Spirit: Soil investigation continues -- Opportunity: At outcrop for study and rest

On Sol 1948 (June 26, 2009), the IDD placed the Mössbauer (MB) spectrometer on the target called "Cyclops_Eye_3" for a multi-sol integration. On Sol 1952 (June 30, 2009), the rock abrasion tool (RAT) was calibrated. Then, a RAT grind-scan was performed on a surface target in preparation for brushing that target.

With abundant daily energy, the rover continues to conduct nighttime activities to increase the depth of discharge in the batteries for battery health and maintenance.

Activities continue on the ground for extraction testing of the surface system testbed (SSTB) rover in a simulated Mars environment. Several tons of soil simulant were mixed and prepared in the new test fixture (sandbox) at JPL. On June 30, 2009, the SSTB was driven into this new test sandbox in preparation for the extraction tests.

As of Sol 1951 (June 29, 2009), Spirit's solar array energy production is at 927 watt-hours, with atmospheric opacity (tau) of 0.356 and dust factor of 0.798. Total odometry remains at 7,729.93 meters (4.80 miles).

While a test rover rolls off a plywood surface into a prepared bed of soft soil, rover team members Colette Lohr (left) and Kim Lichtenberg (center) eye the wheels digging into the soil and Paolo Bellutta enters the next driving command. The test rover became embedded in the soil during this June 30, 2009, activity, as intended. The test setup simulates the situation that Spirit faces in a soil patch called "Troy" on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech



With a slope of about 10 degrees and a pointy rock under the test rover's belly, this sandbox setup at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is ready for engineers to use the test rover to assess possible moves for getting Spirit out of a patch of loose Martian soil. The rock beneath the test rover was put in place on July 1, 2009, to resemble a rock underneath Spirit on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Opportunity has driven to an expanse of outcrop to conduct some in-situ (contact) science investigations.

On Sol 1927 (June 25, 2009), the rover ventured about 65 meters (213 feet) south toward a large expanse of outcrop seen from orbital imagery. On Sol 1930 (June 28, 2009), the rover performed a short 7-meter (23-foot) maneuver to place some candidate surface targets within the constrained work volume of the robotic arm (instrument deployment device, or IDD). On Sol 1931 (June 29, 2009), the microscopic imager (MI) collected a stack of images, and then the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) was placed on a surface target called "Absecon" for an overnight integration.

For the period ahead, the right-front wheel's drive actuator will be rested with some active heating in an attempt to mitigate elevated motor currents seen when driving. The shroud of the miniature thermal emission spectrometer (Mini-TES) is being left open for extended periods of time to allow the environment to clean putative dust contamination from the elevation mirror.

As of Sol 1931 (June 29, 2009), Opportunity's solar array energy production is 426 watt-hours. The atmospheric opacity (tau) is 0.488. The solar array has a dust factor of 0.529, indicating that 52.9 percent of sunlight hitting the array penetrates the layer of accumulated dust on it. Opportunity's total odometry is 16,712.46 meters (10.38 miles).

Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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