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Posted by: djellison Mar 31 2005, 10:15 PM

I know the recent dust-devils have shown evidence of high wind speeds, but I didnt think we'd see this



Doug

Posted by: MizarKey Mar 31 2005, 10:22 PM

Geez...I hope it doesn't blow Spirit over so all we see is a static shot of some ground and sky...maybe the tool arm would be able to help turn it over...

Posted by: Sunspot Mar 31 2005, 10:25 PM

Bloody Hell


......maybe it just came unstuck lol........

Is that a new dust trail towards the right of the calibration target?

Posted by: djellison Mar 31 2005, 10:41 PM

Looks like it was part of a full L2->L7 + r's sequence that they sometimes do - I've bagged the RAD's from the workbook but only the RTH's are down so far, the thumbnails - but hey - see for yourself

Posted by: spaceffm Mar 31 2005, 10:42 PM

Amazing...
Is there any instrument on Spirit capable of measuring windspeeds?

Posted by: MizarKey Mar 31 2005, 10:49 PM

No, but they could stick the 'test' rover here in a wind tunnel to see what it would take to blow it over. Unfortunately, they won't be able to duplicate the temperature swings Spirit has been through for over 400 Sols that may have caused the adhesive to lose its grip.

Posted by: spaceffm Mar 31 2005, 10:50 PM

well i would say as long nothing else more important looses its grip they can live with that? Can they?

Posted by: djellison Mar 31 2005, 10:53 PM

They finished the student sundial program some time ago - so I'm not sure they'd be that bothered.

Doug

Posted by: Pando Mar 31 2005, 11:08 PM

Here is the latest from the Mission Manager Report:

"After another failed drive on Sol 441, rover engineers were puzzled by an apparent shift in the position of the pancam calibration target. Further analysis is planned after data from the next ODY pass becomes available."

Posted by: spaceffm Mar 31 2005, 11:11 PM

Failed drive????
Hopefully they can solve the problems.
This could be very bad news here....

Posted by: dshaffer Mar 31 2005, 11:16 PM

Happy April Fool's Day to you too!

Posted by: Sunspot Mar 31 2005, 11:19 PM

....but looking at the rear hazcam images...Spirit did move on Sol 441:

Sol 440: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/2/r/440/2R165433597EFFA918P1312R0M1.HTML

Sol 441: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/2/r/441/2R165519719EFFA928P1312R0M1.HTML

Posted by: dshaffer Mar 31 2005, 11:23 PM

Hello.... It's an April Fools joke!!!

Posted by: Pando Mar 31 2005, 11:26 PM

It moved on Sol 440.

Posted by: Sunspot Mar 31 2005, 11:31 PM

How embarassing lol ...............damn April 1st lol

Posted by: Sunspot Mar 31 2005, 11:38 PM

...and 441

If you open each link in a seperate tab and switch back and forth between them you can see the difference.

Posted by: OWW Mar 31 2005, 11:43 PM

Ok people. Let's try to clear this up:

- Shifted/broken sundial = April fools joke.

- Failed Sol 441 drive = True. Latest flight director report says they planned a 20 meter drive. It looks like they only achieved one or two meters.

Posted by: Sunspot Mar 31 2005, 11:46 PM

The area the rover is currently in looks very sandy/dusty. It might have been due to slippage.

Posted by: wyogold Apr 1 2005, 12:01 AM

That was very funny doug. You shouldn't of given it away with "don't read till april 1" though

scott

Posted by: djellison Apr 1 2005, 07:18 AM

It was bad enough that two people fell for it hook, line + sinker

I was going to post this one at the same time...



But it wasnt really good enough to be fool-worthey

Doug

Posted by: dot.dk Apr 1 2005, 07:59 AM

What's special in that picture?

Posted by: Tman Apr 1 2005, 08:08 AM

A keyhole to a martian underground house in the foreground?

Posted by: djellison Apr 1 2005, 08:45 AM

The - err - sundial mast sat on the ground next to a rock

Doug

Posted by: Sunspot Apr 1 2005, 10:04 AM

Hey ..now we're moving

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/rear_hazcam/2005-04-01/2R165614277EFFA978P1312R0M1.JPG

Looks like quite a long drive too

Posted by: djellison Apr 1 2005, 10:35 AM

Amazingly it took a while to get right as the one you can download and built from the Nye Labs website is VERY wrong !

Doug

Posted by: alan Apr 1 2005, 02:13 PM

water on mars
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050401.html

Posted by: Tman Apr 1 2005, 04:03 PM

Doug, just I think for those who hang on the hook today you should donate a mars bar

Water on Mars? Today everything is possible:
http://www.raumfahrer.net/news/astronomie/01042005091028.shtml

Image of that amazing proof: http://www.raumfahrer.net/cgi-bin/ax.pl?http://www.raumfahrer.net/news/images/mars_puddle_big.jpg

Posted by: Pando Apr 1 2005, 04:11 PM

I think that was really good Doug



But I think the cable next to the thing sucked though, you need to work on that

It was good while it lasted. There are always those who just want to blurt out the truth spoiling the fun, and there are others who quietly go to a corner to have a little chuckle and watch some people scratch their heads...

Posted by: aldo12xu Apr 1 2005, 04:19 PM

Yeah, Pando, is right. I'll bet this thread would've gone on for at least a half dozen pages and probably would've spread to other forums...............must make mental note for next year

Posted by: Jeff7 Apr 1 2005, 04:42 PM

The lighting on the "bottom" of the mast isn't quite right either - it's a bit too bright for a shaded area.



Also, it seems that some parts of the current location are in fact windy. The rocks here are a bit more rounded, including some from sol 439 that are as round as a loaf of bakery bread (which is usually rounder than the regular store-bought stuff).

Posted by: CosmicRocker Apr 1 2005, 06:29 PM

Hehe, it was great while it lasted. I was sitting here chuckling in my corner.

It's too bad we couldn't find some way to convince the Exploratorium web master to stick that image in with today's downloads.

Posted by: MizarKey Apr 1 2005, 06:31 PM

That was a good one, I'll have to keep your sense of humor in mind...as for all of you who are now saying you weren't fooled cause the 'shadow wasn't quite right', I'll still bet your first impression was 'Damn! that's cool'.

Posted by: djellison Apr 1 2005, 07:31 PM

It was never meant to be a complete photo-real job - I only though of it an hour before I left work yesterday I just though I'll just botch it up and whack it out for a laugh - NO ONE will think it's real - but they might go "heh..cool"



The colour thumbnail does look quite good though

I was going to do just the mast in a RHAZ shot - but couldnt get it to look any good at all and the alpha layer was giving me grief with the shadow tga - so I thought "Sod it - it'll be easier to render the whole damn thing" - and it was

Doug