Opportunity rover timeline for 2004 March
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- Spirit rover timeline
- Spirit rover timeline for 2004 February
- Spirit rover timeline for 2004 March
- Spirit rover timeline for 2004 April
- timelines for 2004 May to 2005 February unavailable
- Spirit rover timeline for 2005 March
- Opportunity rover timeline
- Opportunity rover timeline for 2004 February
- Opportunity rover timeline for 2004 April
- timelines for 2004 May to 2005 February unavailable
- Opportunity rover timeline for 2005 March
| Contents |
week starting 2004 March 1
March 1
sol 36 ends at 6:54 a.m. Monday, 2004 March 1 PST
Opportunity woke up to Sting's "Rock Steady" on its 36th sol on Mars, which ended at 6:54 a.m. PST on Monday, March 1. The rover completed an overnight alpha particle X-ray spectrometer measurement on "Guadalupe," retracted its arm, placed the Moessbauer spectrometer on the calibration target and then stowed its arm.
A series of backward drives - away from the "El Capitan" site in the outcrop - were then conducted.
The rover also got in some remote sensing, including miniature thermal emission spectrometer observations and panoramic camera imaging of the holes created by the rock abrasion tool. In addition, the panoramic camera took images of a crater to the east.
The plan for the next sol involves several short drives in the direction of the "Last Chance" target in the "Big Bend" area of the outcrop.
March 2
sol 37 ends at 7:33 a.m. Tuesday, 2004 March 2 PST
On sol 37, Opportunity woke up at 9:35 Local Solar Time to "Let's Go" by the Cars. Opportunity completed the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and panoramic camera surveys of the rock abrasion tool holes at "Guadalupe" and "McKittrick," then drove 4.25 meters (14 ft) to "Last Chance," ending the sol at 7:33 a.m. PST on Tuesday, March 2.
With the moves of a tango dancer, the drive was another intricate study in, and challenge of, driving on a slippery, steep slope.
The rover was directed to: turn right, go forward, turn right, take images of "Last Chance," turn right, go forward, turn left, go forward, turn right, take images of "Big Bend," go straight, turn left and go straight! Due to the challenges of driving and pirouetting on such a steep slope (as steep as 22 degrees) the rover found it difficult to maintain a perfectly straight course, and Opportunity came up shy and right of the "Last Chance" target by about 300 mm (about one foot).
The plan for sol 38, which will end at 8:13 a.m. PST on Wednesday, March 3 is to do a short drive again to get within arm's reach of "Last Chance." Once in place, Opportunity will use the science instruments on the end of the robotic arm to analyze "Last Chance."
March 3
sol 38 ends at 8:13 a.m. Wednesday, 2004 March 3 PST
On sol 38, which ended at 8:13 a.m. PST on Wednesday, March 3, Opportunity awoke to "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" by Creedence Clearwater Revival in honor of the confirmation that liquid water once flowed through the rocks at Meridiani Planum.
In the morning of sol 38, Opportunity observed the atmosphere with the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Then, the rover turned the miniature thermal emission spectrometer to stare at the ground for science observations. Later, Opportunity took stereo microscopic images and Mössbauer spectrometer readings of the soil target dubbed "Pay Dirt."
In the early afternoon Local Solar Time, Opportunity stowed the rover arm, took a panoramic camera image of "Last Chance," and drove a very short distance of 400 mm (16 inches) toward "Last Chance" to prepare for the deployment of the robotic arm.
The proposed plan for sol 39, which will end at 8:52 a.m. PST on Thursday, March 4, is to start the morning by taking images of a rare solar transit of the martian moon, Deimos (see Transit of Deimos from Mars). The solar transit of Deimos causes a solar eclipse only twice per Mars year (one Mars year equals roughly two Earth years). Later in the sol, Opportunity is scheduled to take a microscopic panorama of the layers in the "Last Chance" rock formation.
March 4
sol 39 ends at 8:52 a.m. Thursday, 2004 March 4 PST
| Missing image Deimos_Mar_04_2004_from_Opportunity_1.jpg Deimos transits the Sun 10:28:17 Mars local solar time |  |  | Missing image Deimos_Mar_04_2004_from_Opportunity_4.jpg Deimos transits the Sun 10:28:46 Mars local solar time |
On sol 39, which ends at 8:52 a.m. PST on Thursday, March 4, Opportunity awoke to "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival in honor of the eclipse caused by the martian moon Deimos.
The science and engineering team built a whooping 490 commands to accomplish the most complex robotic arm operations on Mars yet. Opportunity took three mosaics on the area dubbed "Last Chance," using the microscopic imager, creating 128 images in over 200 arm moves. Each "frame" of these mosaics required multiple microscopic images. There are two reasons for this. First, the microscopic imager does not have auto-focus, so the team needed to have Opportunity take and return multiple images at each location at different distances from the rock to get at least one in focus. A second reason is that the team needed Opportunity to take an extra image at a slightly different angle for each frame to create the right conditions to build stereo and computer-generated graphics of the "topography" of the rock area up close.
After about two-and-a-half hours of microscopic imager maneuvers, the robotic arm placed the Mössbauer spectrometer on a location at "Last Chance" called "Makar." Opportunity also used the panoramic camera to watch the rare solar crossing of the sun by the moon Diemos and took images of the sky in coordination with the European Space Agency's orbiter at Mars, Mars Express.
The plan for sol 40, which will end at 9:32 a.m. PST on Friday, March 5 is to continue taking microscopic images of the "Last Chance" area, then drive to a new location dubbed "The Dells."
March 5
sol 40 ends at 9:32 a.m. Friday, 2004 March 5 PST
After 40 good days on the surface, Opportunity is showing no signs of middle age.
On sol 40, which ended at 9:32 a.m. PST, March 5, 2004, Opportunity finished a set of overnight alpha particle X-ray spectrometer measurements at "Last Chance" and completed a morning set of panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer remote sensing observations. At 11:30 Local Solar Time, engineers retracted the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer off the target, took a final set of 24 microscopic images, and stowed the arm for driving.
Opportunity then scored another first by successfully using visual odometry to navigate autonomously on Mars. During a drive along the crater wall, the vehicle properly identified wheel slippage on the steep slope of the crater wall using features in the navigation camera imagery. This effectively provided a mid-course correction that landed the science and engineering team exactly at the target location where they want Opportunity to do work using the instruments on the rover arm on sol 41.
The plan for sol 41, which will end at 10:12 a.m. PST, March 6 will be to take microscopic images of an area dubbed "Wave Ripple" in the "Last Chance" area, followed by a traverse to "Slick Rock" in the "Berry Bowl" area.
March 6
sol 41 ended at 10:02 a.m. Saturday, 2004 March 6 PST
In its 41st sol on Mars, ending at 10:02 a.m. Saturday, PST, NASA's Opportunity inspected a rock target called "Wave Ripple" with tools on its arm, then drove to a new target. The new target, "Flat Rock," is in the "Slick Rock" area near the south end of the outcrop that the rover has been examining for weeks.
Although the rover wheels slip some in the local soil and the drive traversed a slope of 10 to 11 percent, Opportunity and engineers at JPL navigated the trip so well that a planned final approach to the target on sol 42 could be cancelled. The target is within the work volume of Opportunity's robotic arm. The drive was done in a series of one meter (3.3 ft) segments making up a U-shaped path to the south and west. Each segment included a correction for slippage.
Before starting the drive, Opportunity used its microscope for 50 images of "Wave Ripple," and examined the composition of the rock with its alpha proton X-ray spectrometer and its Moessbauer spectrometer.
Rover controllers spun Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" as the sol's wake-up song, and used a compressed planning schedule as practice for procedures that might become standard after the 90-sol prime mission.
Plans for sol 42, ending at 10:51 a.m. Sunday, PST, include using the rock abrasion tool at "Flat Rock."
March 7
sol 42 ended at 10:51 a.m. Sunday, 2004 March 7 PST
NASA's Opportunity attempted to grind a shallow hole into a target called "Flat Rock" during its 42nd sol on Mars, ending at 10:51 a.m. Sunday, PST. However, the operation of the rover's rock abrasion tool produced almost no discernable impression on the rock. All indications are that the tool is healthy. Controllers plan to run some diagnostic tests during sol 43 (ending at 11:31 a.m. Monday, PST) to aid with tuning parameters for a second grinding attempt on the target on sol 44.
Opportunity observed a grazing transit of Phobos across the Sun with its panoramic camera on sol 42 as a practice run for a better transit observation opportunity on sol 45 (see Transit of Phobos from Mars). The alpha particle X-ray spectrometer was placed against "Flat Rock" for an overnight reading to identify the chemical elements present.
Wake-up song for the sol was "Break on Through (to the Other Side)," by The Doors.
week starting 2004 March 8
March 8
sol 43 ended at 11:31 a.m. Monday, 2004 March 8 PST
On sol 43, which ended at 11:31 a.m. PST on Monday, March 8, Opportunity awoke to You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) by Bruce Springsteen in recognition of the fact that the rock abrasion tool grind did not touch the surface of its rock target on sol 42.
Using a combination of microscopic images, hazard avoidance camera images, and rock abrasion tool tests on sol 43, Opportunity?s engineering team discovered that the grind motor of the rock abrasion tool on Mars stalled prematurely during what?s called the "seek/scan" phase when the rock abrasion tool instrument searches for the rock face. This resulted in no contact during the actual grind activity on sol 42. The most likely causes of the stall are dust and dirt accumulations and temperature variations on the instrument. The tests also confirmed that engineers can safely increase the motor voltage on the instrument to prevent a future stall.
In the process of conducting the rock abrasion tool activities, Opportunity placed the Moessbauer spectrometer on "Mojo 2," a target on "Flat Rock."
The remainder of the sol included preparations for the future target in this area, dubbed "Berry Bowl," taking pictures with the panoramic and navigation cameras. Opportunity also took ground and atmospheric measurements with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.
The plan for sol 44, which ends at 12:10 p.m. PST on Tuesday, March 9 is to grind into "Mojo 2" using the rock abrasion tool and then to research the rock?s chemical composition using the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and the Moessbauer spectrometer.
March 9
sol 44 ends at 12:10 p.m. Tuesday, 2004 March 9 PST
On Opportunity's 44th sol, ending at 12:10 p.m. PST on Tuesday, March 9, the rock abrasion tool ground a 3.1 mm deep (just over 0.1 inch) hole in the "Mojo 2" target on "Flatrock." Yesterday, diagnostic testing determined a voltage adjustment was necessary to overcome some mechanism "stickiness" in the routine during which the rock abrasion tool finds the highest point in the target area.
The routine worked perfectly on this grind with the new voltage setting. After one hour and five minutes of successful grinding, the rock abrasion tool grind motor stalled, probably while grinding into one of the spherules also known as "blueberries." These objects are known to obstruct the grinding tool and cause it to terminate its sequence.
Late in the martian morning, the Mössbauer spectrometer was placed on the hole, followed later by the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer. The miniature thermal emission spectrometer took two long atmospheric measurements. The panoramic camera was busy taking images of the hole as well as surrounding target areas.
The wake-up songs were "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" by Janis Joplin for the rock abrasion tool's second attempt at "Mojo 2," and "X-ray Eyes" by Kiss for the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.
March 10
sol 45 ends at 12:50 p.m. Wednesday, 2004 March 10 PST
 | Missing image Phobos_Mar_10_2004_from_Opportunity_2.jpg Phobos transits the Sun 11:04:32 Mars local solar time |
On sol 45, which ended at 12:50 p.m. PST on Wednesday, March 10, Opportunity awoke to Eclipse by Pink Floyd in recognition of the transit of the martian moon Phobos. A second song, "Meet Me Halfway" by Kenny Loggins, was played because Opportunity is halfway through its primary 90-sol surface mission.
Opportunity used the rock abrasion tool brush to sweep off the dirt in and around the hole at "Mojo 2" in the "Flat Rock" area. Opportunity then took five microscopic images of the freshly brushed "Mojo 2."
The miniature thermal emission spectrometer took measurements at three locations on the surface of Mars, and then pointed upwards to observe the atmosphere in four different directions. The panoramic camera was also busy taking images of the magnets around the rock abrasion tool area, "Mojo 2" post brushing, and a new area called "Slick Rock."
The plan for sol 46, which will end at 1:30 p.m. PST on Thursday, March 11, is to use the science instruments on the end of the robotic arm on the area dubbed "Berry Bowl."
March 11
sol 46 ends at 13:30 p.m. Thursday, 2004 March 11 PST
On sol 46, which ended at 1:30 p.m. PST on Thursday, March 11, Opportunity awoke at 9:20 Local Solar Time to two songs in honor of researching the mysterious "blueberries" with the instruments on the robotic arm. The wake-up songs were "Berry Nice News" by Raffi and "Huckling the Berries" by Country Cooking.
Opportunity performed a series of activities including microscopic imaging of the berries and placing the Moessbauer spectrometer on the berries to analyze their chemical composition. The miniature thermal emission spectrometer later made multiple atmospheric observations. After a short nap to conserve energy, Opportunity awoke in the afternoon to perform some additional remote sensing observations and to transmit data to Earth via the Odyssey orbiter.
Later in the evening Local Solar Time, Opportunity collected data with its alpha particle X-ray spectrometer at two locations.
The plan for sol 47, which will end at 2:10 p.m. PST on Friday, March 12 is to continue analyzing the blueberries and the "Berry Bowl." By early next week, Opportunity will drive to a new area dubbed "Shoemaker's Patio."
March 12
sol 47 ends at 2:10 p.m. on Friday, 2004 March 12 PST
On sol 47, which ended at 2:10 p.m. PST on Friday March 12, Opportunity awoke to "No Particular Place to Go" by Chuck Berry in recognition of the stay at "Berry Bowl." Engineers also played "That's Amore" by Dean Martin in honor of the moon Phobos's transit across the Sun.
Opportunity finished remnants of activities from the past sol's research at "Berry Bowl." The sol started with the hazard avoidance camera taking a picture of the "Berry Bowl" area as a context picture. The miniature thermal emission spectrometer then performed some "sky stares" of the atmosphere. At 11:30 Local Solar Time, the robotic arm started moving. It picked up the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and moved to a new location nearby, then switched to the Moessbauer spectrometer. Both spectrometers are searching for clues about the chemical composition of the mysterious "blueberries."
Later, Opportunity took panoramic camera images of the suite magnet on the rover itself, which is collecting atmospheric dust samples to understand why the martian dust is so magnetic. The panoramic camera also took images of a target dubbed "Fool's Silver," which contains an interesting angular feature in the outcrop.
After all the morning's hard work, Opportunity took a short siesta to rest and recharge. Opportunity reawakened a few hours later to take more images of the atmosphere with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and panoramic camera. Those were taken in the same locations as the morning measurements to compare the atmospheric data throughout the sol.
At 15:40 Local Solar Time, Opportunity took about a dozen images of the Sun to catch the eclipse by the martian moon Phobos. Opportunity once again shut down for a nap and woke up at 4:53 Local Solar Time, sol 48, for a tool change and a communications session with the Odyssey orbiter. While the rover was awake for the Odyssey pass, the rover heated up the robotic arm, which had chilled to almost -80 degrees Celsius (-112 degrees Fahrenheit). The motors cannot move at that frigid temperature, so the rover arm heated for 32 minutes to surpass the operational temperature of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). As the rover arm quickly cooled, the heat lasted long enough (5 minutes) for the arm to twist its wrist and change instruments from the Moessbauer spectrometer back to the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.
The rest of the plan for sol 48, which will end at 2:49 p.m. PST on Saturday, March 13, is to perform quite a few complicated maneuvers. Opportunity plans to brush an area with the rock abrasion tool, analyze the brushed area with the spectrometers, then drive 10 meters (33 ft) along the slippery slopes of the outcrop to "Shark's Tooth" in "Shoemaker's Patio."
March 13
sol 48 ends at 2:49 p.m. on Saturday, 2004 March 13 PST
NASA's Opportunity finished inspecting the "Berry Bowl" site and drove 10 meters (33 ft) toward a new target during its 48th sol on Mars, which ended at 2:50 p.m. Saturday, PST.
The rover used all four tools on its arm during the morning, ending with a brushing by the rock abrasion tool, then post-brushing examinations with the microscope and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer. This closed out three sols of work at "Berry Bowl" to compare the composition of targets with and without groups of the BB-sized spherules believed to have formed while the local environment was wet.
Opportunity then stowed its arm and drove toward an area dubbed "Shoemaker's Patio" at the southwestern end of the outcrop the rover has been studying since it arrived on Mars. This informal name pays tribute to the late geologist Dr. Eugene Shoemaker of the U.S. Geological Survey. Opportunity's more specific target is a rock called "Shark's Tooth" at the near edge of the patio. The drive did not quite put that target within reach of the robot arm. Activities of the sol also included atmospheric observations with the panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer, plus post-drive imaging with the navigation camera.
Mission controllers at JPL chose John Williams' "Jaws: Main Title and First Victim" as the wake-up song for sol 48.
Plans for sol 49, ending at 3:28 p.m. Sunday PST, call for finishing the approach to "Shark's Tooth" after a morning examination of the ground right in front of the rover. Inspection of "Shark's Tooth" with tools on the robotic arm is planned for sol 50.
March 14
sol 49 ends at 3:28 p.m. on Sunday, 2004 March 14 PST
week starting 2004 March 15
March 15
sol 50 ends at 4:08 p.m. on Monday, 2004 March 15 PST
March 21
Slippage prevented Opportunity to finally leave Eagle Crater on sol 56. Controllers plan to use a different route on the next sol, after announcing that the rover is still healthy and she successfully completed other maneuvers.
week starting 2004 March 22
March 22
On her second attempt Opportunity left the crater she was investigating since the beginning of her mission.
March 23
NASA and JPL held a press conference to announce that evidence found by the rover Opportunity shows that the bedrock investigated by her formed most likely under flowing saltwater. Mission scientists described two reasons for this conclusion: "Crossbedding" features in the layered rock "Last Chance" seen on a mosaic generated from MI pictures, and the chemistry of the rock as it relates to the elements chlorine and bromine.
Dr. John Grotzinger, science member from MIT said that bedding patterns in some finely layered rocks indicate the sand-sized grains of sediment that eventually bonded together were shaped into ripples by water at least 50 mm (2 inch) deep, possibly much deeper, and flowing at a speed of 100 to 500 mm/s (4 to 20 in/s).
"Ripples that formed in wind look different than ripples formed in water," Grotzinger said. "Some patterns seen in the outcrop that Opportunity has been examining might have resulted from wind, but others are reliable evidence of water flow."
sol 58: Back to Bright Material
The song "Come on Home" by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross beckoned Opportunity back toward its landing site crater to an area of bright material. The rover also began to image a panoramic mosaic of the plains on this sol, which ended at 9:25 p.m. PST on March 23.
Over the martian night, Opportunity will again wake up to take miniature thermal emission spectrometer measurements.
In the coming sols, the rover will use its spectrometers to investigate the bright material area and then move on to a specific target in the area dubbed "Bright Spot."
March 24
sol 59: Browsing Bright Material
Opportunity spent sol 59, which ended at 10:04 p.m. PST, placing the Mössbauer spectrometer on the bright material it approached yestersol, and conducting more remote sensing observations.
This relatively light workload allowed the rover to recover energy for the next sol's activities. Those will include completing an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer read on the same soil target and initiating the panoramic mosaic image from the rover's current position.
The wake-up tune for the sol was "59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)" by Simon and Garfunkel.
March 25
sol 60: Opportunity and 'The Lion King'
On sol 60, which ended at 10:44 p.m. PST on March 25, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity had a quiet day continuing its research around the exterior of Eagle Crater.
Opportunity changed tools from the Mössbauer spectrometer to the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer around 11:30 Local Solar Time. In addition to the tool change, Opportunity's panoramic camera took a comprehensive color high-resolution panorama. The rover team dubbed it the "Lion King Panorama" because it is a look around Opportunity's domain from a high vantage point -- much like the view from "Pride Rock" in "The Lion King" movie. The large panorama essentially filled the remaining flash memory volume onboard the spacecraft, requiring a plan for sol 61 that minimizes data collection. The miniature thermal emission spectrometer also collected remote sensing data.
The wake up song for sol 60 was "The Circle of Life" by Elton John in honor of the Lion King panorama.
The plan for sol 61, which will end at 11:23 p.m. on March 26 PST, is to drive north to an area with dark material.
March 26
March 27
March 28
week starting 2004 March 29
March 29
March 30
March 31
April 1
April 2
April 3
sol 68 ends at 4:00 a.m. Saturday, 2004 April 3 PST
Over the weekend, Opportunity completed its observations at "Bounce Rock" rock and prepared for its trek toward "Endurance Crater."
On sol 68, which ended at 4:00 a.m. PST on April 3, the rover backed away from Bounce, then re-approached the rock in preparation for an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer read on the right side of it. The wake-up tune chosen for the sol was "Got to Go Back" by Van Morrison.
Opportunity made observations with its miniature thermal emission spectrometer during the martian morning. Then it took set of microscope images before backing away from the rock. More images were taken from that vantage point before Opportunity made a 10-degree turn in place and drove the 0.85 meters (2.8 feet) back to Bounce.