Difference between revisions 5201915 and 7425585 on enwiki

* [[MER-A timeline]]
** [[MER-A timeline for 2004 February]]
** [[MER-A timeline for 2004 March]]
** [[MER-A timeline for 2004 April]]

* [[MER-B timeline]]
** [[MER-B timeline for 2004 February]]
** [[MER-B timeline for 2004 April]]
(contracted; show full)

'''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|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 f
eet) 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 30 centimeters0 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 0.4 meters400 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 [[Astronomical transit|solar transit]] of the martian moon, [[Deimos (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 (contracted; show full)

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-foo 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.

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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 m
illimeter-m deep (just over one-tenth of an0.1 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.

(contracted; show full)
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 f
eet) 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''
<!-- 2:49 or 2:50? -->

NASA's Opportunity finished inspecting the "Berry Bowl" site and drove 10
meters (33 feet) 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 gun|BB]]-sized spherules believed to have
(contracted; show full)ld 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
: "B 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 five centimeters (two50 mm (2 inches) deep, possibly much deeper, and flowing at a speed of 100 to 50 centimeters (four to 20 inches) per second."0 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''

(contracted; show full)* [[MER-A timeline]]
** [[MER-A timeline for 2004 February]]
** [[MER-A timeline for 2004 March]]
** [[MER-A timeline for 2004 April]]

* [[MER-B timeline]]
** [[MER-B timeline for 2004 February]]
** [[MER-B timeline for 2004 April]]