Daily Updates - July 26, 2004
Spirit Status at end of sol 190 - 193

On Sol 190, Spirit completed remote sensing and a 13-meter (43-foot) drive, which included driving on 5 wheels to minimize further degradation of the actuator on the sixth, aging, right front wheel. During the 5-wheel portion of drive, visual odometry was used to accurately estimate the rover position. The drive ended with a short 6-wheel drive to achieve the desired position. This approach worked well, and engineers will continue to do 5-wheel driving to preserve the right front wheel actuator life while still achieving the desired position.

On Sol 191, Spirit took pictures with the microscopic imager and used the Moessbauer spectrometer on soil, then successfully completed another 10-meter (33-foot), 5-wheel drive to the north. (As Spirit is driving backwards to 'drag' the right front wheel, the robotic arm is effectively now in the back of the rover.)

On Sol 192, Spirit turned east off of a planned northerly traverse route to investigate a potential rock outcropping. The 17-meter (56-foot) drive, which included two sections of 5-wheel driving, landed Spirit right on top of the outcrop. Unfortunately, the drive left the rover at a bad tilt angle for solar energy, decreasing the available energy.

On Sol 193, which ended on July 19, Spirit completed a series of microscopic images and a short Moessbauer reading on the outcrop. Spirit then moved into a better position to use the rock abrasion tool and to improve the tilt toward the Sun for solar energy.

In the upcoming sols, Spirit will use the rock abrasion tool and other science instruments to investigate Wooly-Patch. Then it will resume driving up the "Columbia Hills" to look for more outcrops.

Spirit Daily Update Archive