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One Martian Year!, And still going strong...
akuo
post Nov 21 2005, 08:42 AM
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Again congratulations to Spirit and the team for surviving a whole Martian year on the surface.

This is an important achievement since now a rover has weathered the conditions on Mars for a whole orbit. Earth years come and go, but those do not affect Spirit as a Martian year does. It is truly a Martian in a Martian environment.

I don't think a second Martian year is viable. There are many factors, of course the electronics might still fail any day and there might be a long period of no dust cleaning. Dust storms don't seem a threat anymore, since the season is about over (well, except for the next summer. Maybe the big one will hit then!). The batteries are li-ion, which are limited by age, not so much by the number of charges (many notebook users have experiences on this when an unused "backup" battery doesn't work after being left unused). The batteries have been rated at 5 years, which is from the time of manufacture. That date will be upon us fairly soon, and it might bring a surprisingly quick battery death.

I have been surprised how well the MERs have been supported by NASA with its resources. There was talk that the solly data stream would be reduced soon after the primary mission. Spirit and Oppy are still sending similar amount of images and other measurements as they did at the beginning of the mission. Maybe this is because of effient use of Mars Odyssey, but that still takes DSN time. NASA might extend the mission after the sol 1000 date, but maybe with even further reduced staffing and other resources. As Steve said, Oppy might roll to Victoria with only handful of graduate students onboard.


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jvandriel
post Nov 21 2005, 09:16 AM
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It seems that NASA ( JPL ) has learned from some of the members of this forum by putting Spirit on 3 images. ( great images )

Just published on their website.

They call it Special-Effects. biggrin.gif

jvandriel
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SigurRosFan
post Nov 21 2005, 12:41 PM
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Here is the link:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/pre.../20051121a.html - Special-Effects Spirit in "Columbia Hills"

My favorite is Spirit near Larrys Lookout.



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Bill Harris
post Nov 21 2005, 01:16 PM
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>They call it Special-Effects. biggrin.gif

...special effects on a false-color image. wink.gif

They do read this site, and are adaptable.

--Bill


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odave
post Nov 21 2005, 02:58 PM
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Unless I missed something over the weekend, it looks like all the official sites ignored Sprit's birthsol. I would expect some kind of mention on the MER page, but I haven't seen anthing. Do they think the general public wouldn't understand what a Mars year is?

Poor Spirit sad.gif

Don't worry sweetie, we at UMSF remembered you on your special sol...


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Gonzz
post Nov 21 2005, 03:03 PM
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Hi SigurRosFan, slightly OT but yesterday we had here in Lisbon another great concert by Sigur Ros, man, it's the closest you can get to a beautiful alien landscape!
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Reckless
post Nov 21 2005, 03:54 PM
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QUOTE (odave @ Nov 21 2005, 03:58 PM)
Unless I missed something over the weekend, it looks like all the official sites ignored Sprit's birthsol.  I would expect some kind of mention on the MER page, but I haven't seen anthing.  Do they think the general public wouldn't understand what a Mars year is?

Poor Spirit  sad.gif

Don't worry sweetie, we at UMSF remembered you on your special sol...
*


The Special effects are all of Spirit and look birthday cardish, so perhap it's a silent happy birthsol and maybe we'll see the same thing for oppy in twenty days or so. rolleyes.gif

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general
post Nov 21 2005, 05:07 PM
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Official recognition smile.gif
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/s...t/20051121.html
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general
post Nov 21 2005, 05:15 PM
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I like this:

"While no one can predict how long Spirit will last, the rover's stamina throughout the long martian year encourages hope. The science team is busy even now plotting new destinations to strive toward. If the "Columbia Hills" were once a distant dream, new far-off horizons beckon just as much. Getting there will stretch the rover's capabilities as much as the imagination. Team member Jim Rice calls one such distant target, a rough and rugged terrain to the south, "the Promised Land."

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/s...isedland_br.jpg

smile.gif wheel.gif wheel.gif wheel.gif
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odave
post Nov 21 2005, 05:17 PM
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Ah, I guess they were using Helvick's math biggrin.gif


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helvick
post Nov 21 2005, 06:43 PM
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QUOTE (odave @ Nov 21 2005, 06:17 PM)
Ah, I guess they were using Helvick's math  biggrin.gif
*

It's the engineer in me - always pessimistic. smile.gif
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Tman
post Nov 21 2005, 06:51 PM
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QUOTE (SigurRosFan @ Nov 21 2005, 02:41 PM)
Here is the link:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/pre.../20051121a.html - Special-Effects Spirit in "Columbia Hills"

My favorite is Spirit near Larrys Lookout.

Nico, I'm romantic and love this sunset pose of Spirit. Additional it was even dangerous for Spirit to drive over Methuselah to catch this pose blink.gif biggrin.gif

Hey, they even tried to retouch the track from Spirit in the second image - indeed looks more realistic. smile.gif

Happy Birthday Spirit!!!


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odave
post Nov 21 2005, 06:54 PM
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QUOTE (general @ Nov 21 2005, 12:15 PM)
" Team member Jim Rice calls one such distant target, a rough and rugged terrain to the south, "the Promised Land."


...and after that, I wanna drive that sucker straight up Ma'adim Vallis

cool.gif


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Burmese
post Nov 21 2005, 08:57 PM
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And from Cornell:

http://www.cornellsun.com/vnews/display.v/...1/4381771b9eb25
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jamescanvin
post Nov 21 2005, 09:55 PM
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QUOTE (general @ Nov 22 2005, 04:15 AM)
Team member Jim Rice calls one such distant target, a rough and rugged terrain to the south, "the Promised Land."
*


Gosh, I'm glad now that I stopped using "the Promised Land." as the caption for my inner basin pan after the first iteration, that would have confused things!


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