posted 04-02-2006 05:30 AM            

Spirit struggling with trailing duff wheel and is slipping badly in loose soil at present location.

Phill
spaceuk

posted 04-21-2006 11:30 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Philip:
Exciting times

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Agreed! I still check the MER website every day to see what is new. Unfortunately, they don't update the site often enough anymore.

posted 04-24-2006 02:28 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Blackarrow:
they are planning to send a team of astronauts to Mars next year to switch them off. The mission will be launched on 1st April, 2007.

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posted 04-27-2006 11:47 AM            

Were still not seeing any good visuals of the crater slopes - which suggest probably very shallow rise to crater rim ?

Phill
spaceuk

posted 05-05-2006 11:26 AM            

OPPORTUNITY 'Victoria' in View - sol 804-810, May 04, 2006:

Opportunity executed a three-sol examination of "Brookville" outcrop with tools on the robotic arm. This work included microscopic imaging, a brushing, 16 total hours of integrated data gathering with the Mössbauer spectrometer, and an overnight integration with the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer. Then Opportunity stowed its arm and drove 107 meters (351 feet) in three sols, reaching a point estimated to be 1,279 meters (less than eight-tenths of a mile) from "Victoria Crater." The team believes the rim of the crater is becoming visible in a vertically stretched image looking south.

posted 05-17-2006 11:44 AM            

About 750 metres from the base of the dark flank of the crater and probably about 100 metres from the craggy rim.

posted 05-18-2006 11:42 AM               

I'm looking forward to the big panorama from Spirit of it's winter nest, but it will probably be a couple more weeks or so.

posted 06-01-2006 12:14 PM            

Its obviously going be hard going to get to rim of Victoria if the slopes are of this softer dune type material?

Phill
spaceuk

posted 06-03-2006 06:04 AM            

Here is a summary what JPL say:

Digging Out of the Dune- sol 833-837, June 1, 2006:

Opportunity is less than a kilometer (just over half a mile) from "Victoria Crater." During the last planned drive on sol 833, the rover became embedded in a soft dune. As designed, the drive was stopped by a slip check. The extraction process began on sol 836, with 5 meters (16 feet) of commanded motion, and 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) of actual forward progress. The results are encouraging, and extraction will continue on Friday (June 2, 2006) and over the weekend if necessary. Opportunity is otherwise healthy and continues to conduct atmospheric and targeted remote sensing on the path south.

posted 06-07-2006 11:30 AM            

So - here's hoping a new route to Victoria can now be plotted.

posted 06-15-2006 01:38 PM            

But, wait - yes we can see the rim of the crater much clearer now in the latest views so it should not be long when the "child" inside me can gaze upon the new wonderments that will hopefully unfold in a few weeks time at Victoria.

posted 07-12-2006 10:14 AM            

Latest images show deep ruts where Opportunity tried to traverse across a lower level of a dune but has backed out again.

posted 07-17-2006 11:20 AM               

Let's hope for some more dust devil hits to blow off the panels again!

posted 09-04-2006 05:04 AM            

Every day that the two MER's operate is another day of opportunity to try and better understand the environment - especially the geology - of Mars.

Of course we all want to peek over the rim into Victoria crater but there is loads of geology along the way that needs data collecting. Its important to try and determine if the crater annulus layers are soils and rocks from inside the crater or whether they are 'disturbed' areas of the underlying rock or even a mix of both. These are science robots not mobile tourist web cams - although they have increased public awareness of Mars.

And, don't forget power is still restricted as it still is 'winter' on Mars at moment.

posted 09-06-2006 04:48 AM            

The last Rover Team update says Opportunity is healthy and still 218 meters (715 feet) from "Victoria Crater." Over the weekend, the rover's shoulder azimuth joint stalled as Opportunity was trying to start measurements on a trench it dug on Sol 919 (Aug. 25, 2006), But, that is now working succesfully and cause was unknown so far.

What I find interesting in last few days images is that the haematite (?) spheres seem to form a very thin layer on the annulus of Victoria crater - as the underlying white bedrock shows up very clearly in Opportunity tracks. It is not a deep layer which I thought may have been the case due to 'impact'(?) that formed Victoria crater throwing interior soil outward? Maybe it did but the soil arced away to some distance 'up and over' what is now the rim? It'll be interesting see whether this thin layer is maintained to the rim.

posted 09-18-2006 12:46 PM               

It seems that crater rim is always way off in the horizon!