Opportunity Slips On First Crater Exit Attempt

MARSDAILY

Mars Rover Opportunity Slips On First Crater Exit Drive Out Attempt

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This image mosaic, compiled from navigation and panoramic camera images during the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's 33rd, 35th, and 36th sols on Mars, shows a panoramic view of the crater where the rover had been exploring since its dramatic arrival in late January 2004. The crater, now informally referred to as "Eagle Crater," is approximately 22 meters (72 feet) in diameter. Opportunity's lander is visible in the center of the image. Track marks reveal the rover's progress. The rover cameras recorded this view as Opportunity climbed close to the crater rim as part of a soil survey campaign.

Full size original image

Pasadena - Mar 22, 2004
NASA's Opportunity tried driving uphill out of its landing-site crater during its 56th sol, ending at 10:05 p.m. March 21, PST, but slippage prevented success.

The rover is healthy, and it later completed a turn to the right and a short drive along the crater's inner slope. Controllers plan to send it on a different route for exiting the crater on sol 57.

Earlier on sol 56, Opportunity successfully examined a patch of soil dubbed "Brian's Choice" with its Moessbauer spectrometer, alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and microscopic imager.

Following the drive, it made observations with its navigation camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Wake-up music for the sol was "Fly Like an Eagle," by the Steve Miller Band.

Meanwhile at Gusev Crater, Spirit drove 90 centimeters to a rock called "Mazatzal". after waking up on sol 77, which ended at 8:24 a.m. PST on March 22, 2004, to "One Step Closer" by the Doobie Brothers.

Before beginning the .9-meter (2.95 feet) drive to Mazatzal, Spirit analyzed the soil target "Soil 1" at its current location with the microscopic imager and Moessbauer spectrometer. During the Moessbauer integration, Spirit also took panoramic camera images and performed miniature thermal emission spectrometer analysis of the atmosphere and Mazatzal work area.

At 1:25 p.m. Mars Local Solar Time, Spirit completed the Moessbauer integration, took a few microscopic imager images of the impression left on "Soil 1" by the Moessbauer spectrometer and then stowed the instrument arm. Spirit then proceeded the short distance toward Mazatzal and took hazard avoidance camera images to confirm that its final resting place put the intended rock targets in reach of the instrument arm.

Following the drive, the rover acquired more panoramic camera and mini thermal emission spectrometer observations of the atmosphere, and of interesting areas near the Mazatzal site including targets named "Sandbox," "Saber" and "Darksands."

Spirit finished up sol 77 by getting the mini thermal emission spectrometer in position for morning observations on sol 78. Spirit will spend most of Sol 78, which will end at 9:04 a.m. PST on March 23, analyzing Mazatzal with the instruments on the robotic arm.

Extract of fullsize image. Original Caption: This labeled image shows an overhead view of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity landing site at Meridiani Planum, nicknamed "Eagle Crater." Scientists are conducting a soil survey here to see how the soils in this crater relate to the soils by the Meridiani Planum rock outcrop, as well as on the plains outside the crater. They have studied the soils in great detail on the north and west sides of the crater.

Locations within the crater where scientists have taken microscopic images of the soil are shown in blue. The science team has selected five locations for Spirit to stop and study the soil before exiting the crater. As of sol 54 of Spirit�s journey (March 18, 2004), Spirit has completed the sol 52 stop and is stationed at the sol 53 stop, located in the bottom right quadrant of this image.

Scientists are examining light and dark soil targets at this spot, dubbed "Neopolitan" because it is a triple boundary between light soil, dark soil, and an airbag bounce mark. This 3-D visualization was displayed using software developed by NASA�s Ames Research Center and images from Opportunity�s panoramic camera, taken while the rover was still on the lander. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Ames/Cornell/ Washington University (St. Louis)

MARSDAILY

The Spirit Of Soil Science Gets Close Up To The "Serpent"

Pasadena (JPL) Mar 21, 2004
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this pair of microscopic imager pictures of the drift dubbed "Serpent" on Spirit's 73rd martian day on Mars after successfully digging into the side of the drift. The upper image captures a transition part of the drift where lighter, undisturbed material meets disturbed, darker material.

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