* Astronomy

Image taken by the Opportunity rover on Sol 1071.


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Credit NASA

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Hones Reckoning Skills, Tests Computer Smarts - sol 1063-1069, January 27, 2007:

After driving around the "Bay of Toil" onto "Cape Desire," a promontory overlooking "Victoria Crater," Opportunity began testing various techniques for visually determining the rover's precise location after moving across sandy, somewhat slippery terrain. Because the sandy surface is largely flat and featureless (except for the dropoff into "Victoria Crater"), the rover's primary reference points are the long rows of repeating ridges and holes in its own tracks. They all look pretty much the same, repeating the same pattern every 80 centimetres. The rover is working on ways to make its tracks look different at every step, which will remove any ambiguities in the images of the tracks.
Opportunity continued to test new computer smarts to enable automated placement of instruments on a target of scientific interest.

Sol-by-sol summary:

In addition to daily observations that included measuring atmospheric dust with the panoramic camera, searching for clouds with the navigation camera, surveying the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and imaging the sky with the panoramic camera, Opportunity completed the following activities:

Sol 1063 (Jan. 19, 2007): Opportunity measured atmospheric argon with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and acquired part of a panoramic postcard of Victoria Crater using the panoramic camera. Opportunity surveyed rock targets known as "Gomes," "Gomes Background" (the surface area around Gomes), "Santandres," "Deseado," "Narrows," "Sardines," and "Trabajo" using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 1064: Opportunity drove 4.21 metres  around the Bay of Toil toward Cape Desire. The drive included a test to allow the rover to make unique track patterns for better determination of its position. The drive test had two legs: one in which the rover dragged the right front wheel for 5 centimetres and then drove on all 6 wheels for 55 centimetres, and a second in which the rover drove 60 centimetres  and then spun both front wheels 23 degrees, or approximately 5 centimetres.

Sol 1065: Opportunity acquired a full-colour image using all 13 filters of the panoramic camera of the foreground area, then surveyed the foreground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. The rover monitored dust on the mast and acquired panoramic camera images of the sky at sunset.

Sol 1066: Opportunity drove 25.38 metres  away from the rim of Victoria Crater to continue testing and determining the best method for visual odometry -- determining the precise position by imaging the rover's tracks. The rover did a series of 5 tests, each covering 5 centimetres  and each designed to produce a different pattern in the tracks. All of the driving was backward. During the first test, the rover created scuffs with both front wheels. During the second test, the rover wiggled the left wheel and scuffed with the right wheel. The third test was a "drunken sailor" test in which the rover drove in small curves. During the fourth test, the rover turned in place 10 degrees at specific intervals, or "steps." The fifth test was a combination of the previous four tests.

Sol 1067: Opportunity drove 40.43 metres  to set up for the approach to the edge of Cape Desire. The rover acquired panoramic camera images of "Guam," a chevron-shaped rock outcrop.

Sol 1068: Opportunity drove backward 7.8 metres  toward the tip of Cape Desire.

Sol 1069 (Jan. 26, 2007): Plans called for Opportunity to drive a short distance of 7 metres  to an imaging position about 2.5 metres  away from the left edge of Cape Desire. From this vantage point, Opportunity was to acquire images of "Bahia Blanca," the next bay to the north. The rover was also slated to survey the horizon with the panoramic camera and complete Step 4 of the automatic placement test, the first attempt at actually reaching and touching a target autonomously. During the test, the rover was to acquire images with the hazard avoidance camera, swing back the robotic arm, touch the target with the Mössbauer spectrometer, and acquire microscopic images.

Odometry:
As of sol 1068 (Jan. 25, 2007), Opportunity's total odometry was 9,918 metres.

Image taken on Jan 26, 2007 (Sol 1069) by the Opportunity rover of Cape Desire on the rim of Victoria crater.


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Credit NASA

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Studies Cobbles and Rock Exposures Around 'Victoria Crater' - sol 1057-1062, January 19, 2007:

Opportunity continues to make progress in acquiring long-baseline stereo images of "Victoria Crater." To do this, the rover moves laterally from one point to another between taking images with the left and right eyes of the panoramic camera. The path separating the images is known as a baseline and increases the apparent visual depth of features in the terrain.
During the past week, Opportunity drove across "Cabo Anonimo," a promontory on the northwest edge of Victoria Crater. From there, Opportunity took images of a face of "Cape Desire," the next promontory clockwise around the crater rim, on the other side of the "Bay of Toil." Opportunity then proceeded around the Bay of Toil on the way to Cape Desire.
Opportunity was scheduled to take a picture of comet McNaught on the morning of the rover's 1,063rd sol, or Martian day, of Mars exploration (Jan. 20, 2007).

Sol-by-sol summary:

In addition to daily observations that included measuring atmospheric dust with the panoramic camera, searching for clouds with the navigation camera, surveying the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and imaging the sky with the panoramic camera, Opportunity completed the following activities:

Sol 1057 (Jan. 13, 2007): Opportunity measured atmospheric argon with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and surveyed surface targets known as "Pacific," "Pacifico," and "Straight" using the miniature thermal emission spectrometer.

Sol 1058: Opportunity drove across Cabo Anonimo to the rim overlooking the Bay of Toil.

Sol 1059: Opportunity completed standard remote sensing activities.

Sol 1060: Opportunity acquired the first half of the long-baseline stereo pair of the Bay of Toil using the panoramic camera. The rover then drove 2 metres to get into position to acquire the second half of the baseline stereo pair.

Sol 1061: Opportunity acquired the second half of the baseline stereo pair of panoramic camera images, then proceeded driving around the Bay of Toil.

Sol 1062 (Jan. 18, 2007): Opportunity acquired panoramic camera images of a rock outcrop known as "Guam," exposed on the plains above the rim of Victoria Crater. The camera also photographed cobbles "Gallego," "Vasco" and "Gomes" along the rim. Opportunity acquired miniature thermal emission spectrometer data on Gallego, the soil next to Gallego, and Vasco. Plans called for Opportunity to take snapshots of comet McNaught the next morning.

Odometry:
As of sol 1061 (Jan. 17, 2007), Opportunity's total odometry was 9,840 metres.