Southward from San Antonio to the Next Waypoint Options

[Gonzz]

well... then maybe they want to take a close look at what exact conditions tripped the embedding detector so they can avoid more occurrences like these.
Guess I'm hoping all is right and just trying to think at positive scenarios.

Slow days like today at the forum mars section with no progress and no pictures really bring the marsaholic withdrawall synptoms to light and give a glimpse of what it'll be like once these wonders stop roving.

[elakdawalla]

Looking for something to do on Mars? Rove over the latest HiRISE releases, or, better yet, wander through the CTX archive (http://bit.ly/csbOd9) -- nobody is paying much attention to those and there are boatloads of stunning photos.

[Nirgal]

Looking for something to do on Mars? Rove over the latest HiRISE releases, or, better yet, wander through the CTX archive

How true ... roving the HiRISE releases alone will keep me busy for the next 10 years at least

[Geert]

Guess I'm hoping all is right and just trying to think at positive scenarios.

see http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/sta...tml#opportunity

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Sharp Turns Make Driving Difficult - sols 2200-2204, April 2-6, 2010:
Opportunity had a couple of difficult moves this week.

After taking some time to recharge her batteries, the rover attempted a drive on Sol 2202 (April 4, 2010). That drive stopped after the initial arc turn due to elevated current draw in the motors on the right side of the rover. The rover is between two ripples with the space in between forming a bowl. The rover had to push harder on the right to make the sharp turn. Conservatively-set current limits stopped the drive, as a way for controllers on the ground to assess the driving conditions before proceeding.

With everything looking okay, another drive on Sol 2204 (April 6, 2010), was commanded. It too began with a short, sharp arc. This time the drive stopped after a short distance because of wheel slip exceeding the limit of 40 percent. Again ground controllers assessed the conditions and found no problems. With these sharp turns, the rover's wheels must impart more thrust. When the wheel thrust exceeds the shear strength of the terrain, slip occurs.

Opportunity will drive again on Sol 2206 (April 8, 2010). This time the rover is already aligned with the drive direction, so no sharp turns are needed. Extra slip checks will be performed to make sure there are no terrain issues. As of Sol 2204 (April 6, 2010), the solar array energy production was 235 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (tau) of 0.371 (from Sol 2199) and a dust factor of 0.500.

Total odometry is 20,247.56 meters (20.25 kilometers, or 12.58 miles).

[nprev]

Thanks, Geert. All is well.

[Tesheiner]

Yep. The drive was successful and 50m were covered during 2206.
But the images are still unavailable.

[climber]

IIRC, Spirit RF died right after a sharp turn. May be the problem has nothing to do with the sharp turn but, I still don't understand why we're still using this manoeuver instead of backing off a bit and use a smoother turn.
Sorry if my remark is a bit "sharp" (ok, I'm a back seat driver etc) but I've been afraid since march 12th 2006 using this manoeuver again. Is the current rise showing I've been right?

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

Its been offline for as long as 10 days before.

[djellison]

backing off a bit and use a smoother turn.

Because a 'smoother' turn would involved ploughing straight thru the dunes. Remember, Opportunity has a stuck FR steering actuator - so turning in place is not idea.

[climber]

Yep, good point Doug!

[Tesheiner]

Thread bump, althought there's not so much to discuss given the lack of images. The official website is not updating too so my guess it that the issue should be in the common feed from JPL (assuming that common point exists).

Meanwhile, just say that the drive on sol 2208 was executed and another 55m were added to the odometer. Here are some navcam thumbnails from the tracking website.

[briv1016]

I was bored so I tried to eyeball the Navcam thumbnails in photoshop. It's pretty bad; I'm sure one of the resident experts can do a better job. (Hint, Hint. )

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[Tesheiner]

I did the same thing (similar result) to obtain a polar view and see if it was not too bad to use on "fine tuning" the rover position on the map. The mobility info from the tracking site is not perfect and usually there are a few meters difference wrt the position I get by means of mosaics registration on the map.

[alan]

I noticed that the pancam drive direction images are aimed to the east.

[Phil Stooke]

Yes, they just bypassed a clump of larger drifts.

Phil