Mars Rover Spirit Update: Winter Preparations Nearly Complete

Spirit Status for sol 2185-2191: Spirit is in her winter position, still embedded in the area called “Troy” on the west side of Home Plate. Efforts are nearing completion to prepare the rover for winter.

Spirit Status for sol 2185-2191: Spirit is in her winter position, still embedded in the area called “Troy” on the west side of Home Plate. Efforts are nearing completion to prepare the rover for winter. Because of the low power levels, multi-sol plans are being developed with reduced communication activity to save energy. Only one or two planning cycles occur each week. These plans have a single uplink to the rover and few Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) downlinks to return the data. The new long-range UHF communication table is onboard and various settings for winter are being finalized.

As of Sol 2191 (March 2, 2010), the rover solar array energy production was to 153 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (tau) of 0.331 and a dust factor of 0.510. Total odometry is unchanged at 7,730.50 meters (4.80 miles).