Daily Updates - February 27, 2004
Spirit Status at end of sol 54

On sol 54, Spirit woke up to the song "Big Rock in the Road" by Pete Wernick and made its final approach to the imposing rock called "Humphrey" before the sol ended at 5:13 p.m. PST on Friday, Feb. 27. The initial 3.5 meter (11.5 feet) drive toward the rock was cut short at only 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) due to a built-in software safety. Rover engineers quickly adjusted the software restriction and drove the final meter of that planned drive, plus the 0.9 meters (about 3 feet) that put the rover in the best position for brushing "Humphrey" with the rock abrasion tool.

Before approaching the rock, Spirit used its alpha particle X-ray spectrometer to investigate the areas the rock abrasion tool will brush and grind. Unlike the last rock abrasion tool sequence on the rock called "Adirondack," the planned procedure for "Humphrey" will include brushing three separate areas of the rock. After brushing, Spirit will back up and examine the brushed areas with the instruments on its arm. The science team will then decide the best place to grind into "Humphrey" – it could be one of the three brushed areas or another section altogether. The hope is to remove as much dust as possible so the instruments on Spirit’s arm can get a pre-grinding "read" on the rock coating and then, after grinding, study beneath the coating and surface.

In the sols following the rock abrasion tool sequence, Spirit might investigate an interesting rock behind it, or continue on toward "Bonneville" crater.

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