Energy News  
MARSDAILY
Opportunity Completes Study Of Ruiz Garcia Rock

illustration only
The Ruiz Garcia rock near the Santa Maria crater.
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 21, 2011
Opportunity completed the in-situ (contact) investigation on the surface target Ruiz Garcia at Santa Maria crater.

On Sol 2520 (Feb. 25, 2011), the rover used the robotic arm (Instrument Deployment Device, or IDD) to collect a microscopic imager (MI) image mosaic of Ruiz Garcia.

Then, it placed the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) down on the target for multi-sol integration. On Sol 2531 (March 8, 2011), the rover backed away from the target and drove about 8.7 meters (29 feet) north to set up for the final wide-baseline stereo imaging, the last imaging before leaving Santa Maria crater.

As of Sol 2532 (March 9, 2011), solar array energy production was 412 watt-hours with an elevated atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 1.05 and a solar array dust factor of 0.5565.

Total odometry is 26,695.66 meters (26.70 kilometers, or 16.59 miles).

Latest Spirit Update
No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

Deep Space Network X-band listening and "Sweep and Beep" commanding continue. The project has been systematically conducting the Sweep and Beep commanding over a range of frequency reference offsets and over a range of local solar times on Mars. This covers the possibility that the rover's receiver has degraded and/or the clock has drifted significantly since March of 2010.

Shortly, the project will command the use of the backup transmitter (in case the primary transmitter has failed), and will command extra-long ultra-high frequency (UHF) passes to account for possible timing drift of the relay passes, and to make the rover responsive to UHF relay (if it is has experienced a mission-clock fault). Normally, only X-band communication is possible under mission-clock fault.

Total odometry is unchanged at 7,730.50 meters (4.80 miles).



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Mars Rovers at JPL
Mars Rovers at Cornell
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


MARSDAILY
Rover Snaps Close-Up of 'Ruiz Garcia'
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 10, 2011
Opportunity is completing the last in-situ (contact) study at Santa Maria crater. On Sol 2520 (Feb. 25, 2011), the rover bumped 5.35 meters (18 feet) forward to approach the target "Ruiz Garcia," an exposed rock. Then, on the next sol, Opportunity attempted to collect a series of microscopic imager (MI) images, but the MI poker (to detect stand-off distance) did not trip. The project is in ... read more







MARSDAILY
NASA IR Satellite Imagery Shows Cyclone Cherono Dwindling

France fines Google 100,000 euros over Street View

NASA Satellites Show Towering Thunderstorms

NASA Satellite Sees Area Affected By Japan Tsunami

MARSDAILY
GPS Mundi Releases Points Of Interest Files For Ten More Major Cities

LockMart GPS III Team Completes Key Flight Software Milestone

N. Korea rejects Seoul's plea to stop jamming signals

Rayonier's GIS Strengthens Asset Management Capability

MARSDAILY
Canada's unique wetlands under threat: report

Colombian Amazon village bans prying tourists

US scientists recruit crocodiles to save wetlands

Trading places: Kenyans swap carbon roles to save forest

MARSDAILY
Maquipucuna Cloud Forest In Ecuador Yields New Species (Of Yeast)

Can Biochar Help Suppress Greenhouse Gases

CO2 Emissions From Biomass Combustion

Researchers To Turn Waste Into Wealth

MARSDAILY
Wind And Solar Can Reliably Supply 25 Percent Of Oahu's Electricity Need

Brooklyn Bridge Park Receives Solar-Powered Charging Station To Power Electric Vehicles

Cenergy Power Provides Solar Power To J. Marchini Farms

Freya Energy's Unique Large Format Lithium Ion Cells And Batteries

MARSDAILY
K-State Research Channels Powerful Kansas Wind To Keep Electricity Running

GL Garrad Hassan Announces The WindHelm Portfolio Manager

American Electric Technologies Announces Deployment With Emergya Wind Technologies

GL Garrad Hassan Delivers Wind Map Of Lebanon

MARSDAILY
Japan crisis must not spark rush to fossil fuels: Sweden

China, US agree to cooperate on mine safety

China says over 2,400 dead in coal mines in 2010

MARSDAILY
Beijing targets luxury ads amid wealth gap

Jimmy Choo staying true to his roots

Tibetan monastery sealed off after self-immolation

Tibet exile MPs oppose Dalai Lama retirement


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement