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Opportunity Digging Out Of Dune One Klick From Victoria
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 05, 2006 Opportunity is less than 1 kilometer (just over half a mile) from reaching Victoria Crater - its destination for several months. During the last planned drive on May 28, on sol, or Martin day, 833, the rover became embedded in a soft dune. As designed, mission controllers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory stopped the drive by a slip check. The extraction process began on sol 836, with 5 meters (16 feet) of commanded motion, and 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) of actual forward progress. Controllers considered the results encouraging, and ordered extraction to continue on Friday, June 2, and over the weekend if necessary. NASA controllers reported that Opportunity is otherwise healthy and continues to conduct atmospheric and targeted remote sensing on the path south. Sol-by-sol summaries: Sol 833 (May 28): For this sol, the team planned a drive of about 30 meters (98 feet), post-drive imaging, and atmospheric remote sensing. The drive started with a small turn in place to move to the center of a dune trough. The material the rover is in is soft, and the rover experienced very high rates of slippage. A slip check precluded further driving. Sol 834: On this second sol of a two-sol plan, Opportunity performed some atmospheric remote sensing (including cloud imaging) and recharged the batteries. Sol 835: Opportunity took a break from driving and collected high-resolution images to better characterize the material in which the rover is embedded. Sol 836: After evaluating the tracks and soil, the team began the extraction process. Five meters (16 feet) of driving was commanded, with limits imposed on rover tilt, mobility suspension angles, pitch, yaw, and total distance traversed. The drive resulted in 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) of forward progress. This is more than three times the rate of progress experienced during the Purgatory Dune extraction in April and May 2005. Hazard avoidance camera images also show the front cleats are not as caked as during the Purgatory extraction. Sol 837 (June 1): Plans called for the dune extraction to continue on this sol, with 10 meters (33 feet) of commanded motion. The sol 836 mobility safety checks were used. In addition, the allowable yaw range was narrowed, and the drive sequence also imposed a new limit for maximum visual odometry failures. Visual odometry is likely to fail if more-than-expected progress is made, so controllers plan to prevent the rover from traveling too far if it happens to break free of the dune. As of sol 836, Opportunity's odometry totaled 7971.42 meters (4.95 miles). Related Links Mars Rovers at JPL Mars Rovers at Cornell
NASA Awards Mars Science Lab Launch Contract
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 05, 2006NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida has selected Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services Inc. to deliver an Atlas V rocket for the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which aims to land a large rover on the red planet in the fall of 2009. |
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