Rover Extraction Tests Begin
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Updates on the efforts to free the Spirit rover.
Latest Spirit News
Rover Extraction Tests Begin - 07.06.09
After commanding five of a test rover's six wheels to drive forward, rover driver Paolo Bellutta measures how much the rover moved sideways, downslope, during the maneuver.› Full image and caption
Using a test rover in a sandbox at JPL with special soil simulating Spirit's predicament on Mars, engineers are assessing possible maneuvers for getting Spirit out and onto firmer ground. They began on Monday, July 6, with the simplest maneuver on their list of options: driving forward with all five operable wheels. In the first set of tests, the wheels turned enough to cover tens of meters, or yards, if there had been no slippage. The test rover moved slightly forward and sideways downslope. Weeks of further testing and analysis of results are expected before engineers identify the best moves to command Spirit to make.
Rock Under the Belly - 07.01.09
Latest Video Update
Sandbox setup at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is ready for engineers to use the test rover to assess possible moves for getting Mars rover Spirit out of a patch of loose Martian soil.› Full image and caption
Engineers placed a rock underneath the test rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., on July 1, 2009, to more closely simulate Spirit's predicament on Mars. After becoming embedded in soft soil, Spirit used the microscopic imager at the end of its arm last month to look under its own belly for the first time. The resulting view (at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090603a.html) confirmed a rock beneath the rover touching its underbelly. With a rock now placed similarly in the test sandbox, testing in the next few weeks will evaluate possible extraction moves for Spirit.
Test Rover Rolls In - 06.30.09
While a test rover rolls off a plywood surface into a prepared bed of soft soil, rover team members Colette Lohr (left) and Kim Lichtenberg (center) eye the wheels digging into the soil and Paolo Bellutta enters the next driving command.› Full image and caption
After several days of preparing a sloped area of soft, fine soil to simulate Spirit's current sandtrap on Mars, the rover team drove a test rover into the material on June 30, 2009. The test rover became embedded in the soil, as planned. The rover team will use this setup at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., during the next few weeks to test possible extraction moves Spirit might use on Mars.
Rover team members Mike Seibert (left) and Paolo Bellutta add a barrowful of soil mixture to the sloped box where a test rover will be used for assessing possible manuevers for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit to use in escaping from a sandtrap on Mars.
› Full image and caption
Preparing a Test Mixture
Rover team members Kim Lichtenberg (left) and Mike Seibert fill a mixer with powdered clay and diatomaceous earth, a combination found to offer physical properties similar to the soil where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is embedded on Mars.
› Full image and caption
The Mixing Begins - 06.26.09
Rover team members mix materials. Pictured (left to right) are Kim Lichtenberg (from Wash U.), Matt Van Kirk (in back in grey t-shirt), Paolo Bellutta (in front) and Mike Seibert (in back in dark t-shirt). Rover team members mix materials to fill the testbed box. Once filled, the rover will be driven into the test area and set in place to mimic how the actual rover sits on Mars. Escape maneuvers will then be tested to determine how to retrieve the rover safely.
| Mars Team Digs in To Free Spirit - 06.25.09 Mars team members have rolled up their sleeves and will be shaping a few tons of diatomaceous Earth and clay into an exact replica of the area where the Spirit rover is embedded on Mars. Recreating the conditions here on Earth in a testbed is important for testing the "Free Spirit" escape plans, which will occur over the next few weeks. Once a safe escape route is mapped, commands will be sent to the rover. | ||||
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| Testbed This is a picture from inside the JPL In-situ Instrument Laboratory where the Mars rover simulator is under construction. The test box is angled at 10 degrees, the same angle at which Spirit is positioned on the surface of Mars. It is 8 feet by 20 feet and will be filled with material of similar consistency to that found on Mars, where Spirit is embedded. › Full image | Rocks Mars-like rocks to be used in the testbed › Full image | Diatomaceous Earth and Clay Materials to be used in the rover testbed include diatomaceous Earth and "Lincoln 60 Fire Clay". › Full image | ||
| › Free Spirit archive | ||||
Rover Weekly Updates - Short summaries on Spirit's activities.
7/01/09 - Soil Investigation Continues Spirit remains positioned on the west side of Home Plate. The rover has been continuing an ambitious science campaign of extensive observations with the panoramic camera (Pancam) and miniature thermal emission spectrometer (Mini-TES) plus contact science using using all the tools on the robotic arm (instrument deployment device, or IDD). |
| Spirit is continuing her ambitious remote sensing and in-situ (contact) science observations at the location called "Troy" on the west side of Home Plate. |
| Spirit remains stationary on the west side of Home Plate in the location called "Troy". The rover continues to be busy with an ambitious observation campaign employing both remote sensing and in-situ (contact) science with the robotic arm (instrument deployment device, IDD). |
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