Mars Exploration Rover Update - May 1, 2006

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status.html

SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Continues Winter Science Studies on Mars -
sol 820-827, May 01, 2006:

Spirit remains healthy and is making good progress on the rover's
winter
campaign of scientific experiments. This week Spirit continued
collecting a full-color, high-resolution, 360-degree panorama called
the
"McMurdo pan." When complete, the panorama will be a mosaic of 27
columns of images. The product could be finished in about six weeks,
given power and data limitations.

Spirit also conducted scientific analysis of a soil target nicknamed
"Progress" using the instruments on the rover's robotic arm.

Sol-by-sol highlights:

Sol 820 (April 24, 2006): Spirit worked on acquiring column 4 of the
McMurdo pan and made ground observations using the miniature thermal
emission spectrometer.

Sol 821: Spirit continued work on acquiring column 4 of the McMurdo pan
and making ground observations using the miniature thermal emission
spectrometer.

Sol 822: Spirit began characterization of the undisturbed soil surface
of Progress using the microscopic imager and the alpha particle X-ray
spectrometer. The rover also began acquiring column 5 of the McMurdo
pan
and made observations with the miniature thermal X-ray spectrometer.

Sol 823: Spirit continued work on characterizing the undisturbed soil
surface of Progress using the microscopic imager and the alpha particle
X-ray spectrometer. The rover also continued acquiring column 5 of the
McMurdo pan and making observations with the miniature thermal X-ray
spectrometer.

Sol 824: Spirit continued work on characterizing the undisturbed soil
surface of Progress using the microscopic imager and the alpha particle
X-ray spectrometer. The rover also continued acquiring column 5 of the
McMurdo pan and making observations with the miniature thermal X-ray
spectrometer.

Sols 825-827 (April 29 to May 1, 2006): Plans called for analyzing
Progress with the Moessbauer spectrometer and acquiring columns 6 and 7
of the McMurdo pan.

Odometry:

As of sol 824 (Apil 28, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at
6,876.18 meters (4.27 miles).