Photo: Spirit Hunkers Down for Winter on Mars
Spirit Status for sol 2171-2176: Spirit is parked for the winter in the embedded area called “Troy” on the west side of Home Plate. Efforts continue to prepare the rover for winter.
Spirit Status for sol 2171-2176: Spirit is parked for the winter in the embedded area called “Troy” on the west side of Home Plate. Efforts continue to prepare the rover for winter.
On Sol 2174 (Feb. 13, 2010), the robotic arm (IDD) was positioned to the most favorable orientation for winter. Documentary imaging is being collected of the terrain and rover. On board flash memory is being emptied, getting down all essential data products. A special table of long-range UHF communication passes is being developed to cover the entire winter period and beyond. As energy levels decrease rover wake times are shortened and many communication passes are being deleted.
As of Sol 2176 (Feb. 15, 2010), the rover solar array energy production was to 173 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (tau) of 0.361 and a dust factor of 0.526. Total odometry is 7,730.50 meters (4.80 miles).
