Spirit - 2010 Winter@Troy, The first stationary science campaign |
Spirit - 2010 Winter@Troy, The first stationary science campaign |
Apr 3 2011, 05:28 AM
Post
#301
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 239 Joined: 18-December 07 From: New York Member No.: 3982 |
From the latest MER Update:
http://www.planetary.org/news/2011/0331_Ma...te_Spirits.html A "death" announcement could come as early as late April, said Callas. That, however, is not a hard and fast estimate. "Obviously, at some point you've got to say, 'Okay, we've done our due diligence.' And we're getting close. The thing is, as with so many of these technical issues, as you go into it [the new strategies], you discover new things," he pointed out. "So right now around April 20 is when we will finish the last set of combination failure recovery commands, and then there are some less likely scenarios things we'll try. But, we may learn something in the next couple of weeks and there may be something else we want to try beyond those." The new strategies will continue in earnest until about May 2; thereafter, the team will continue a low-level of recovery activity through the end of the calendar Earth year. |
|
|
Apr 9 2011, 07:05 AM
Post
#302
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 239 Joined: 18-December 07 From: New York Member No.: 3982 |
Today is Mars Solstice; though the period for maximum sunlight was a few weeks ago for Spirit's latitude.
|
|
|
Apr 13 2011, 03:49 PM
Post
#303
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 507 Joined: 10-September 08 Member No.: 4338 |
Suppose the battery has degraded to the point where it will no longer hold a charge. There might still be a possibility of contacting the rover during the time of Sol when it is directly powered by the solar panels. I wonder if the current search plans have taken account of this possibility?
|
|
|
Apr 14 2011, 05:14 AM
Post
#304
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 399 Joined: 28-August 07 From: San Francisco Member No.: 3511 |
I really think there is power in the battery and she just can't pick up ..... yet
-------------------- 'She drove until the wheels fell off...'
|
|
|
Apr 22 2011, 12:19 AM
Post
#305
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 139 Joined: 14-October 05 From: Toronto, Canada Member No.: 529 |
I was just wondering, are we not beginning the season when cleaning events are most likely to occur?
Just thinking that too much dust might be part of the problem. -------------------- -- Robin
|
|
|
Apr 25 2011, 10:59 PM
Post
#306
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 |
You're partially correct. Spirit experienced multiple, repeated cleaning events beginning about the time it arrived at Troy and became embedded. According to Mars24, that was late Martian Spring and early Summer. It is now early Summer in the Martian Southern Hemisphere, so we might expect cleaning events have been taking place for a while. Let's hope that the crucial cleaning will occur any day now.
-------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
|
|
May 1 2011, 10:16 PM
Post
#307
|
|
Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Sounds like a sensible strategy. The door's gonna stay open for what I'd estimate as an appropriate period.
If it is in fact over...it sure was one hell of a great ride. Rarely has the naming of names been so spot-on; Spirit is/was nothing if not 100% exp n the best of what the human spirit and mind can accomplish. She is immortal, regardless, for as long as there will be a human race...and someday millions will see her wherever she may finally lie. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
|
|
|
May 2 2011, 01:34 AM
Post
#308
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
If it is in fact over... I think it's been over for a while. We all knew it had to end eventually. Spirit delivered far, far more than her designers ever dreamed possible. It's time to start planning a celebration of what was accomplished. And make that celebration a victory. --Greg |
|
|
May 22 2011, 02:04 PM
Post
#309
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 206 Joined: 15-August 07 From: Shrewsbury, Shropshire Member No.: 3233 |
I understand that commands sent to MER rovers contain a date and that MER rovers check that these dates are in a valid range. I understand that the original versions of the MER software considered a year beyond 2009 to be invalid. After all no one expected MER rovers to be running in 2010. I understand that the latest version of software in both MER rovers has been updated to accept a year of 2011.
I understand that there are two copies of the software in a MER rover: the most recent version and the previous version. I imagine that when a MER rover is booted, the checksum of the primary software image is checked and it it fails the previous version of the software is loaded in its place. What I am wondering is whether the Flash memory containing the primary copy of the MER software in Spirit has failed and so the previous version is being run instead. From memory the previous version of the MER software in Spirit will not accept a year beyond 2009. Is it possible that Spirit is rejecting all of the commands being sent to it because it regards the year as being invalid? |
|
|
May 22 2011, 06:12 PM
Post
#310
|
|
Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
I understand that there are two copies of the software in a MER rover: the most recent version and the previous version. Fascinating theory, however assuming your facts are essentially accurate I would say the flaw in your reasoning is the assumption that the fallback "PREVIOUS version" is the same as the "ORIGINAL version" of the software. -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
|
|
|
May 23 2011, 02:39 PM
Post
#311
|
|
Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 90 Joined: 23-February 09 From: Edmonton, Alberta Member No.: 4611 |
This http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/arch...28_A_torr_L.jpg has been forming in Pu'u'o'o crater at Kilauea.
Is this how Homeplate might have formed? Sure looks familiar in any case. (except the scale is all wrong. the sides of the uplifted section are probably 50-100' tall) |
|
|
May 25 2011, 05:14 PM
Post
#312
|
|
Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
End of Mission posts moved here:
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...c=6969&st=0 -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
|
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 26th September 2024 - 11:57 PM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |