Minimal progress in recent extraction drives; Examining 'Marquette Island's' interior

Spirit remains embedded at the location called "Troy" on the west side of Home Plate. Attempts to extricate Spirit have been complicated by the loss of functionality in the right-rear wheel and the lack of meaningful functionality with the right-front wheel.

On Sol 2126 (Dec. 26, 2009), an extrication drive was commanded with all six wheels, although performance was not expected from the right-front and right-rear wheels. Spirit was commanded forward in five steps of 10 meters (33 feet) of wheel rotation each. The rover stopped during the fifth step when excessive rover sinkage was detected. Little forward progress was achieved.

On Sol 2130 (Dec. 30, 2009), a different drive strategy was commanded where the wheels were steered back and forth before forward motion was commanded. However, the activity stopped when one wheel encountered excessive resistance while turning, likely a result of the buried state of the wheels. The plan ahead is to straighten the wheels and proceed with a forward extrication drive.

As of Sol 2130 (Dec. 30, 2009), Spirit's solar-array energy production was 260 watt-hours, with an atmospheric opacity (tau) of 0.480 and a dust factor of 0.557. Total odometry was 7,730.04 meters (4.80 miles).

 

Opportunity has been investigating the rock known as "Marquette Island". The rock abrasion tool (RAT) was used to grind a 1.5 millimeters (0.06 inch) into this very hard rock for further investigation by the other rover instruments.

On Sol 2110 (Dec. 24, 2009), the RAT itself was imaged to determine the amount of remaining grind bit. Then, a microscopic imager (MI) mosaic was performed on the RAT hole in Marquette Island. Finally, the Mössbauer (MB) spectrometer was positioned on a different rock target for a long integration.

The plan ahead is to collect an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) spectrum and a MB spectrum from the RAT hole, before resuming the drive toward Endeavour crater.

As of Sol 2110 (Dec. 24, 2009), Opportunity's solar-array energy production was 315 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (tau) of 0.491 and a dust factor of 0.509. Total odometry was 18,927.56 meters (11.76 miles).

 

Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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