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Post-Conjunction at Home Plate North, Getting ready to leave
jamescanvin
post Dec 15 2008, 07:12 PM
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Conjunction is over, so it is probably a good time to start a new thread.

I just saw this update from Scott via Twitter

QUOTE ('marsroverdriver')
Out of solar conjunction & planning to drive Spirit again. Woo-hoo! Come on, little hill-climber, you can do it!


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mhoward
post Dec 15 2008, 07:32 PM
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QUOTE (jamescanvin @ Dec 15 2008, 12:12 PM) *
Conjunction is over, so it is probably a good time to start a new thread.


That's great news. I was starting to get a little worried about Spirit (again). Looking forward to a status update.
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fredk
post Dec 15 2008, 08:07 PM
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Still no new images at exploratorium, though. I hope we can interpret that somewhat ambiguous twitter message as meaning that they've actually heard from Spirit...
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mhoward
post Dec 15 2008, 08:16 PM
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Hmmm. Good point.
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RoverDriver
post Dec 15 2008, 09:18 PM
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QUOTE (fredk @ Dec 15 2008, 12:07 PM) *
Still no new images at exploratorium, though. I hope we can interpret that somewhat ambiguous twitter message as meaning that they've actually heard from Spirit...


We heard from both rovers. MER-A is around 190Wh I heard. Today's drive was postponed for several reasons. Time is running out on our attempts to climb uphill.

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dvandorn
post Dec 16 2008, 05:39 AM
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OK, I'll admit my ignorance -- what was wrong with the idea of driving downhill and making our way around Home Plate on the ground below? As I recall, the parking spot was selected with the idea of driving down, not up, in mind.

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centsworth_II
post Dec 16 2008, 06:39 AM
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QUOTE (dvandorn @ Dec 16 2008, 12:39 AM) *
OK, I'll admit my ignorance -- what was wrong with the idea of driving downhill and making our way around Home Plate on the ground below?

The trip to the post winter objectives south of Home Plate would be quicker if Spirit could cut across the top -- more direct, easier terrain.
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RoverDriver
post Dec 16 2008, 03:21 PM
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QUOTE (centsworth_II @ Dec 15 2008, 10:39 PM) *
The trip to the post winter objectives south of Home Plate would be quicker if Spirit could cut across the top -- more direct, easier terrain.



Not to mention we have already driven on it and we have ground based imaging.

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climber
post Dec 16 2008, 03:25 PM
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How much do we have to drive to get the solar panels leveled?


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RoverDriver
post Dec 16 2008, 04:32 PM
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QUOTE (climber @ Dec 16 2008, 07:25 AM) *
How much do we have to drive to get the solar panels leveled?


One or two drives worth. The ramp were we are parked is quite short, maybe 1-1.5 mt? I don't recall exactly.

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peter59
post Dec 16 2008, 09:17 PM
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Everything indicates that we are after the solar conjunction. I'm not sure, but the time in the name of the files is significantly higher.
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/navcam/2008-12-16/


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mars loon
post Dec 16 2008, 09:30 PM
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I just got word from a team member that signal has been reacquired for both Spirit and Opportunity

Spirit is up to about an amazing 200 WHRs. way better than 89 !!

The next new adventures are on TARGET. The girls are ready to roll !!

more at my NJ lecture later this week at AAI astro club

ken
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mhoward
post Dec 16 2008, 09:47 PM
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We've already heard that about seven posts up, but it's still good. 200 Wh would be news.

There is a Navcam pair on Exploratorium from Spirit Sol 1761, which is today (soon to be yestersol). No move yet. There is an existing Navcam image from back on Sol 1724, and comparing the two seems to show some changes due to wind, although it's hard for me to say how much of it is due to the lighting. The sol 1724 image was taken almost an hour later in the day.

Onward and upwards! Both in elevation, and Wh's.
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fredk
post Dec 16 2008, 11:38 PM
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We were doing around 170 Whrs before conjunction, so 190 or 200 is pretty good. I'm not sure, but that seems like too big an increase to be due to just the increase in sunlight as we head into spring. So maybe dust is clearing from the air (tau is dropping) faster than the dust is falling onto the arrays, raising the dust factor. Or maybe we had a small cleaning event?...

I've been wondering about the optimal tilt for the arrays. Is anyone keeping track of the maximum solar elevation these days? If we drove onto level ground now, would that improve or worsen the power situation?
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peter59
post Dec 22 2008, 08:54 PM
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Unfortunately, rover is increasingly pushed to the right. This tendency worried me.
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/fo...cam/2008-12-21/


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