nprev
May 28 2009, 12:04 PM
Good on you both, Paolo & Scott; that's the definitive way to encourage the next generation of explorers!
RoverDriver
May 28 2009, 12:55 PM
QUOTE (djellison @ May 27 2009, 11:46 PM)
18 tonnes of KSC-1 mars simulant, and the mobility test bed rover.
That teaches me something: never read UMSF with a hot coffee mug on my hand.
Paolo
Juramike
May 28 2009, 01:42 PM
QUOTE (RoverDriver @ May 28 2009, 07:55 AM)
That teaches me something: never read UMSF with a hot coffee mug on my hand.
Paolo
Might I suggest:
http://homedecor.cafepress.com/item/space-...oaster/47765791
MahFL
May 28 2009, 01:48 PM
800 whr ? what was the whr at the start ?
Poolio
May 28 2009, 02:54 PM
Scott Maxwell indicates
here that it was 850-900 whr.
djellison
May 28 2009, 03:00 PM
This will probably be the second time that Spirit has more power than the day she landed.Time to reopen the Gusev Crater Observatory and burn the midnight Whrs
ElkGroveDan
May 28 2009, 04:18 PM
With that much power it's time to spin the wheels so fast that the soil heats up and the grains melt and fuse. Then we let it cool down and drive out over the now solid surface.
ustrax
May 28 2009, 07:33 PM
QUOTE (Mixer @ May 28 2009, 05:10 AM)
Paulo, I hope you do find him, I can only imagine what a thrill it would be for him!
That shouldn't be hard, Julian's dad works for NASA...it must be something in the genes...
climber
May 28 2009, 08:42 PM
QUOTE (fredk @ May 28 2009, 05:41 AM)
But Squyres has said that the timing of at least one cleaning event suggested something more localized, like a dust devil.
I'm surprised Doug didn't make any comments on this
Even the boss is trying to drive you mad
PS: for newcomers it'll be a too loooong story to explain...
nprev
May 29 2009, 01:10 AM
QUOTE (djellison @ May 28 2009, 07:00 AM)
Time to reopen the Gusev Crater Observatory and burn the midnight Whrs
Great idea, as long as we're sitting here! A couple of evening Phobos/Deimos transit movies would certainly be interesting.
CosmicRocker
May 29 2009, 07:09 AM
It was interesting to listen to SS in the recently posted NPR Science Friday interview. Along with all of you, I have been looking at the white material being churned up by some of Spirit's wheels, and wondering what it might be. There have been a few comments here referring to the white material as silica, but I couldn't find any references to support that conclusion.
As I recall, Spirit drove up and down Silica Valley, churning up a lot of white stuff, but not getting significantly bogged down. Long ago, she was almost stuck at or near Tyrone, where the white material was identified as ferric sulfate. There was another bright bog after leaving WH3, in the attempts to climb onto Home Plate or leave that area. I don't know if that bright material was identified.
In the SF interview, Steve indicated that this most recent bright stuff is ferric sulfate.
Beauford
May 29 2009, 08:30 AM
QUOTE (CosmicRocker @ May 29 2009, 02:09 AM)
In the SF interview, Steve indicated that this most recent bright stuff is ferric sulfate.
Ferric sulfate can be quite hygroscopic. ...any waters of hydration on this stuff?
ElkGroveDan
May 29 2009, 01:17 PM
I don't know how long the exposures can be, but going back to my teen years one of my favorite observing pastimes was taking long star trails to look for satellites slashing across the image. This was long before the Internet and easily available tracking data so I was left to wonder what it was that tumbled past creating dotted or dashed lines on my negatives. The processed photos were always great conversation starters In Mars' sky we know that there are several long lost orbiters. It would be a great challenge to attempt to rediscover one of them.
Old Coder
May 29 2009, 01:45 PM
Long time reader but first question. Is it possible that the back wheels on Spirit can turn forward while the front wheels are turning backward? This could use Spirit as its own resistive force rather than the dirt. If this is possible then would that action possibly raise the center of Spirit some small distance?
fredk
May 29 2009, 02:20 PM
There are several juicy tidbits in the
latest Spirit update:QUOTE
A small (4-degree) backward wheel motion test was sequenced on Sol 1913 (May 21, 2009). The wheel and motor performed satisfactorily. A second, larger test (16 degrees) was performed on Sol 1916 (May 24, 2009), and again, the wheel performed satisfactorily, showing no signs of a jam in the backward direction.
Pending the recertification of the IDD, a MI mosaic of Spirit's underbelly is planned for this coming weekend to assess the rover's embedded condition.
But the best bit is we get to find out
how much more than 800 Whrs we're at now:
QUOTE
As of Sol 1919 (May 27, 2009), solar array energy production was 843 watt-hours,... with atmospheric opacity (tau) around 0.606. The dust factor increased to 0.774
843!
Deimos
May 29 2009, 04:43 PM
QUOTE (ElkGroveDan @ May 29 2009, 02:17 PM)
I don't know how long the exposures can be, but going back to my teen years one of my favorite observing pastimes was taking long star trails to look for satellites slashing across the image. This was long before the Internet and easily available tracking data so I was left to wonder what it was that tumbled past creating dotted or dashed lines on my negatives. The processed photos were always great conversation starters In Mars' sky we know that there are several long lost orbiters. It would be a great challenge to attempt to rediscover one of them.
See
http://marswatch.astro.cornell.edu/pancam_...projects_2.html. One of the cool things for people who are familiar with star trail images on Earth is simply that they are different. The south circumpolar trails are different; Polaris has significant trailing. Even Orion is subtly "wrong". I need to get back to the data and make nice versions of more of the data ...
Exposures can be up to about 5 and a half minutes. We didn't always use the maximum due to the density of cosmic rays in long exposures. But we have taken many star trail images as part of meteor and spacecraft searches. We briefly thought a long streak seen early was VO2--it was in a position somewhat consistent with the VO2 final orbit. After a detailed look at the orbit dynamics, we found that (a) it could not be verified as VO2 and (
a search guided by what we knew vs. didn't know would have a vanishingly small chance of catching one of the orbiters. And that was before considering they would be invisible except during "flare" type events, which we could not predict. Sadly, a test with ODY under the best viewing conditions we could manage proved the difficulty to our satisfaction.
fredk
May 29 2009, 05:18 PM
QUOTE (CosmicRocker @ May 29 2009, 08:09 AM)
Along with all of you, I have been looking at the white material being churned up by some of Spirit's wheels, and wondering what it might be.
I don't remember other white stuff we've dug up having such a granular appearance as the latest dig. Have a look at this pancam view, eg:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...DOP2283L7M1.JPG
HughFromAlice
May 29 2009, 09:58 PM
QUOTE (fredk @ May 29 2009, 11:50 PM)
843!
I would
never have believed that Spirit would have approached anything even slightly near the 800 mark again! Just shows how wrong you can be! Gives us interesting information about the properties of that ubiquitous Martian dust.
CosmicRocker
May 30 2009, 06:32 AM
Yep...She's all powered up, but with no place to go. I hate that.
QUOTE (fredk @ May 29 2009, 12:18 PM)
I don't remember other white stuff we've dug up having such a granular appearance as the latest dig.
That's a good observation, fredk. As far as I know, we haven't seen that before. The granular bright stuff is different from that which we have seen at other sites. However, many of the recent images display abundant, powdery soil, as well.
I'm a bit frightened by this recent trap. Thank goodness this rover is being commanded by such an amazing team. They'll find the way out, if there is one.
Tesheiner
May 30 2009, 07:08 AM
QUOTE
Pending the recertification of the IDD, a MI mosaic of Spirit's underbelly is planned for this coming weekend to assess the rover's embedded condition.
That's tomorrowsol.
01922::p2906::02::1::0::0::1::0::2::mi_cover_open_minloss2_LUT3_crit
01922::p2906::02::1::0::0::1::0::2::mi_cover_open_minloss2_LUT3_crit
...
01922::p2976::00::1::0::0::1::0::2::mi_open_minloss2_LUT3_medium
RoverDriver
May 30 2009, 08:30 AM
QUOTE (Tesheiner @ May 30 2009, 12:08 AM)
That's tomorrowsol.
01922::p2906::02::1::0::0::1::0::2::mi_cover_open_minloss2_LUT3_crit
01922::p2906::02::1::0::0::1::0::2::mi_cover_open_minloss2_LUT3_crit
...
01922::p2976::00::1::0::0::1::0::2::mi_open_minloss2_LUT3_medium
Yep! This will be done in two stages. The first one will be done with the IDD further out than the position used on Opportunity. We will image the terrain just under the IDD shoulder. If the area is clear (as it should) we will take a closer look on Monday.
Paolo
ElkGroveDan
May 30 2009, 05:10 PM
Paolo when the images come down please let us know who the first person on the team is that says "Well there's yer' problem..."
alan
May 31 2009, 01:49 AM
Astro0
May 31 2009, 02:12 AM
Thanks for the heads-up Alan.
A real quick look underneath.
Click to view attachmentWorking on better version.
EDIT: Ridiculously deconvoluted and sharpened version
Click to view attachment
fredk
May 31 2009, 02:29 AM
You scooped me by a minute, Astro0, which is fine since your mosaic is a lot better than mine!
Can someone identify the rear wheels? I'm not sure if that's the RR wheel or a high rock just left of centre and near the top of the mosaic. Also there are some rocks around the LM wheel that maybe are the cause of the stall problem?
alan
May 31 2009, 03:31 AM
The rock visible on the left in Astro0's stitch is visible between the wheels in this image
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...C6P1212R0M1.JPG
Astro0
May 31 2009, 04:52 AM
Two updated, larger and much better versions of Spirit's MIs.
Raw image stitch, blended.
Click to view attachmentDeconvoluted and sharpened version.
Click to view attachmentRoverDriver noted that there'd be another set of MIs soon, a little closer than these.
Should improve the focus a bit.
RoverDriver
May 31 2009, 04:57 AM
Thank you Astro0 for the beautiful panorama. The rock on the left is visible from the FHAZ taken on Sol 1899, it is close to the IDD shoulder. This panorama was taken to verify that there are no obstructions under the IDD shoulder. Hopefully the next set of MIs will tell us more about the state of the wheels. In this panorama you can only see the RR wheel which is just to the right of the RM and just above the above mentioned rock. The RL wheel is not visible from this IDD position but will be from the next position. I'm not so sure what to make of the sharp spike in the middle, not sure if it is a rock, if it is touching the WEB or not.
Paolo
RoverDriver
May 31 2009, 05:05 AM
QUOTE (alan @ May 30 2009, 07:31 PM)
The rock visible on the left in Astro0's stitch is visible between the wheels in this image
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...C6P1212R0M1.JPGThat is true, and therefore the rock with sharp edges next to it might be the pointy rock we see in the panorama. Shoot!
Paolo
nprev
May 31 2009, 05:48 AM
Major compliments to Astro0 for his brilliant, rapid mosaics!!!
Man. I dunno; shooting from the hip here, going forward (towards the POV) doesn't seem very practical anymore. Maybe turning the front wheels left, keeping the remaining good rear wheel straight, and "gunning" her in reverse might work.
Astro0
May 31 2009, 06:20 AM
Just noticed something pretty cool in the MIs.
One of the "other" JPL logos on the MERs which we haven't seen in quite some time.
Click to view attachment
alan
May 31 2009, 06:38 AM
QUOTE (RoverDriver @ May 31 2009, 12:05 AM)
That is true, and therefore the rock with sharp edges next to it might be the pointy rock we see in the panorama. Shoot!
Paolo
I'm not sure we referring to the same rock, illustration added for clarification.
Click to view attachmentThe 1891 and 1897 forward hazcam images have been inverted and brightened.
original images:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...C6P1212R0M1.JPGhttp://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...CUP1214R0M1.JPGI don't know where the rock on the left was originally, it looks to me like it may have been flipped. Perhaps it was in the disturbed area on the right in the 1891 image. (disturbed area would be on the left in the original image)
Astro0
May 31 2009, 09:28 AM
Here are some comparison shots of the spot where Spirit is located.
Click to view attachment
SpaceListener
May 31 2009, 10:21 PM
Good to be able to view the previous pictures. Congrats to Astro0.
In order to know exactly the aspects of the picture. First, Spirit was traveling backward toward South (Braun Von), its IDD is on the North side. Hence, the picture was taken from North to South. The picture, I can see two rear wheels (RL and RR), both are around 70% buried. The right side of picture(RL) seems to be more obstructed, probably by a small spheric stone. The left side (RR), close to a cut stone, has higher position than the right side.
The picture, I am not able to see the middle wheels. Hope for another MI to have a better idea of the situation.
Astro0
May 31 2009, 10:42 PM
You can see both middle wheels in this first MI image.
As RoverDriver pointed out, it's the rear wheels that are not clear/visible.
A small part of the rear-right wheel is visible in deep shadow (above the rock on the left).
More images soon we hope.
EDIT: Quick mosaic of today's soil images.
Click to view attachment
ElkGroveDan
Jun 1 2009, 04:18 AM
QUOTE (Astro0 @ May 31 2009, 03:42 PM)
EDIT: Quick mosaic of today's soil images.
Click to view attachmentLet me guess a bunch, of luckless college interns are going to be tasked with manually taking an inventory of grain sizes so the test bed team can recreate a terrestrial analog to this particle mixture?
RoverDriver
Jun 1 2009, 05:20 AM
QUOTE (SpaceListener @ May 31 2009, 02:21 PM)
Good to be able to view the previous pictures. Congrats to Astro0.
In order to know exactly the aspects of the picture. First, Spirit was traveling backward toward South (Braun Von), its IDD is on the North side. Hence, the picture was taken from North to South. The picture, I can see two rear wheels (RL and RR), both are around 70% buried. The right side of picture(RL) seems to be more obstructed, probably by a small spheric stone. The left side (RR), close to a cut stone, has higher position than the right side.
The picture, I am not able to see the middle wheels. Hope for another MI to have a better idea of the situation.
I believe that what you are referring to the rear wheels are in fact the middle wheels. The right left is behind the left middle (on the right side on the mosaic).
Paolo
RoverDriver
Jun 1 2009, 05:22 AM
QUOTE (ElkGroveDan @ May 31 2009, 08:18 PM)
Let me guess a bunch, of luckless college interns are going to be tasked with manually taking an inventory of grain sizes so the test bed team can recreate a terrestrial analog to this particle mixture?
How do you know? ;-) The shovels are ready! Paolo
fredk
Jun 1 2009, 03:06 PM
Getting away from the mobility situation for a moment, there was a stunning DD sequence on sol 1919:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...DQP2288L2M1.JPGhttp://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...DQP2288L5M1.JPGhttp://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...DQP2288L7M2.JPGIt shows a pair of what must be gargantuan devils, since they appear to be past the horizon - I can't see any bright parts in front of the ground, just the dark silhouettes against the sky.
djellison
Jun 1 2009, 03:54 PM
QUOTE (fredk @ Jun 1 2009, 04:06 PM)
since they appear to be past the horizon - I can't see any bright parts in front of the ground,
I think with some stretching they will be there. Something that large over the horizon would have to be several KM's across.
fredk
Jun 1 2009, 06:52 PM
I've stretched and stretched and squinted and can't see any hint of devils in the foreground.
But I'd say these devils are not much more than a few hundred metres across. We're something like 20 metres above the plains (see
these contour maps). On Mars that means the horizon should be around 11 or 12 km away (assuming level plains). If you look at views of Grissom Hill and the big crater in behind it
such as this one, the horizon looks closer in distance to Grissom, which is maybe 8 km away. At that distance the largest of these devils (just under 2 degrees across) would be around 270 metres across, which is comparable to other large devils we've seen.
Of course the devils
could be larger if they are farther. But they don't
need to be kms across.
ilbasso
Jun 1 2009, 09:43 PM
Hmm, on my computer screen I can clearly see them extended into the foreground.
mhoward
Jun 2 2009, 12:30 AM
QUOTE (fredk @ Jun 1 2009, 09:06 AM)
Getting away from the mobility situation for a moment, there was a stunning DD sequence on sol 1919:
You didn't include this one, which was taken just a few minutes later pointing just to the right:
http://nasa.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/...DQP2288L2M1.JPG. Not a dust devil there, more like a wind front. No wonder the deck is clean!
climber
Jun 2 2009, 07:28 AM
Do we have some pics of the clean deck shot recentely?
Deimos
Jun 2 2009, 05:10 PM
For fredk's set of 3 images, it would appear there are 4 DDs, 2 moving in tandem to the left (S), 1 indeterminate, and 1 moving faster. There is nothing in front of the horizon at the <1% level in the, uh, "good" images. So I'd buy them as a couple 300-m class DDs with a couple smaller ones.
JayB
Jun 2 2009, 06:29 PM
QUOTE (climber @ Jun 2 2009, 12:28 AM)
Do we have some pics of the clean deck shot recentely?
there's a small one in the latest PS update (from s1907)
http://www.planetary.org/news/2009/0531_Ma...ate_Spirit.htmlhard to believe that's our girl ...forgot the panels were any colour but red
edit: lots of wind in the latest batch of NavCams
ie:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/na...DNP1561L0M1.JPGhttp://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/na...DQP1561L0M1.JPG Q: are all of those 256x1024 images "DD watchers"
JayB
Jun 2 2009, 09:38 PM
Shaka
Jun 2 2009, 11:03 PM
QUOTE (JayB @ Jun 2 2009, 08:29 AM)
Good sequence for animation here. Is someone doing it?
Astro0
Jun 3 2009, 12:04 AM
This is a quick version of part of the sequence.
Needs lots of work and I've squeezed it up for 16:9 to show the scene.
Stretches the view a bit (but that happens on UMSF!
)
Click to view attachment
Deimos
Jun 3 2009, 12:44 AM
QUOTE (JayB @ Jun 2 2009, 06:29 PM)
Q: are all of those 256x1024 images "DD watchers"
The P1561s are all fast dust devil movies (p1560 are "regular" movies, but haven't been used much lately, and WATCH has been used little if at all recently). We deleted a batch of the movies that have no dust devils a bit ago, so there was some selection bias to having dust devils, although the most recent ones hadn't been vetted. These go back as far as 1888. Spirit's quite deep into flash to be transmitting those. BTW, last I saw of the deck, the body and wing panels were pretty clean but the rear panel was quite dirty. But there've been more events since the pan.
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