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Unmanned Spaceflight.com > Mars & Missions > Past and Future > MER > Spirit
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djellison
MRD = MIPLRAD Radiometrically-corrected RDR calibrated to absolute radiance units, specific to archived datasets only
HughFromAlice
Thanks!

Bring on those archived data sets!!!
CosmicRocker
QUOTE (Tman @ Sep 22 2009, 05:03 AM) *
... The image/animation of DDs comes great by using MRD calibrated images:
(2,4MB) http://greuti.ch/spirit/sol568ddcalib2.gif

No soft-focus effect is needed to lessen the artifacts as with the raw pics.

Oh, wow! I love it. smile.gif
Tman
QUOTE (HughFromAlice @ Sep 23 2009, 01:19 AM) *
Bring on those archived data sets!!!


http://an.rsl.wustl.edu/

I dont know much about the provided data there, the DDs appear most distinct in the MRDs.

For Mars "visitors" the official release here from the original pics is probably more accurate, but less attractive, isnt it. smile.gif
Oersted
QUOTE (Astro0 @ Sep 22 2009, 06:18 AM) *
Today we are experiencing an enormous dust storm moving across the country.


Oh you certainly are!

Sydney Harbour Bridge:

http://i546.photobucket.com/albums/hh403/d...507_9139001.jpg

The Opera House!

http://i546.photobucket.com/albums/hh403/d...507_9139080.jpg
HughFromAlice
QUOTE (Tman @ Sep 23 2009, 06:25 PM) *
DDs


Thanks Peter, I've done a quick check out of the site and it looks really interesting. I'll go back to it at the weekend.


briv1016
Nice little back-and-forth with rover driver Ashley Stroupe. Nothing really new though.

http://www.space.com/common/forums/viewtop...=27&t=20206
Tman
QUOTE (Astro0 @ Sep 22 2009, 06:18 AM) *
Today we are experiencing an enormous dust storm moving across the country

On www.flickr.com there's a huge album of it, with a few pictures of the sun.

I found there this remarkable image (another one here), that could just be from Mars, in comparison to others where the bluish glow is much less. The poster also noted he thinks that his phone was trying to do colour correction and made everything bluer than it really was.

Has anyone an idea what here exactly happened? I tried to reconstruct the image (automatic tonal value and some colour adjustments) and think it could looked approximately like this in reality, because of he couldn't look directly at the sun.

Some other examples with more red/orange and less blue:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/baldy_mcspecs...ol-1239213@N21/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/im-mick/39477...ol-1239213@N21/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42870077@N08/...ol-1239213@N21/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/josiephotos/3...edsydneyproject
http://www.flickr.com/photos/philippe_angi...edsydneyproject
http://www.flickr.com/photos/baldy_mcspecs...ol-1239213@N21/
HughFromAlice
Quick anaglyph Sol 2022 Pan cams

Click to view attachment
elakdawalla
My Spirit image selection for my annual Year in Pictures feature will be a segment of James' version of the Calypso pan including the tracks Spirit left as she entered her predicament at Troy. Here's more or less the segment I've picked out:
Click to view attachment
In my caption I'll point out the track left by the dragging wheel, and the disturbed soil in the foreground, and Husband Hill and Eldorado in the background. Is there anything else in this view that y'all think I should point out? Is there anything you can "read" from the way that the soil is disturbed that tells you something about Spirit's entrapment?

(EDIT: changed the image slightly, now includes some of Home Plate at right edge.)

--Emily
fredk
I might add that Spirit landed on the plains just off the frame to the left before trekking to the hills. (Perhaps you could enlarge the crop a bit on the left to show the plains more clearly.)
elakdawalla
Neat. Thanks.
HughFromAlice
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Sep 30 2009, 03:44 AM) *
My Spirit image selection ... James' version of the Calypso pan


You've made a great selection.

IMO what's really interesting is that looking back at the tracks there is no way, that I can see, how anyone could have foreseen that Spirit would have got bogged like it did.

In our bureaucratically regulated 'safe' world, it is always good to remind ourselves that exploration is going to involve high level risks where we are forced to make choices with very limited information and all can be lost for the simpest of reasons. As space exploration needs bigger and bigger organizations to carry it out, the tension point between safe/predicatable and risk taking gets more and more highlighted.

briv1016
New rover update. Looks like a "first draft" like last month. Three points of interest:

1) HGA fault slightly less intermittent then originally thought.

2) The rover's left wheels are stuck in a shallow dust filled crater named "Stratius Crater."

3) The team has come to a conclusion on an extraction plan. Pretty much the same plan as before SSTB lite but with more confidence. Now it has to go up the chain of reviews. Beginning of actual extraction pushed back to early November.
MahFL
I like where Nelson says they will never give up smile.gif.
fredk
Perhaps the article is still in progress - the crater name is now "Scamander":
QUOTE
...the rover's left wheels are sunk into... the western side of what is now being called Scamander Crater, a sand-filled hole, which, according to Arvidson, is “about 8 meters wide, maybe 30 centimeters deep." That, he added, is what is causing the rover's "12- degree roll to the west."

I don't see how being on the west side of a crater would mean we're rolled down to the west. Can anyone ID the crater on any images?

Also, details of the exit plan:
QUOTE
Spirit will be commanded through a series of forward moves combined with crabbing uphill, an exit strategy the team had pretty much settled on before bringing the SSTB Lite into the ISIL this month for testing.
fredk
It looks like the new belly rock imaging campaign has begun:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...E5P2989M2M1.JPG
Also it appears the rock at centre bottom was nudged a bit during the IDD movements. Compare these before and after frames:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...E5P1110L0M1.JPG
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...E5P1110L0M1.JPG
HughFromAlice
Trying to get a better look at THAT rock - Microscopic Imager pic of Sol 2044 (Sat Oct3)

1- Original..... Click to view attachment .....2-BW Enhanced..... Click to view attachment .....3-False Colour Enhanced..... Click to view attachment

Once again, if the rock is touching, then it looks as if it is only just touching.
centsworth_II
QUOTE (HughFromAlice @ Oct 4 2009, 05:48 PM) *
...if the rock is touching, then it looks as if it is only just touching.

If the rock is in contact with the rover, how could you tell by looking how much of the rover's weight was being supported by the rock? Unless you expect the rock to dent or pierce the bottom of the rover (or the rover to damage the rock), it only could just touch.

Another reason for the images may be to document the position of the rock to see if and how it moves when the rover begins the extraction routine.
HughFromAlice
QUOTE (centsworth_II @ Oct 5 2009, 03:16 PM) *
how could you tell by looking


Good point! Agreed I should have said "touching or nearly touching" !! Rushing to get the post finished before work huh.gif

From these and early MI pics it doesn't seem that there is soil disturbance at the base of the rock. Although the MI pics lack clarity and so it's hard to judge. But if there was disturbance, it would indicate that Spirit 'climbed' over the rock, moving it in the process and, in climbing over, 'sat' on it so that a significant percentage of its weight is resting on it. That would be definite bad news.

But IMO from looking at the pics I tend to think that the rock is not touching the bottom of the rover.
Burmese
QUOTE (fredk @ Oct 4 2009, 09:05 AM) *
It looks like the new belly rock imaging campaign has begun:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...E5P2989M2M1.JPG
Also it appears the rock at centre bottom was nudged a bit during the IDD movements. Compare these before and after frames:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...E5P1110L0M1.JPG
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...E5P1110L0M1.JPG



Looks untouched to me, just different shadows. If you look at the lower left corner, it's slight overlap with a pebble does not change at all.
Ant103
Yes, there IS actually a moving of the rock between the two frames.

A little "heyyy stop moving NOW!!!" gif biggrin.gif
fredk
QUOTE (centsworth_II @ Oct 5 2009, 06:46 AM) *
...how could you tell by looking how much of the rover's weight was being supported by the rock? ...it only could just touch.

Another reason for the images may be to document the position of the rock...

Indeed it would be hard to know how much weight is being supported if the rock is touching. It could be large. One thing you could do (and I'm sure Paolo and team have done) is to work out how much weight a contact could support before punching through the underbelly. That obviously depends on the surface area of the contact, but you could put an upper limit on that from the images. Basically the fact that we apparently haven't punched through, plus the fact that the contact area has to be below some maximum, means that there can only be so much weight supported. How much, only the team can answer.

Another thing that was mentioned some time ago is the fact that when they stopped driving, they had still been making progress (though slowly, of course). If all the weight had been on the rock, we wouldn't have moved.

And I thought that this campaign is to accurately determine the rock's position. Check out these comments from Maxwell:
http://twitter.com/marsroverdriver/status/3916347013
http://twitter.com/marsroverdriver/status/3916371227
http://twitter.com/marsroverdriver/status/4154740836
fredk
QUOTE (Ant103 @ Oct 5 2009, 03:05 PM) *
Yes, there IS actually a moving of the rock between the two frames.

Thanks, Ant, you saved me posting a gif myself! Yeah, the lower left doesn't move, but that's because the rock pivots, rather than slides sideways. Also, in the first of the links to Maxwell's blog above, he says they planned to "poke" the terrain.
ElkGroveDan
QUOTE (Burmese @ Oct 5 2009, 05:14 AM) *
Looks untouched to me, just different shadows. If you look at the lower left corner, it's slight overlap with a pebble does not change at all.


Fred is correct it definitely moved. (good eye Fred)
Astro0
From the six frames available, here's my best attempt at the moment of processing the animation of the MI's so-called 'Matrix Move'.
This is scaled down to get the file size reasonable.
Click to view attachment

Here's a sidebyside of the final frame (raw-left/processed-right)
Click to view attachment
ElkGroveDan
I've tried to be open-minded about this, but six-bucks and my right ..... says we're not landing in Chicago, and that rock is touching. There. I've said it. The rock is touching.
Hungry4info
I'm tempted to agree, but pray I am wrong.
MarsIsImportant
Look on the bright side. We don't see any oil stains on the rock. biggrin.gif




Or do we! unsure.gif
fredk
Even if the belly rock is touching, we don't seem to have all our weight on it since we were still making progress when we stopped driving, as I said above. But the important thing here is not so much whether we're touching or not. It's that with enough imaging we can hopefully pinpoint the rock's location well enough that when we do try driving again, we'll move in a direction that would get the belly rock contact away from Spirit's centre of mass as quickly and reliably as possible. Then it wouldn't mattter as much whether we're touching the rock or not.
centsworth_II
QUOTE (ElkGroveDan @ Oct 6 2009, 09:16 AM) *
....There. I've said it. The rock is touching.
The effect that has the shoulders of the rock blooming out toward the rovers belly surely is also present at the tip of the rock. How do you distinguish between actual touching and apparent touching due to this effect?
Click to view attachment
ElkGroveDan
QUOTE (centsworth_II @ Oct 6 2009, 10:46 AM) *
The effect that has the shoulders of the rock blooming out toward the rovers belly surely is also present at the tip of the rock. How do you distinguish between actual touching and apparent touching due to this effect?

It's a three dimensional rock and there are spatial relationships not visible from this perspective. Go back and find the image of the rock taken as the rover approached this spot (someone posted it in the recent past) and examine the entire structure.
fredk
QUOTE (ElkGroveDan @ Oct 6 2009, 07:05 PM) *
find the image of the rock taken as the rover approached this spot (someone posted it in the recent past)

I identified belly rock in this post. Unfortunately we don't have very good imagery of it.
centsworth_II
QUOTE (ElkGroveDan @ Oct 6 2009, 02:05 PM) *
It's a three dimensional rock and there are spatial relationships not visible from this perspective....

Are you saying that the symmetrical, blurred blooms indicated by my red arrows are real and not the result of image distortion?
ElkGroveDan
QUOTE (centsworth_II @ Oct 6 2009, 11:34 AM) *
Are you saying that the symmetrical, blurred blooms indicated by my red arrows are real and not the result of image distortion?


No. Those artifacts are irrelevant to my comment. For lack of a better word, it is clear to me that the "summit" of this rock is not a point, but a linear "ridge". As such there are opportunities for spatial relationships between the Rover and the rock that are not visible from this perspective. As noted above, my gut feeling is that there is contact between the rover and the rock at some point. However I have yet to form an opinion what the load might be at such a point, or if in fact it will create a problem during the extraction process.

centsworth_II
QUOTE (ElkGroveDan @ Oct 6 2009, 03:04 PM) *
...there are opportunities for spatial relationships between the Rover and the rock that are not visible from this perspective.... my gut feeling is that there is contact between the rover and the rock at some point....

So your gut tells you that the rock touches the rover, but we can't see it. My gut is withholding it's opinion. laugh.gif
climber
QUOTE (centsworth_II @ Oct 6 2009, 09:12 PM) *
So your gut tells you that the rock touches the rover, but we can't see it.

So Dan, which part touch the belly, near side or far side? rolleyes.gif
fredk
Another point here is that even if the rock isn't touching the belly right now, it's so darned close that the next drive attempt could bring them into contact. So basically the team has to do what it can to get the rover's centre of mass away from the rock regardless of whether it's touching now or not.
Astro0
Two more variations on the 'Matrix Move'.
Rotated to level - MI View
Click to view attachment

Rotated to 11degree slope
Click to view attachment
marsophile
Suppose the rover drivers do get the center of mass away from that rock. Are there any other rocks close by for which we also need to worry about getting grounded?
Julius
The longer Spirit is stuck around this area of Mars,"Calypso "panorama becomes more fitting as a name to describe this particular vista in Gusev crater.
djellison
QUOTE (@marsroverdriver)
Starting a week-long Operational Readiness Test for Spirit extrication plan. Oh, mornings, you are not my friends.
BrianL
Does that mean this week they will be trying out the extraction strategy in the sandbox, or just getting ready to try out the extraction strategy in the sandbox? unsure.gif
Keatah
QUOTE (BrianL @ Oct 13 2009, 06:28 PM) *
Does that mean this week they will be trying out the extraction strategy in the sandbox, or just getting ready to try out the extraction strategy in the sandbox? unsure.gif


QUOTE (@marsroverdriver)
Starting a week-long Operational Readiness Test for Spirit extrication plan. Oh, mornings, you are not my friends.

Putting on my grammar nazi uniform for a moment..

It would read as if they are beginning a week-long test of an extrication plan. to really know the answer you need to know the definition of "operational readiness test" and "extrication plan" .. But the meaning they're trying to convey is that they are testing to see if they are ready to execute the plan! Whatever the 'plan' may be..
elakdawalla
"operational readiness test" is NASA-speak for "dress rehearsal." They have a plan and are running through it using the simulated setup on Earth over the course of several sols, sticking as closely as makes sense to the timeline and sequencing they would do on Mars. They did similar ORTs prior to landing, running through dress rehearsals of the days from landing to egress (going through several scenarios of having to drive forward or turn to drive a different way off the lander), and also did ORTs of everyday post-egress operations.

Which is making me wonder: have they stopped and done any ORTs since landing or is this the first? I'm assuming they did one before Purgatory extraction; were there any others?

--Emily
ElkGroveDan
QUOTE (elakdawalla @ Oct 14 2009, 01:02 PM) *
I'm assuming they did one before Purgatory extraction; were there any others?


Perhaps immediately preceding the software upgrade way back when?
fredk
There are a few words about the completion of the ORT at Maxwell's blog, including this post:
QUOTE
Next week: document a lot of stuff & prep for Oct 28 review. If we pass that, start extrication shortly after.
BrianL
More info about the ORT at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/20091019a.html

Tesheiner
... including this paragraph: "Current plans call for an independent panel to review Spirit driving plans in late October, following analysis of results from the readiness test. Unless that review recommends any further preparations, Spirit will probably begin extraction moves within two weeks after the review".
serpens
I just can't help thinking of the old chestnut - paralysis by analysis. If the same approach had been adopted with the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo program man would never have walked on the moon.

He either fears his fate too much,
Or his deserts are small,
That puts it not unto the touch
To win or lose it all.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James Graham, Marquess of Montrose
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