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On sol 194, Spirit took a large microscopic imager mosaic, consisting of 34 images at multiple positions, of a target called "Sabre" on an outcrop rock called "Wooly Patch." This was followed by a two-hour reading by the Moessbauer spectrometer and an overnight, seven-hour reading by the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer. On sol 195, the rock abrasion tool dug a surprisingly deep hole in only two hours of grinding. The rock appears to be softer than what scientists and engineers have seen previously in Gusev Crater. The alpha particle X-ray spectrometer was placed in the rock abrasion tool hole at Sabre. However, due to uncertainties in how long the arm and grinding operations take, the sequence was terminated a few minutes too early and a planned overnight alpha particle X-ray spectrometer integration did not take place. Spirit recovered the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer integration in the sol 196 plan. The sol began with a microscopic imager mosaic of the rock abrasion tool hole. The alpha particle X-ray spectrometer was put back in position in the hole, and reading lasting more than six hours was successfully performed, starting at about 4 a.m. Gusev time on sol 197. The work on Sabre was completed with a very long, 21-hour Moessbauer integration, which was expected to be completed the morning of sol 198 (July 24). Before the integration was started on sol 197, a microscopic imager mosaic was taken of "Mammoth," the next rock abrasion tool target on Wooly Patch. Related Links Mars Rovers at JPL Mars Rovers at Cornell SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express 
Opportunity Multi-Tasks on the Slopes of Endurance Crater
Pasadena (JPL) Jul 21, 2004Sol 166's tasks for Spirit included imaging of possible traverse paths inside "Endurance Crater," then the start of a long period of data collection by the Mössbauer spectrometer on a target called "Dahlia." All went as planned. |
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