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Updates on the efforts to free the Spirit rover.
10.30.09
Latest Spirit News
Amnesia-Like Behavior Returns on Spirit - 10.30.09
This full-circle view from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the terrain surrounding the location called "Troy," where Spirit became embedded in soft soil during the spring of 2009.
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Until Oct. 24, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover had gone more than six months without an episode of amnesia-like symptoms like those that appeared on four occasions earlier this year.
In these amnesia events, Spirit fails to record data from the day's activities onto the type of computer memory -- non-volatile "flash" memory -- that can retain the data when the rover powers down for its energy-conserving periods of "sleep." The reappearance of this behavior in recent days might delay the start of planned drives by Spirit geared toward extricating the rover from a patch of soft soil where its wheels have been embedded since April. Spirit sent data Oct. 24 through Oct. 27 indicating that the rover was not using its flash memory. The rover also has alternate memory (volatile, random-access memory) where data can be saved for communicating to Earth if the communication session comes before the next sleep period. Spirit remains in communication with Earth, maintaining good power and temperatures. "We still don't have information about what causes these amnesia events," said Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "If they are intermittent and infrequent, they are a nuisance that would set us back a day or two when they occur. If the condition becomes persistent or frequent, we will need to go to an alternate strategy that avoids depending on flash memory. We would only get data collected the same day and any unsent data from an earlier day would be lost. The total volume of data returned by the rover is expected to be about the same." This week, an independent panel of robotics experts has been reviewing the rover team's tests and plans for getting Spirit away from the site called "Troy," where the rover's wheels broke through a crusty, dark surface layer and became embedded in bright, loose material that had been hidden underneath. Spirit has worked on Mars for more than 69 months in what was originally planned as a three-month mission. | ||||
Team Runs Operational Test to Prepare for Extracting Spirit - 10.19.09
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit recorded this forward view of its arm and surroundings during the rover's 2,052nd Martian day, or sol (Oct. 11, 2009).
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Engineers using test rovers on Earth to prepare for extracting the sand-trapped Spirit rover on Mars have added a new challenge to their preparations.
Until last week, the engineers commanding and assessing drives by the test rovers were usually in the same room as the sandbox setup simulating Spirit's predicament, where they can watch how each test goes. That changed for the latest preparation, called an operational readiness test. The team members commanding drives by a test rover last week stayed away from the building with the sandbox. They assessed the results of each commanded drive only from the images and other data communicated from the test rover, the same way the team does for daily operations of the rovers that are on Mars. "We conducted this round of testing under more flight-like conditions to test the team's ability to make very complex extraction driving decisions using only the data sent back from the rover," said Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The test began on Oct. 12 and ran five days on an accelerated schedule of two Martian days' worth of commanding every day. The rover team also operated both Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, while conducting this readiness test at JPL. Spirit became embedded in soft soil at a site called "Troy" five months ago, more than five years into a mission on Mars that was originally scheduled to last for three months. The rover team suspended further driving attempts with Spirit while evaluating possibilities from tests performed at JPL simulating the Troy situation. 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. Spirit has spent much of its time at Troy actively examining its surroundings, including analysis of layered soil at the site. In September, a new issue began affecting operations. Data from Spirit indicated that a brake on the motor that rotates the rover's dish-shaped high-gain antenna was not working correctly. The team has been getting more diagnostic data and developing a work-around strategy similar to work-arounds already used for rover-motor brakes that showed similar symptoms earlier. | ||||
Computer Modeling Supplements Dusty Testing - 09.14.09
Tests of possible maneuvers for use by NASA's rover Spirit on Mars include use of this lightweight test rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
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Tests on Earth simulating Spirit's predicament on Mars have reinforced understanding that getting Spirit to rove again will be very difficult.
To supplement the tests at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., the rover team is refining a detailed computer model of rover mobility, calibrated with results from testing and measurements from Mars. "The computer modeling will allow us to connect the results from tests performed in Earth gravity with what to expect from the rover in Mars gravity," said JPL's John Callas, project manager for Spirit and its twin, Opportunity. Spirit became embedded in soft soil at a site called "Troy" in early May, more than five years into a mission on Mars that was originally scheduled to last for three months. The rover team suspended further driving attempts with Spirit while evaluating possibilities from tests performed at JPL simulating the Troy situation. An additional round of testing was added to the September schedule to gain more detailed assessment of how to move Spirit while avoiding putting the rover's center of gravity directly over a rock that is touching or nearly touching the rover's underbelly. Other added tests are using a lighter-weight test rover than the one used for most of the testing this summer. A complete "dress rehearsal" test of the extrication strategy judged to hold the best chance of success is planned in the test setup at JPL before the team commands Spirit to begin driving. That test and subsequent review of its results are expected to take several weeks. Moves by Spirit will not begin before October, according to current plans. "We are proceeding very cautiously and exploring all reasonable options," Callas said. "There is a very real possibility that Spirit may not be able to get out, and we want to give Spirit the very best chance." A dust storm that had reduced the electrical output from Spirit's solar panels by nearly half during late August still has some lingering effects on the skies above Spirit. | ||||
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Dust Storm Passing Over Spirit - 08.25.09
This full-circle view from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the terrain surrounding the location called "Troy," where Spirit became embedded in soft soil during the spring of 2009.
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The amount of electricity generated by the solar panels on Spirit has been declining for the past several Martian days, or sols, as a regional dust storm moved southward and blocked some of the sunshine at Spirit's location. The team operating the rover has responsively trimmed Spirit's daily activities and is keeping an eye on weather reports from observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Spirit's solar panels generated 392 watt-hours during the mission's Sol 2006 (Aug. 24, 2009), down from 744 watt-hours five sols earlier, but still generous compared with the 240 watt-hours per sol that was typical before a series of panel-cleaning events about four months ago. "We expect that power will improve again as this storm passes, but we will continue to watch this vigilantly," said JPL's John Callas, project manager for Spirit and its twin, Opportunity. "Spirit remains power positive with healthy energy margins and charged batteries. The weather prediction from the Mars Color Imager team is that the storm is abating, but skies will remain dusty over Spirit for the next few sols." Recent images from the Mars Color Imager camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showed this regional storm becoming less extensive Monday even as it shifted southward so that its southern edge covered the Gusev Crater area where Spirit is working. Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, which operates that camera, provides frequent weather updates to the rover team. Weekly reports are posted at http://www.msss.com/msss_images/latest_weather.html . Meanwhile, in JPL's In-Situ Instrument Laboratory, the rover team is continuing testing of strategies for getting Spirit out of a patch of soft soil where it is embedded on Mars. On Sol 2005 (Aug. 23, 2009) Spirit used its panoramic camera to examine the nature of how soil at the site has stuck to the rover's middle wheels. The team has also used Spirit's rock abrasion tool as a penetrometer to measure physical properties of the soil around Spirit by pressing into the soil with three different levels of force. The team is aiming to start sending drive commands to Spirit in September. | ||||
Second Test Rover Added to Driving Experiments - 08.21.09
Testing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in August 2009 is assessing possible maneuvers that the Mars rover Spirit might use for escaping from a patch of soft soil where it is embedded at a Martian site called "Troy".
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A second, lighter-weight test rover has entered the testing setup at JPL where rover team members are assessing strategy for getting Spirit out of soft soil where it is embedded on Mars.
The rover team has begun using a test rover that does not carry a science payload or robotic arm, as do Spirit and Opportunity on Mars, and the primary engineering test rover at JPL. While the primary test rover's weight on Earth is greater than Spirit's weight on Mars, the second rover is even lighter on Earth and closer to the weight of Spirit on Mars. Making comparisons between motions of the two test rovers in duplicated drives will aid the rover team in interpreting effects of differing gravity on rover mobility. The testing team plans to run such comparisons both in the soft, fluffy material being used to simulate the soil at Spirit's current location and also on coarser, crushed rock that offers better traction. "There is no perfect Earth analog for Spirit's current situation," said JPL's John Callas, project manager for the twin Mars Exploration Rovers. "There's less gravity on Mars, little atmosphere, and no moisture in the soil where Spirit is. It is not anything like being stuck in sand or snow or mud on Earth. Plus, since the rover moves only about as fast as a tortoise, you cannot use momentum to help. No rocking back and forth as you might do on Earth." The comparison experiments with the two test-rover siblings to Spirit and Opportunity precede a planned "dress rehearsal" long-duration test of driving as far in the test setup as the distance that Spirit would need to achieve on Mars to escape its predicament at the site called "Troy." The team has also made further assessments of the position of a rock underneath Spirit relative to the rover's center of gravity. Part of the strategy for getting Spirit free will be to avoid getting in a position with the center of gravity directly over a rock touching the rover. | ||||
Planned Rover Test to Run a Week or More - 08.13.09
A test setup at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory enables experiments with maneuvers being considered for use by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit to get Spirit out of soft soil where it has become embedded.
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Mars rover team members are planning a long-duration experiment with the test rover at JPL beginning next week. This test will check whether favorable motion seen in earlier tests can be sustained to gain as much distance in the sandbox as Spirit would need to complete on Mars to escape its predicament.
The team expects to drive the test rover for several hundred meters, or yards, worth of wheel rotations over the course of a week or more without starting over. Steering direction will be changed several times during the run. Earlier tests have run for one or two days. In between tests, the team resets the sandbox to simulate Spirit's current starting position at the Mars location called "Troy." Based on test results, the team might begin sending driving commands to Spirit during the second week of September. Any progress by Spirit toward getting out of the soft soil where it is embedded is expected to be slow. With its right front wheel disabled since 2006, Spirit's success at getting out of the sand trap is not guaranteed. Both Spirit and Opportunity have operated on Mars more than five years longer than their initially planned missions of three months. During the weeks of testing at JPL designed to identify the best escape strategy, Spirit has been productively using the tools on its robotic arm to analyze multiple layers of soil at Troy. | ||||
More Testing Before Driving on Mars - 08.07.09
Panelists reviewed results to date from testing possible maneuvers to use in driving Spirit away from loose soil where the rover has become embedded.
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A review on Aug. 6 of test results to date yielded a decision to conduct further checkouts in an augmented testing set-up on Earth before beginning to send driving commands to Spirit for attempting to get out of the loose soil where the rover has partially embedded itself.
The ample power available to Spirit due to wind cleaning dust off of its solar panels has removed the initial urgency for getting the rover moving toward a winter haven site. The rover science team has not completed the analysis the soil layers at Spirit's current location. And the review pointed to additional types of position measurements and analysis that could make further testing useful in mapping the strategy for freeing Spirit. No specific date has been set for Spirit to resume driving. | ||||
Free Spirit Testing Nearing Completion - 07.30.09
Mars Exploration Rover team members continued longer-duration test runs this week, driving the test rover forward and uphill in a crab-like position. Pictured are Matt Van Kirk with Sharon Laubach.
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Mars rover engineers at JPL are winding down testing of different escape maneuvers using a test rover in a sand box filled with soil to mimic the Martian surface. It is possible that in early August the first extraction attempts with Spirit rover, which is dug-in on Mars, might take place.
This week, longer-duration test runs continued, and the team drove the rover several meters, or yards, forward and uphill in a crab-like position. These long-duration drives will continue through the end of next week. Meanwhile, observations from the Mars Climate Sounder instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter indicate to scientists that a large regional storm is developing. Right now the dust storm is not near Spirit or its twin, Opportunity, but scientists will continue to monitor it as it develops. Since Mars is still in the dust storm season, it is possible (and perhaps even probable) that the storm will continue to grow over the next few days. | ||||
Longer Tests Beginning - 07.24.09
Rover team members at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., on July 24, 2009, discuss the next step in preparing for a new phase in testing of possible moves for getting NASA's Mars rover Spirit out of a sandtrap on Mars.
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Mars rover team members have begun a new phase of testing at JPL -- using longer-duration experiments -- in their preparations for driving Spirit again on Mars.
They have completed assessments of individual maneuvers, using the test rover in a box of sloped, soft soil that simulates conditions at the patch of Martian ground called "Troy," where Spirit's wheels have dug themselves hub-deep. Tests beginning today are using combinations of the individual maneuvers and longer-duration drives. These tests will evaluate a full escape strategy for Spirit. With the test rover temporarily removed from the box on Friday, July 24, the rover team members renewed the test setup. They tamped the soil in the uphill half of the box with more pressure than the soil on the downhill side. This was done to offer a closer simulation to the conditions at Troy, where Spirit's wheels have not churned up the soil as much on the uphill side. At Troy, meanwhile, Spirit is continuing to use all of its tools to examine the environment around it. | ||||
Next Step: Combinations of Basic Moves - 07.21.09
Mars Exploration Rover team members on July 21, 2009, tested how altering the order in which individual wheels turn for steering affects how those turns dig the wheels deeper into soft soil. From left: Alfonso Herrera, Vandana Verma, Bruce Banerdt.
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As the Mars rover team uses testing at JPL to evaluate possible ways to drive Spirit out of loose soil on Mars, the team is finishing tests of individual "building block" maneuvers and is about to begin stringing some of those together.
The individual maneuvers, such as turns in place or crablike slant moves, may be combined to get Spirit's wheels away from the spots where they have sunk into the soil. Some of the tests in a JPL sandbox simulating Spirit's predicament have moved the test rover slightly -- on the order of a centimeter, or half an inch, of shift in position. This position change was achieved after enough wheel turns to have driven the rover the equivalent of tens of meters or yards on firmer ground. The testing evaluates how each maneuver shifts the test rover's orientation and tilt. A live webcast from the testing site at JPL, supplemented by simultaneous Internet chat to take public questions, is planned for Thursday, July 23. The live event will air on the "NASAJPL" channel available on Ustream Web TV at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasajpl on Thursday, July 23, beginning at 3 p.m. PDT (6 p.m. EDT and 2200 UTC). For more information, see http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-113 . | ||||
| Tests on Earth to Help Free Spirit Rover on Mars: Live Webcast, Chat - 07.21.09 | ||||
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A live videocast and chat from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., will give viewers a chance to ask questions of rover team members working to get Spirit rolling again.
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Test Rover Checks Pivoting Technique - 07.16.09
In this view from behind a test rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., the rear wheels of the rover are turned toward the left, and the left-front wheel is turned toward the the right.
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The Mars rover team is using a test rover at JPL to assess various extraction techniques that might get Spirit out of the loose soil of "Troy" on Mars. One of the maneuvers being run with the test rover involves turning the rear wheels toward the left while the left-front wheel is turned toward the right, and driving forward to pivot around the inoperable right-front wheel.
Engineers and scientists on the rover team are evaluating several repeats of this forward-right-arc maneuver in the sandbox at JPL as part of a weeks-long series of tests to identify maneuvers that might help Spirit. Meanwhile Spirit is using abundant power from its solar panels, recently cleaned by Martian winds, to examine the composition of soil layers at Troy and make daytime and nighttime observations. |
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Rover Engineers Test More Maneuvers - 07.13.09
Mars Exploration Rover team members at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., prepare an experiment on July 13, 2009, for assessing how a test rover moves when embedded in loose soil and commanded to drive backward with wheels turned.
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Engineers checking possible rover movements to get Spirit out of the "Troy" sand trap on Mars are evaluating how a comparable rover at JPL fares in a crablike backward drive, with all four corner wheels turned 60 degrees toward the right.
This is the fifth of 11 maneuvers on the current testing list. Others ahead are crabbing backward with wheels turned 20 degrees to the right, a tight forward right arc, a clockwise turn in place, a counterclockwise turn in place, crabbing forward with wheels turned to the left, and driving while steering. Some of the maneuvers might be repeated. The team is learning how the test rover reacts to various motions in a test sandbox built to simulate Spirit's situation at Troy. The steps eventually sent as driving commands to Spirit may be a combination of some of the 11 maneuvers being tested. |
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Tests Evaluating Crabwalk Moves - 07.10.09
Mars Exploration Rover team members prepare a testing setup for a subsequent experiment after an experiment driving the rover in a crablike motion, with all four corner wheels angled to the right.
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On firm ground, NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers can make crablike moves by turning all four steerable wheels to the same side angle, then rotating the wheels either forward or backward. The rover team is experimenting with variations of those maneuvers in a test sandbox at JPL as part of its work to identify the best way to get Spirit out of the loose soil where the rover has become embedded on Mars.
By Friday morning, July 10, the team had tested crabwalk patterns driving forward in the test sandbox with the wheels turned at 60 degrees to the right and 20 degrees to the right. The angle of motion was upslope in the testing setup that simulates Spirit's predicament on Mars. Together with earlier experiments evaluating straight-forward and straight-backward driving, the latest actions completed four out of 11 maneuvers that the team has on its current testing list. Next, engineers plan to test backward (downslope) crabbing with wheels turned 60 degrees to the right. |
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Second Rover Test Maneuver is Backwards - 07.08.09
Mike Seibert and Sharon Laubach, engineers on the Mars Exploration Rover team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, check the exact position of a test rover in preparation for the next test of a possible maneuver for Spirit to use on Mars.
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| Engineers used straight-backward driving of a test rover on Earth on Wednesday, July 8, as they evaluate maneuvers that might be useful for getting Spirit out of a sandtrap on Mars. They had tested straight-forward driving first, then refreshed the sandbox setup simulating Spirit's situation before beginning the backward tests. Weeks of further testing and analysis are expected before engineers identify the best moves to command Spirit to perform. Meanwhile, Spirit is using its science instruments to examine the environment surrounding the rover on Mars. | ||||
Rover Extraction Tests Begin - 07.06.09
After commanding five of a test rover's six wheels to drive forward, rover driver Paolo Bellutta measures how much the rover moved sideways, downslope, during the maneuver.
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| Using a test rover in a sandbox at JPL with special soil simulating Spirit's predicament on Mars, engineers are assessing possible maneuvers for getting Spirit out and onto firmer ground. They began on Monday, July 6, with the simplest maneuver on their list of options: driving forward with all five operable wheels. In the first set of tests, the wheels turned enough to cover tens of meters, or yards, if there had been no slippage. The test rover moved slightly forward and sideways downslope. Weeks of further testing and analysis of results are expected before engineers identify the best moves to command Spirit to make. | ||||
Rock Under the Belly - 07.01.09
Sandbox setup at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is ready for engineers to use the test rover to assess possible moves for getting Mars rover Spirit out of a patch of loose Martian soil.
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| Engineers placed a rock underneath the test rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., on July 1, 2009, to more closely simulate Spirit's predicament on Mars. After becoming embedded in soft soil, Spirit used the microscopic imager at the end of its arm last month to look under its own belly for the first time. The resulting view (at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090603a.html) confirmed a rock beneath the rover touching its underbelly. With a rock now placed similarly in the test sandbox, testing in the next few weeks will evaluate possible extraction moves for Spirit. | ||||
Test Rover Rolls In - 06.30.09
While a test rover rolls off a plywood surface into a prepared bed of soft soil, rover team members Colette Lohr (left) and Kim Lichtenberg (center) eye the wheels digging into the soil and Paolo Bellutta enters the next driving command.
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| After several days of preparing a sloped area of soft, fine soil to simulate Spirit's current sandtrap on Mars, the rover team drove a test rover into the material on June 30, 2009. The test rover became embedded in the soil, as planned. The rover team will use this setup at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., during the next few weeks to test possible extraction moves Spirit might use on Mars. | ||||
Filling the Simulated Sandtrap Rover team members Mike Seibert (left) and Paolo Bellutta add a barrowful of soil mixture to the sloped box where a test rover will be used for assessing possible manuevers for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit to use in escaping from a sandtrap on Mars. › Full image and caption |
Preparing a Test Mixture Rover team members Kim Lichtenberg (left) and Mike Seibert fill a mixer with powdered clay and diatomaceous earth, a combination found to offer physical properties similar to the soil where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is embedded on Mars. › Full image and caption |
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The Mixing Begins - 06.26.09
Rover team members mix materials. Pictured (left to right) are Kim Lichtenberg (from Wash U.), Matt Van Kirk (in back in grey t-shirt), Paolo Bellutta (in front) and Mike Seibert (in back in dark t-shirt).
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| Rover team members mix materials to fill the testbed box. Once filled, the rover will be driven into the test area and set in place to mimic how the actual rover sits on Mars. Escape maneuvers will then be tested to determine how to retrieve the rover safely. | ||||
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Mars Team Digs in To Free Spirit - 06.25.09 Mars team members have rolled up their sleeves and will be shaping a few tons of diatomaceous Earth and clay into an exact replica of the area where the Spirit rover is embedded on Mars. Recreating the conditions here on Earth in a testbed is important for testing the "Free Spirit" escape plans, which will occur over the next few weeks. Once a safe escape route is mapped, commands will be sent to the rover. |
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Testbed
This is a picture from inside the JPL In-situ Instrument Laboratory where the Mars rover simulator is under construction. The test box is angled at 10 degrees, the same angle at which Spirit is positioned on the surface of Mars. It is 8 feet by 20 feet and will be filled with material of similar consistency to that found on Mars, where Spirit is embedded. › Full image |
Rocks
Mars-like rocks to be used in the testbed › Full image |
Diatomaceous Earth and Clay
Materials to be used in the rover testbed include diatomaceous Earth and "Lincoln 60 Fire Clay". › Full image |
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Rover Weekly Updates - Short summaries on Spirit's activities.
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10/15/09 - In X-Band Fault Mode
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10/01/09 - Intermittent Problem with Antenna Brake
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9/24/09 - Progress on Antenna Actuator
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