Stuck, All six wheels in deep Options

[dilo]

Last 12 days progress from both hazcam full frames (right):
http://img283.echo.cx/my.php?image=rearhazcamr6sp.gif
http://img290.echo.cx/my.php?image=fronthazcamsmall8yx.gif
(sorry for poor quality, but there are restrictions on postable GIF files size )

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

WOW..........lots of forward progress, interesting how the depth to which the wheels are buried seems to stay the same.

The front right wheel has the stuck steering actuator, if at some point it rises up out of the trench a little more, do you think they would attempt to turn the rover?

[CosmicRocker]

Steve Squyres has a new update out today. It's longer than usual, too. Only one paragraph on Opportunity, pretty much confirming what the plots showed. There is a lot of good stuff on Spirit, though.

http://athena1.cornell.edu/news/mubss/

"Nothing really new at Meridiani. We're seeing slow, steady progress, at a remarkably constant rate. For ever meter of wheel turns that we command, we get half a centimeter of actual motion. It's been like this since the start of the extraction process. We're typically doing 12 meters of wheel turns a day, and typically seeing about six centimeters of motion. We'll get out of here eventually, but it's a slow, laborious process."

[alan]

Interesting! In todays drive they seem to have turned the left front wheel slightly, perhaps the same amount as the 7 degree as the right front.

The left front wheel appeared to be getting bogged down before they made the turn. It seems to be making better progress now. Rubbing against the side of the trench must have been slowing it down.

[dilo]

The left front wheel appeared to be getting bogged down before they made the turn. It seems to be making better progress now. Rubbing against the side of the trench must have been slowing it down.

Here unusual animated view of Front-Left wheel from PanCam (notice Sol number in the left/bottom angle):

Interesting to see how much terrain is displaced in front to it...

[Mode5]

Thank you for putting that together.

Am I the only one to find this excruciating to watch? I just want to walk over to it, pick it up and send it on its way. The pictures really put this struggle into perspective. I find myself viewing that, clenching my fists and saying to myself, "go, go!".

Looking at the lower edge, which is very well defined, it does appear that they are moving slightly out of the track.

[Tman]

Hi dilo, I've allowed me to continue your animation from May 28:

http://www.greuti.ch/oppy/oppy_front_sol460-479.gif

I think we have circa arrived the point where Oppy's middle wheels (and rear wheels?) sinked. Hopefully the front wheels become raised now in next sols.

[dilo]

Hi dilo, I've allowed me to continue your animation from May 28:

http://www.greuti.ch/oppy/oppy_front_sol460-479.gif

I think we have circa arrived the point where Oppy's middle wheels (and rear wheels?) sinked. Hopefully the front wheels become raised now in next sols.

Great, Tman! Here also full-res comparison week-to-week:

[Guest_Richard Trigaux_*]

Does anyone noted that the bogging starts, not when the slope of the current dune begins, but at the end of the descending slope of the previous dune.

This can lead to a new explanation of what happened:

1) when Oppy was on the previous dune, she found a descending slope with an angle greater than all the previous
2) arriving at the bottom of this dune, due to her very inclinated position, Oppy nosed into the sand
3) due to nosing, the leading wheels began to dig into the ground
4) due to leading wheels into the ground, the rear wheels began digging
5) then Oppy was unable to recover a safe position, especially when the ascention of the current dune began.

[Guest_Edward Schmitz_*]

removed un-necessary quoting - see http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=988 :Doug
No, the slippage did not occur until it was acsending the next dune. The front wheels (it was going backward) were at the bottom but the rear wheels were well up the next dune. All the wheels started slipping at the same time. You can't have the two forward wheels getting stuck and still have the other four making progress.

[Tesheiner]

Hi all,

On this image you can see the (approximate) position of the left wheel on Sols 472 and 479, based on the front hazcam "movies".
The background picture is of Sol 461.

Currently there is no official report about the actual progress after sol 475, but my estimation for 472-479 is around 27cm net advance.

Tesheiner

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

If you take a close look at this latest hazcam image you can see the track of what i assume was the middle wheel - which stayed on the surface and didnt trench in to the soil as soon as the other wheels (front wheel?)

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...RGP1214L0M1.JPG

As the rover moves forward, some of the soil must be pushed to the sides - I wonder what will happen when it meets the trench from the single wheel track?

[mhoward]

It looks to me like Oppy made better progress on Sol 481. It's a little harder to see in the forward hazcam images until you look carefully at the landmarks, but it's quite obvious in the rear hazcam. Maybe we will finally be out of this drift soon???

[Tesheiner]

Oppy were commanded on previous sols (476-480) to 12m drives executed in 30 steps of 0.4m.
Today's drive is different. Less steps (actually 10, from RG to S0) but bigger ones.

And as mhoward noted, better progress.
I should add that the forward left wheel was turned again a bit to the right .

Tesheiner

[dot.dk]

Latest hazcam pics looks VERY good!

Both the left/right rear and front left is rising! The rear wheels must have reached were the middle wheels started now.

Go Oppy Go!