* Astronomy

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RE: Mars Exploration Rover Spirit

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Image taken by the Spirit rover on Sol 1205

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Credit NASA

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Image taken by the Spirit rover on Sol 1202

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Still rolling along almost two-and-a-half years after its arrival, NASA's Spirit rover has discovered evidence of an ancient volcanic explosion on a plateau of layered Martian bedrock.
The discovery marks the first time either Spirit or its twin, Opportunity, have identified a deposit that scientists firmly believe blasted from an explosive volcano. The two rovers landed on different sides of the planet within three weeks of each other back in January 2004 and are operating well past their three-month prime missions.

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Image taken by the Spirit rover on Sol 1199

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A patch of Martian soil analysed by NASA's rover Spirit is so rich in silica that it may provide some of the strongest evidence yet that ancient Mars was much wetter than it is now. The processes that could have produced such a concentrated deposit of silica require the presence of water.
Members of the rover science team heard from a colleague during a recent teleconference that the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, a chemical analyser at the end of Spirit's arm, had measured a composition of about 90 percent pure silica for this soil.

"You could hear people gasp in astonishment... This is a remarkable discovery. And the fact that we found something this new and different after nearly 1,200 days on Mars makes it even more remarkable. It makes you wonder what else is still out there" - Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the Mars rovers' science instruments.

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Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell

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SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Continues Studies of Interesting Material Near 'Home Plate' - sol 1186-1192, May 14, 2007:

Spirit is healthy and has finished investigating a patch of churned-up, white-toned, silica-rich material known as "Gertrude Weise."
Meanwhile, the rover's first attempt to autonomously place the Mössbauer spectrometer on a target was successful. Spirit backed up over Gertrude Weise to a spot 2 metres beyond it and placed the Mössbauer spectrometer on the target. Spirit did not immediately follow up with placement of the microscopic imager on the target to avoid potential collisions.
Plans called for Spirit to coordinate searching for dust devils on the ground with overhead scans of terrain by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on sol 1191 (May 10, 2007). Also on sol 1191, the rover was to combine searching for dust devils with searching for clouds. This activity was meant as a stress test, as Spirit has already successfully completed such searches independently.

Sol-by-sol summary:
In addition to daily observations of atmospheric dust levels with the panoramic camera and surveys of the sky and ground using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, Spirit conducted the following activities:

Sol 1186 (May 5, 2007): Spirit acquired full-colour, 13-filter images of a target called "Kathryn Beare" using the panoramic camera and studied Kathryn Beare and targets known as "GertrudeWeise2" and "Janice Ohara" using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 1187: Spirit acquired full-colour, 13-filter images of Gertrude Weise, drove 5 metres to approach the soil target, and autonomously placed the Mössbauer spectrometer on target. The rover acquired a 360-degree panorama of the terrain using the navigation camera and also acquired a mosaic of images using the panoramic camera.

Sol 1188: Spirit took thumbnail images of the sky using the panoramic camera before spending the afternoon recharging the battery with energy from the rover's solar array.

Sol 1189: Spirit acquired movies and searched for dust devils using the navigation camera and touched a surface with the Mössbauer spectrometer. Spirit then began analysis of a target called "Kenosha Comets," collecting microscopic images and placing the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer on the target. The rover acquired data from targets known as "Virginia Bell" and "Nancy Warren" using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. After exchanging data with the Odyssey orbiter, Spirit conducted a 12-hour, overnight analysis of Kenosha Comets using the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer.

Sol 1190: Spirit began the day acquiring a full-colour, 13-filter panorama of Virginia Bell using the panoramic camera. The rover switched tools from the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer to the Mössbauer spectrometer for continued study of Kenosha Comets. The rover acquired data from a target known as "Thelma Hundeby" before conducting a 23-hour, overnight study of Kenosha Comets with the Mössbauer spectrometer.

Sol 1191: Plans called for Spirit to acquire panoramic-camera movies in search of dust devils in tandem with overhead scans of terrain by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Plans also called for the rover to search for clouds, study Gertrude Weise with the Mössbauer spectrometer, and acquire full-colour, 13-filter images of a target known as "Muriel Bevis" and of the horizon with the sun halfway below it.

Sol 1192 (May 11, 2007): Plans called for Spirit to stop the Mössbauer spectrometer, survey the rover's calibration target and tracks with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, conduct a low-sun survey, analyse Gertrude Weise and another target known as "Elizabeth Mahon" with the Mössbauer spectrometer, and survey Muriel Bevis using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. The rover was to acquire panoramic camera images of the calibration target and conduct a low-sun survey of "McCool Hill." The following morning, Spirit was to acquire thumbnail images of the sky using the panoramic camera and survey a target known as "Marie Wegman" using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Odometry:
As of sol 1187 (May 6, 2007), Spirit's total odometry was 7,108.60 metres.

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Image taken by the Spirit rover on Sol 1190

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Credit NASA

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Image taken by the Spirit rover on Sol 1187

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SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Examined Light--Coloured Material Near 'Home Plate' - sol 1179-1185, May 06, 2007:

Spirit is healthy and has completed its investigation of a knobby rock target known as "GoodQuestion."
Next on Spirit's itinerary is a drive to the north and an attempt to climb onto "Home Plate." On the way, Spirit will examine white--toned material where one of the rover's wheels disturbed the soil. Observations using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer suggest it may be enriched in silica, similar to the "Elizabeth Mahon" rock outcrop the rover studied last week. Science team members have nicknamed the soil target "Gertrude Weise."

Sol-by-sol summary:
In addition to daily observations of atmospheric dust levels and surveys of the sky and ground using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, Spirit conducted the following activities:

Sol 1179 (April 28, 2007): Spirit acquired panoramic camera images of targets known as "Gooli" and "Joyce Ricketts," surveyed Gooli and a target known as "Yolande Schick" with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and studied GoodQuestion using the alpha--particle X--ray spectrometer.

Sol 1180: Spirit surveyed the horizon with the panoramic camera, watched for dust devils, studied GoodQuestion with the Mössbauer spectrometer, and acquired panoramic camera images of GoodQuestion. The rover also surveyed a target known as "Joan Sindelar."

Sol 1181: Spirit acquired panoramic camera images of a target known as "Everett" and studied GoodQuestion using the Mössbauer spectrometer. The rover acquired panoramic camera images of a target called "Yolanda Schick."

Sol 1182: Spirit recorded a movie in search of dust devils using the navigation camera and studied light--toned soil using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Spirit drove 1.9 metres to the new science target, Gertrude Weise. The rover acquired mid--drive images with the navigation camera in support of observations of GoodQuestion with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, then made those same observations. After the drive, the rover acquired more images with both the navigation and panoramic cameras.

Sol 1183: Spirit monitored dust on the rover mast, surveyed Gertrude Weise with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and acquired full--colour images of GoodQuestion using all 13 filters of the panoramic camera. Spirit acquired super--resolution images of a target known as "Fern Shollenberger" with the panoramic camera. The rover studied targets nicknamed "Philomena Zale," "Alma Ziegler," and "Ruth Heverly" using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 1184: Spirit watched for dust devils in the morning and checked for drift (changes over time) in the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Spirit drove 6.7 metres to a target called "White Soil." The rover acquired post--drive images with both the navigation camera and the panoramic camera.

Sol 1185 (May 4, 2007): Plans called for Spirit to watch for dust devils in the morning and complete a systematic foreground study with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. The rover was also to acquire navigation camera images in support of observations with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, conduct a study of atmospheric argon using the alpha--particle X--ray spectrometer, and watch for dust devils and take panoramic images of the sky the next morning.

Odometry:
As of sol 1184 (May 3, 2007), Spirit's total odometry was 7,103 metres.