NASA Mars Rover Spirit Status 1 June 2006
Spirit Perfects Pointing Parameters, Collects Images Large and Small
Spirit Status for sol 855-859
Since arriving at the rover’s current location on the 807th sol, or Martian day, of exploration (April 10, 2006), Spirit’s knowledge of its attitude relative to the sun has drifted. The rover uses an onboard computer to keep track of attitude changes, but error builds up in this measurement over time. On sol 855 (May 30, 2006), rover planners transmitted an attitude update of 1.97 degrees to correct for the drift. After the update, Spirit re-acquired images from the same location to allow the science team to accurately target future observations.
Meanwhile, Spirit continued acquisition of the “McMurdo panorama” and removed another 2 millimeters of soil as part of a layer-by-layer soil study.
Sol-by-sol summaries
Sol 855 (May 30, 2006): Spirit completed a quick get-fine attitude, which is a procedure completed every couple of weeks to correct any error in the rover’s knowledge of its attitude relative to the sun. Spirit also took a 360-degree view of its surroundings with the navigation camera and a forward-looking view through the front hazard avoidance camera. The rover conducted remote sensing with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer during the overhead pass of the Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
Sol 856: Spirit acquired column 16 (a one-by-five mosaic) of the McMurdo panorama.
Sol 857: Spirit spent 80 minutes brushing away another 2 millimeters of soil from the soil target “Progress.” This layer of the study is known as “Progress 3.”
Sol 858: Plans called for Spirit to take microscopic images of Progress 3, conduct remote sensing with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer during the afternoon overhead pass of the Odyssey spacecraft, and take two panoramic-camera images during the Martian sunset.
Sol 859 (June 3, 2006): Plans call for Spirit to acquire column 17 (a one-by-three mosaic) of the McMurdo panorama.
Odometry:
As of sol 857 (June 1, 2006), Spirit’s total odometry remained at 6,876.18 meters (4.27 miles).
