |
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Saina Ghandchi |
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Andy Mishkin |
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Art Thompson |
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Rick Welch |
sol 1811-1817, February 26 - March 04, 2009: New Software Working Fine
Opportunity continues to exhibit elevated motor current in the drive actuator of the right-front wheel. To mitigate this, the rover has been driving backward.
This week, Opportunity built and booted new flight software, version R9.3. After a build activity on Sol 1811 (Feb. 26, 2009), Opportunity booted onto the R9.3 flight software on Sol 1814 (March 1, 2009). The new software has been working fine.
Opportunity drove more than 56 meters (184 feet) the sol before the boot and drove again for about 40 meters (131 feet) on Sol 1816 (March 3, 2009), two sols after the boot. The team is considering resting the right-front drive actuator in coming sols as a way to further mitigate the elevated motor current.
As of Sol 1817 (March 4, 2009), the solar array energy production is 488 watt-hours, down by 20 watt-hours from a week earlier. Atmospheric opacity (tau) has increased a little to 0.710. The dust factor on the solar array is 0.576, meaning that 57.6 percent of sunlight hitting the solar array penetrates the layer of accumulated dust on the array. The rover is in good health using its new flight software.
As of Sol 1816 (March 3, 2009), Opportunity's total odometry is 14,834.38 meters (9.22 miles).
sol 1803-1810, February 18-25, 2009: Getting New Software
Opportunity has been exhibiting elevated motor current in the right-front wheel's drive actuator. To investigate this, the team put the rover through a set of diagnostic maneuvers. On Sol 1803 (Feb. 18, 2009), Opportunity performed a series of arcs on differing terrain, then turned around and drove backward, traveling about 55 meters (180 feet) in all. The right-front wheel current remained elevated, although that was expected. On Sol 1806 (Feb. 21, 2009), the rover drove backward about 61 meters (200 feet). The near-term plan is to drive backward to facilitate reflow of lubricants within the right-front actuator gear box.
On Sol 1809 (Feb. 24, 2009), the team began the process of building and booting a new version of the rover flight software, version R9.3. This will be a multi-sol process. Driving will be precluded until the rover's boot up onto R9.3.
As of Sol 1809 (Feb. 24, 2009), Opportunity's solar-array energy production has dipped slightly to 508 watt-hours, enough to light a 100-watt bulb for just over 5 hours. Atmospheric opacity (tau) has increased to 0.640. The dust factor on the solar array is 0.563, meaning that 56.3 percent of the sunlight hitting the solar array penetrates the layer of accumulated dust on the array. The rover is in good health as it gets ready for new software. Opportunity's total odometry is 14,737.41 meters (9.16 miles).
sol 1797-1802, February 12-17, 2009: Checking the Right-Front Wheel
Opportunity is continuing with a series of long drives. The drive on Sol 1797 (February 12, 2009) achieved 111 meters (364 feet). During the drive the right-front wheel exhibited higher-than-usual motor currents. Since April 2005, Opportunity's right-front wheel has had a jammed steering actuator, with the wheel turned inwards about 7 degrees from straight ahead, so it works harder on some drives. On Sol 1800 (February 15, 2009), the rover conducted a series of mobility diagnostic drives to study the right-front wheel. The rover turned around and drove backward about 10 meters (31 feet), turned around again and drove forward about 11 meters (36 feet), and then performed an arc of about 4 meters (13 feet). The wheel currents were monitored.
The plan for the near term is to drive backward to see if that improves performance of the right-front wheel, although backward driving will limit the distance traveled each sol.
As of Sol 1802 (February 17, 2009), Opportunity's solar-array energy production is 567 watt-hours. Atmospheric opacity (tau) has moderated to 0.540. The dust factor on the solar array is 0.589, meaning that 58.9 percent of the sunlight hitting the solar array penetrates the layer of accumulated dust on the array. The rover is in good health.
Opportunity's total odometry as of Sol 1801 (February 16, 2009) is 14,621.57 meters (9.09 miles).
sol 1791-1796, February 06-11, 2009: Long Drives
Opportunity is continuing with a series of long drives that employ an initial segment of blind driving followed by a segment under D-star global navigation. This combination technique has been successful in achieving safe, long drives. On Sol 1791 (February 6, 2009), Opportunity achieved only about 27 meters (89 feet) due to a small veer into a keep-out zone, which terminated the drive. On Sol 1793 (February 8, 2009), almost 58 meters (190 feet) of driving was achieved before the rover encountered a terrain situation where its global navigation software was unable to find a safe solution to proceed. Driving resumed on Sol 1795 (February 10, 2009) with a 136-meter (446-foot) drive. That was followed by a 123-meter (404-foot) drive on the next sol.
As of Sol 1796 (February 11, 2009), Opportunity's solar-array energy production is 565 watt-hours, enough to light a 100-watt bulb for more than five hours. Atmospheric opacity (tau) increased slightly to 0.584. The dust factor on the solar array is 0.600, meaning that 60 percent of the sunlight hitting the array penetrates the layer of accumulated dust on the array. The rover is in good health. Opportunity's total odometry is 14,482.63 meters (9.00 miles).
sol 1783-1790, January 28 - February 04, 2009: Cosmic Ray Ends One Drive Early
Opportunity began the week with a series of planned long drives. On Sol 1784 (January 29, 2009), Opportunity drove 88 meters (289 feet) using a combination of blind driving for the first part, then switching to autonomous driving using D-star global navigation. On Sol 1786 (January 31, 2009), another long drive was sequenced using the same drive strategy. However, during the autonomous portion of the drive a fault occurred in the camera-mast assembly, which terminated the drive. Subsequent investigation was frustrated by a delay in the return of telemetry due to Earth-based weather problems. Once the data were reviewed it was discovered that a single event upset had occurred in the mast assembly. Such single event upsets occur from time to time on each rover, and on other spacecraft, due to cosmic rays. The mast assembly is otherwise OK. The plan ahead is to initialize the mast assembly and resume driving.
As of Sol 1790 (February 4, 2009), Opportunity's solar-array energy production is 589 watt-hours (enough to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 6 hours). Atmospheric opacity (tau) is 0.400, a slight improvement from a week earlier. The dust factor on the solar array is 0.591, meaning that 59.1 percent of the sunlight hitting the solar array gets past the accumulated dust on the array. Opportunity is in good health. Its total odometry is 14,138.20 meters (8.79 miles).
sol 1777-1782, January 22-27, 2009: Five Years and 14 Kilometers
Opportunity spent its fifth-anniversary week making more progress in its long trek toward Endeavour crater. After completing an imaging survey of "Ranger" crater and collecting atmospheric argon measurements with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, the rover on Sol 1780 (January 25, 2009) drove 50 meters (164 feet) to the south-southeast. Two sols later, using its D-star global navigation, Opportunity completed a 130-meter (427-foot) drive also to the south-southeast, with mid-drive imaging. This drive put Opportunity's total odometry over 14 kilometers since landing 5 years ago.
As of Sol 1782 (January 27, 2009), Opportunity's solar-array energy production is 570 watt-hours, enough to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly six hours. Atmospheric opacity (tau) is 0.483, slightly higher than it was a week earlier. The dust factor on the solar array is 0.609, meaning that 60.9 percent of the sunlight hitting the solar array penetrates the layer of accumulated dust to generate electricity. The rover is in good health. Opportunity's total odometry is 14,047.76 meters (8.73 miles).
sol 1770-1776, January 15-21, 2009: Happy Anniversary!
Happy anniversary to both Spirit and Opportunity for completing five Earth-years exploring the surface of Mars!
Opportunity's goal this past week has been to put the pedal to the metal and acquire drive-by images of a crater dubbed "Ranger Crater."
Preliminary results from last week's shake of the mirror on the miniature thermal emission spectrometer on sol 1771 (Jan. 16, 2009) indicated that no dust was removed as engineers had hoped.
Opportunity is healthy, and all subsystems are performing as expected as of the downlink of information on sol 1776 (Jan. 21, 2009). Solar energy levels are at 613 watt-hours (slightly more than the amount of energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb for six hours). Tau, a measure of sunlight-blocking dust in the atmosphere, is 0.455. The dust factor, a measure of the proportion of sunlight penetrating dust on the solar arrays, is 0.6196.
Sol-by-sol summary
In addition to monitoring daily dust-related changes in atmospheric clarity with the panoramic camera and relaying data to NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter for transmission to Earth, Opportunity completed the following activities:
Sol 1770 (Jan. 15, 2009): Opportunity drove and acquired image mosaics with the navigation and panoramic cameras. The rover measured argon gas in the Martian atmosphere using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and went into a mini-deep sleep.
Sol 1771: Opportunity completed a systematic foreground quarter survey using all 13 color filters of the panoramic camera. The rover checked for drift (changes with time) in the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, conducted a utility test of the instrument, and completed a post-shake test calibration by looking at the ground and sky. Opportunity measured argon gas in the Martian atmosphere using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and went into a mini-deep sleep.
Sol 1772: Opportunity surveyed the sky at low Sun with the panoramic camera and, after relaying data to Odyssey, measured argon gas in the Martian atmosphere using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer. The rover went into a mini-deep sleep.
Sol 1773: Opportunity took morning, thumbnail images of the sky with the panoramic camera and full-color images, using all 13 filters of the panoramic camera, of a target dubbed "Thassos." The rover acquired a 6-by-1 panel of images of pavement textures using the panoramic camera. After measuring argon gas in the Martian atmosphere using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer, Opportunity went into a mini-deep sleep.
Sol 1774: Opportunity drove 115.36 meters (378.48 feet) and acquired new image mosaics with the navigation and panoramic cameras, including a 360-degree view with the navigation camera. After the day's activities, the rover went into a deep sleep.
Sol 1775: In the morning, Opportunity surveyed the sky at high Sun with the panoramic camera. The rover completed a systematic foreground quarter survey with all 13 color filters of the panoramic camera. After relaying data to Odyssey, Opportunity measured argon gas in the Martian atmosphere using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and went into a mini-deep sleep.
Sol 1776 (Jan. 21, 2009): In the morning, Opportunity took spot images of the sky with the panoramic camera for calibration purposes. Opportunity drove 29.90 meters (98.10 feet) to approach Ranger Crater and completed a quick get fine attitude to check the rover's precise location relative to the Sun. The rover acquired new image mosaics with the navigation and panoramic cameras and took a Tau measurement of atmospheric dust at sunset. Opportunity then went into a deep sleep. The following morning, Opportunity was to take spot images of the sky for calibration purposes with the panoramic camera, acquire time-lapse movie frames in search of clouds with the navigation camera, and monitor dust accumulation on the panoramic-camera mast assembly.
Odometry
As of sol 1776 (Jan. 21, 2009), Opportunity's total odometry was 13,866.70 meters (8.62 miles).
sol 1763-1769, January 08-14, 2009: Home Is Where the Part Is
Opportunity's drivers have established that the encoder that controls the up-and-down (z-axis) movement of the rover's rock abrasion tool (RAT) has indeed failed, as first suspected and reported last week. Engineers responded by "caging the RAT," so to speak, homing the instrument back into a safe position so as to avoid damage from debris during driving. Opportunity prematurely halted the first attempt to do this when a position check showed the precise position was unknown. Engineers resolved the issue by calibrating the RAT prior to the homing activity. In the coming weeks, they will be developing and testing a work-around to support future RAT activities.
This week, Opportunity also performed a "shake test" on the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. In the shake test, low-level motor commands create a short vibration to shake dust from the instrument's external scan mirror. Two previous tests, one lasting for 3 seconds and the other for 6 seconds, produced no measurable improvement. This week's vibration test lasted for 21 seconds and scientists are now analyzing the results.
Prior to resuming the drive to Endeavour Crater, Opportunity wrapped up remote-sensing activities at the rover's current location. These included taking panoramic-camera images of cobbles and targets known as "Samos" and "Corsica," monitoring dust on the rover mast, and studying the atmosphere.
Opportunity is healthy, and all subsystems are performing as expected as of the downlink of information on sol 1769 (Jan. 14, 2009). Power remains very healthy, averaging just more than 597 watt-hours (almost the same amount of energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb for six hours).
Sol-by-sol summary
In addition to monitoring daily dust-related changes in atmospheric clarity with the panoramic camera and relaying data to NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter for transmission to Earth, Opportunity completed the following activities:
Sol 1763 (Jan. 8, 2009): Opportunity measured argon gas in the Martian atmosphere using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer.
Sol 1764: Opportunity "caged the RAT," retracting the rock abrasion tool along its Z-axis for protection, and acquired full-color, panoramic-camera images of cobbles. In addition to measuring atmospheric opacity caused by dust with the panoramic camera, Opportunity assessed atmospheric opacity with the navigation camera. The rover took spot images of the sky with the panoramic camera for calibration purposes.
Sol 1765: In the morning, Opportunity took thumbnail images of the sky with the panoramic camera, and after sending data to Odyssey, measured atmospheric argon with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer.
Sol 1766: Opportunity started the day by assessing dust accumulation on the panoramic-camera mast assembly, scanning the sky for clouds with the navigation camera, and taking spot images of the sky with the panoramic camera. At midday, the rover surveyed the sky at high Sun with the panoramic camera. Opportunity again scanned the sky for clouds, acquired panoramic-camera images looking ahead in the drive direction, checked for drift (changes with time) in the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, tested the utility of the spectrometer and scanned the ground and sky with the instrument before conducting a shake test. The rover then vibrated the miniature thermal emission spectrometer as planned, shaking and shimmying it seven times. After sending data to Odyssey, Opportunity measured argon gas with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer.
Sol 1767: Opportunity resumed measuring atmospheric argon with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and recharged the batteries.
Sol 1768: Opportunity again "caged the RAT," as described above, and took super-resolution images of Corsica with the panoramic camera. The rover checked for drift in the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, tested the utility of the instrument, and scanned the ground and sky for a post-shake test calibration to determine if the procedure resulted in any improvement. Opportunity also measured atmospheric argon.
Sol 1769 (Jan. 14, 2009): Opportunity continued to measure argon gas in the atmosphere with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and recharged the batteries.
Odometry
As of sol 1769 (Jan. 14, 2009), Opportunity's total odometry remained at 13,617.33 meters (8.46 miles).
sol 1756-1762, January 01-07, 2009: Opportunity Struggles Anew with Rock-Abrasion Tool
As Opportunity was preparing to brush the surface of a rock exposure called "Candia" (Italian for Crete), the rock-abrasion tool stalled. The stall occurred on the rover's 1,759th sol, or Martian day (Jan. 4, 2009), of exploration, as Opportunity was lowering the instrument to locate the rock's surface. Engineers are concerned that the stall could indicate a failure of the encoder that controls the z-axis (up-and-down) movement of the rock-abrasion tool. The encoder provides precise position and motion direction to the rover's computer controllers.
Engineers have been anticipating the eventual loss of the encoder as a result of earlier electrical issues. Opportunity already lost the encoders that control the revolving of the grind bit and the grinding motion as a result of wear and tear on the flex cable. (The flex cable is the flat "ribbon" of electrical cable that runs down the length of the rover's robotic arm.) On sol 1762 (Jan. 7, 2009), engineers tested the encoder by directing Opportunity to extend the rock abrasion tool downward and take images before and after the maneuver to document potential motion. Engineers did detect motion in the images, and data they received from the encoder was what they expected for a failure. In coming weeks, they will attempt to devise a work-around technique. Meanwhile, they decided to forego brushing this particular rock target and get Opportunity back on the road to Endeavour Crater.
Opportunity conducted a variety of remote-sensing observations during the past week. Highlights included: Full-color, 13-filter, panoramic-camera images of Candia and a nearby rock exposure nicknamed "Gavdos," cobbles dubbed "Kythira" and "Samos," and a soil target called "Minos." Opportunity took images of the rover's deck, studied the composition of soil exposed in the rover's wheel tracks, and measured argon gas in the atmosphere.
Opportunity is healthy. With the exception of the rock-abrasion tool, all subsystems are performing as expected as of the downlink of information from sol 1762. Power continues to be very good, averaging just over 600 watt-hours (equivalent to the amount of energy needed to light a 100-watt bulb for six hours each day).
Sol-by-sol summary
In addition to monitoring daily dust-related changes in atmospheric clarity with the panoramic camera and relaying data to NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter for transmission to Earth, Opportunity completed the following activities:
Sol 1756 (New Year's Day, Jan. 1, 2009): Opportunity acquired full-color images of Gavdos and the rover's deck, using all 13 color filters of the panoramic camera. After sending data to Odyssey, Opportunity studied the elemental composition of Minos using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer.
Sol 1757: Opportunity continued to collect data on the composition of Minos. The rover surveyed the horizon with the panoramic camera.
Sol 1758: Using all 13 filters of the panoramic camera, Opportunity took full-color images of the rover's tracks. Using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer, Opportunity resumed measurements of chemical elements in the soil target known as Minos.
Sol 1759: Opportunity moved the robotic arm, took full-color panoramic-camera images of Candia, panoramic-camera images of the nose of the Mössbauer spectrometer, and attempted to lower the rock-abrasion tool to the surface of Candia. The rover took thumbnail images of the sky with the panoramic camera, measured atmospheric argon with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer, and surveyed the horizon with the panoramic camera.
Sol 1760: Opportunity measured atmospheric argon with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer.
Sol 1761: In the morning, Opportunity took thumbnail images of the sky with the panoramic camera. Later, the rover took images of cobbles of scientific interest with the navigation camera. Opportunity acquired full-color images, using all 13 filter of the panoramic camera, of Samos and Kythira. After communicating with Odyssey, the rover measured argon gas in the atmosphere with the alpha-particle spectrometer.
Sol 1762 (Jan. 7, 2009): In the morning, Opportunity surveyed the sky with the panoramic camera. After measuring dust-related changes in atmospheric clarity with the panoramic camera, Opportunity ran diagnostic tests of the rock-abrasion tool. Opportunity also measured atmospheric argon. Plans for the following morning called for the rover to measure dust-related changes in atmospheric clarity with both the panoramic and navigation cameras and take spot images of the sky for calibration purposes with the panoramic camera.
Odometry
As of sol 1762 (Jan. 7, 2009), Opportunity's total odometry remained at 13,617.33 meters (8.46 miles).
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