NASA Mars Rover Status Report 13 June 2005

SPIRIT UPDATE: Browsing at ‘Backstay’ – sol 504-510, June 13, 2005

After last week’s robotic arm work at “Larry’s Outcrop,” Spirit headed over to a rock called “Backstay.” The rover paused over the weekend to take a closer look at its solar panels and magnets. Spirit arrived at Backstay on Tuesday (June 7, 2005), and has performed a small microscopic image mosaic, rock abrasion tool brush, and Moessbauer spectrometer integration on the rock. Over the weekend (of June 11-12, 2005), the rover will finish robotic arm work and drive on toward the next target.

Sol Details:

Sol 504: remote sensing/atmospheric science.

Sol 505: robotic arm work: microscopic image of solar panel and magnets, and Moessbauer spectrometer on capture magnet, targeted remote sensing.

Sol 506: continue Moessbauer on magnets, targeted remote sensing.

Sol 507: drive about 4 meters (about 13 feet) to Backstay.

Sol 508: Bump forward to Backstay.

Sol 509: robotic arm work on Backstay: microscopic image pre- and post-brush, Moessbauer integration.

Sol 510: continue Moessbauer, “Tennessee Valley Panorama,” targeted miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Total Odometry: 4404.37 meters (2.73 miles).