Spirit rover timeline for 2004 April
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- Spirit rover timeline
- Spirit rover timeline for 2004 March
- Spirit rover timelines for 2004 May to 2005 February unavailable
- Spirit rover timeline for 2005 March
- Opportunity rover timeline
- Opportunity rover timeline for 2004 March
- Opportunity rover timeline for 2004 April
- timelines for 2004 May to 2005 February unavailable
- Opportunity rover timeline for 2005 March
April 2 (Sol 87)
sol 87, Apr 02, 2004: Bye-Bye 'Bonneville'
Spirit began sol 87, which ended at 3:00 p.m. PST on April 1, with some morning atmospheric science, and then took a last look at the rock "Mazatzal" with the panoramic and navigation cameras. Then the rover was off, traveling 36.5 meters (119.8 feet) down the side of "Bonneville" Crater headed south toward the "Columbia Hills."
The drive was a combination of "blind" and autonomous navigation roving. The blind segments of the drive are used when rover planners can see all possible hazards and command the rover to just "go." The autonomous navigation portion allows the rover to make decisions based on the terrain presented. While the blind segments of the sol 87 drive were successful, the second to the last autonomous navigation sequence did not complete in the allotted time, causing a drive "goal" error. As a result, Spirit was not able to execute the complete commanded drive, and roved 36.5 meters (119.8 feet) of the 65-meter (213.3 feet) planned drive.
Following the drive, Spirit took navigation and panoramic camera pictures in her drive direction and performed atmospheric and soil science with the panoramic camera and mini thermal emission spectrometer.
Spirit will spend most of sol 88, which ends at 3:39 p.m. PST on April 2, driving toward the Columbia Hills.
April 3 (Sol 88)
sol 88, Apr 02, 2004: Cruisin' Down the Crater Side
Spirit spent most of Sol 88, which ended at 3:39 p.m. PST on April 2, driving toward the "Columbia Hills." Before beginning the drive, Spirit acquired some pre-drive remote sensing, which included panoramic camera photometry and a mini thermal emission spectrometer stare of the rock called "Carlsbad."
Spirit then began the 35-meter (114.8 feet) combination directed and autonomous navigation drive down the rocky, ejecta-covered side of "Bonneville Crater." Fifteen meters (49.2 feet) of the drive were directed by rover planners and did not require the rover to use its hazard avoidance software. The remaining 20 meters (65.6 feet) were navigated by Spirit autonomously and did cause the rover to make some back and forth adjustments as it avoided what it perceived to be a depression hazard in its path. Rover controllers will look at hazard avoidance camera images tomorrow to confirm the details of Spirit's behavior.
Spirit will begin Sol 89, which ends at 4:19 p.m. PST on April 3, using the instrument deployment device on a rock target in front of it, followed by another drive toward the Columbia Hills.
week starting 2004 April 5
April 6 (Sol 91)
sol 91, Apr 05, 2004: Spirit Achieves Mission Success
Spirit woke up on sol 91, which ended at 6:38 p.m. PDT on April 5, 2004, as if it were any other martian day, but this one was special. Finishing 90 sols of surface operations since landing day marked completion of the last of the official success criteria for Spirit's prime mission. The rover team at JPL had checked off the next-to-last box for mission success two days earlier, when a drive of 50.2 meters (165 feet) took Spirit's total travel distance over the 600-meter (1,969 feet) mark.
The martian day for sol 91 started with some remote sensing observations of the sky and ground as well as navigation camera images of the landscape to the east. Then the rover completed miniature thermal emission spectrometer ground surveys and imaged the sky and ground with the panoramic camera. After a short nap, Spirit acquired some pre-drive imaging including a super-spectral look at an interesting spot in front of the rover.
Early in the martian afternoon, Spirit began a 1.35-meter (4.4-foot) drive to get closer to a rock called "Route 66." Once the drive was finished, the rover analyzed the instrument deployment device's work volume with hazard-avoidance camera images and a stare by the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. A quick adjustment of 0.8 meters (2.6 feet) put the rover in perfect position and completed the drive.
Spirit spent the afternoon taking a systematic soil survey with the panoramic camera, a 13-filter image of the destination informally named "Columbia Hills," and acquiring miniature thermal emission spectrometer data of the same locations.
Spirit will spend sol 92, which will end at 7:18 p.m. PDT on April 6, 2004, analyzing its capture magnet and filter magnet with its Mössbauer spectrometer and microscopic imager. The rover will also complete coordinated observations with the Mars Global Surveyor and switch tools to the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer for an overnight measurement.
April 7 (Sol 92)
sol 92, Apr 07, 2004: Monitoring Magnets on Mars
Spirit awoke on sol 92, which ended at 7:18 p.m. PST on April 6, and completed some early morning panoramic camera sky and ground measurements. Spirit also took a look at the capture and filter magnets with the panoramic camera prior to taking a short mid-morning nap. Upon wake-up around 12:30 p.m. Mars Local Solar Time, the rover opened the doors on the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and took 3 images of each magnet. Spirit also placed the Mössbauer spectrometer on the capture magnet and began an integration.
In the afternoon, Spirit completed coordinated observations with the thermal emission spectrometer instrument on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. The observations involved miniature thermal emission spectrometer pre-flight, simultaneous, and post-flight sky and ground measurements. Spirit also collected a panoramic camera opacity observation.
Early on Sol 93, which ends at 7:57 p.m. on April 7, the rover will switch the instruments on its instrument deployment device from the Mössbauer spectrometer to the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer. Sol 93 is the last day for newly planned science observations, as Spirit will be getting a flight software update during sols 94-98.
April 8 (Sol 93)
sol 93, Apr 08, 2004: Last Sol for Spirit Science
Spirit began sol 93, which ended at 7:57 p.m. PST on April 7, by heating the high gain antenna. Spirit then took some calibration measurements and navigation camera imaging of the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer's placement on the magnet.
Around 10:30 a.m. Mars Local Solar time, Spirit moved its instrument deployment device out of the way to take hazard avoidance camera images of the rock target called "Route 66." The rover then operated the Mössbauer spectrometer for a four-hour integration. During the integration, Spirit captured its current location with a panoramic camera mosaic toward the "Columbia Hills" and the rover tracks. Images: panorama (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/spirit_p093.html)
After a short nap, Spirit took mini thermal emission spectrometer observations of the rover tracks, and rock targets called "Everest" and "Pisa." The rover completed the Mössbauer integration and then placed it on Route 66 with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer pointed up to the sky. The instrument deployment device will remain in this position during the flight software load time period, allowing for long integrations of the Mössbauer on Route 66 and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer on the sky.
Sol 94, which ends at 8:37 p.m. PST on April 8, will be the beginning of the four-sol flight software upload. Before rover operators begin loading the updated software, they will command Spirit to perform a sunrise imaging operation. The flight software update will continue through sol 97 with a rover reboot on sol 98, Monday April 12.
April 9 (Sol 94)
sol 94, Apr 09, 2004: Spirit Stands Down for Flight Software Update
Spirit began a four-sol stand-down on sol 94, which ended at 8:37 p.m. on April 8, 2004. During this time, the rover will receive a flight software update that should make its remaining martian days even safer and more productive. The upload will run through sol 97 with a rover re-boot on sol 98, Monday, April 12. Opportunity will be receiving the same update package in upcoming sols.
Spirit is currently parked in front of the rock called "Route 66," and will remain there for the duration of the flight software update, with the Mössbauer spectrometer integrating on the rock, and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer pointed up to the sky.
The flight software update package includes three key changes. First is an update to the autonomous navigation software that will allow Spirit to travel longer distances autonomously over the extremely rocky Gusev Crater terrain. The current autonomous navigation software sometimes gets stuck when it detects a hazard that it can't navigate around. The new version will allow Spirit to turn in place to find the best possible path.
The second part of the flight software update will allow Spirit to recover more easily from an anomaly like the one that occurred on sol 18. Although operational processes and software have already been updated to prevent something like this from ever happening again, engineers have included additional safety nets in the software that would allow the rover to autonomously react to a similar anomaly and recover to a more stable state.
The third portion of the update is specific to Opportunity and is intended to mitigate against energy loss associated with the stuck heater on Opportunity's instrument deployment device. The fix allows rover planners to put the rover in a deep sleep mode, where the batteries are totally removed from being able to power the stuck switch. Therefore, with no power reaching the stuck heater switch, the Opportunity rover battery will not be drained. Rover controllers will not initiate the deep sleep capability on Spirit unless it becomes necessary.
week starting 2004 April 12
April 13 (Sol 98)
sol 98, Apr 13, 2004: Refreshed and Ready to Rock and Rove
On Sol 98, which ended at 10:36 p.m. PST on April 12, Spirit woke up to the song "Where Is My Mind?" by The Pixies in honor of its software transplant. The good news is that Spirit's "mind" is updated and operating as expected.
Controllers gave the go to reboot the rover's computer, which would then run the new software during the morning of sol 98. The command was sent, and a little over a half hour later, engineers saw the carrier beep that indicated that the command was received. Spirit went to sleep for several minutes after that, and then woke up, rebooting into the new software. It then initiated a high-gain antenna session at 12:30 p.m. Mars Local Solar time, and engineers saw that the new version of the rover software was running properly.
After confirmation that the new software was running as expected, engineers ran some clean-up activities and breathed a sigh of satisfaction.
The new software provides several improvements. It enhances the rovers' mobility, and should allow Spirit to go much farther each sol by reducing how often it has to take images and generate new three-dimensional maps. A deep-sleep mode has been added, mainly to resolve the heater that is stuck in the "on" position on the Opportunity rover. However, someday Spirit may find a use for this mode as well. The new software also mitigates the memory problem Spirit had on sol 18, and seems to be making a difference already. Spirit's unallocated memory jumped from 2.0 megabytes to 3.3 megabytes after the new software compacted the flash directories when it booted.
It's back to regular operations for Spirit on sol 99, ending at 11:15 p.m. PST on April 13, brushing a six-spot mosaic on the rock target "Route 66." Spirit will then take microscopic imager images and spectrometer measurements before the sol is complete.
April 14 (Sol 99)
sol 99, Apr 14, 2004: Brushing Down Route 66
Spirit began Sol 99, which ended at 11:55 p.m. PDT on April 13, 2004, by doing a systematic ground survey with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. After that, the rover completed a six-position brush mosaic on the rock "Route 66" with the rock abrasion tool. Once the brushing was complete, Spirit analyzed the area with the microscopic imager and Mössbauer spectrometer.
The afternoon science for the sol included imaging of rocks called "Back Lot" and "Cameo" with the panoramic camera and the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Spirit took a short nap and woke up for the afternoon Odyssey pass.
During the martian night, Spirit changed from using the Mössbauer spectrometer to using the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.
Sol 100, which will end at 12:35 a.m. PDT, April 15, 2004, will be a sol full of roving as Spirit continues toward the "Columbia Hills."
April 15 (Sol 100)
sol 100, Apr 15, 2004: A Century of Sols on the Surface
With 100 sols under her belt and 706.5 meters (.44 miles) on her odometer, Spirit keeps on roving toward the Columbia Hills.
Spirit began sol 100, which ended at 12:35 a.m. PDT, on April 15, 2004, by closing the doors on the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, stowing the robotic arm and backing up from the rock called "Route 66" in preparation for an afternoon drive. Before taking off, Spirit used the miniature thermal emission spectrometer to examine a patch of Route 66's surface that had been scrubbed in a daisy-shaped mosaic of brushings by the rock abrasion tool. In the early martian afternoon, the rover began a 64-meter (210 feet) drive, Spirit's longest one-sol drive so far. The final 24 meters (78.7 feet) of the drive were navigated with the enhanced autonomous navigation capabilities of Spirit's newly uploaded software. The new software has nearly doubled the meters-per-hour rate to 32 (105 feet-per-hour). Images: panorama (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/spirit_p100.html)
After the traverse, Spirit completed post-drive imaging and used the miniature thermal emission spectrometer on sky and ground targets.
Sol 101, which will end at 1:14 a.m. PDT on April 16, 2004, will be a remote science and driving sol for Spirit as she continues to make her way toward the Columbia Hills.