Mars Exploration Rover Update - May 11, 2006

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

SPIRIT UPDATE: Spirit Continues Studying Soil and Collecting Images -
sol 835-841, May 11, 2006:

Spirit continued to make progress on collecting panoramic images of
Martian terrain and conducting detailed studies of soil targets using
the Moessbauer spectrometer. The rover acquired another column of the
"McMurdo panorama" and continued to relay new data to Earth via the UHF
antenna on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter.

Sol-by-sol summary

Sol 835 (May 9, 2006): Spirit conducted scientific analysis of the soil
target "Halley" using the Moessbauer spectrometer. Spirit also acquired
panel 11 of the planned 27-panel, 360-degree, full-color view of the
rover's surroundings known as the McMurdo panorama.

Sol 836: Spirit conducted remote sensing observations.

Sol 837: Spirit continued acquisition of scientific data from Halley
using the Moessbauer spectrometer.

Sol 838: Spirit continued acquisition of scientific data from Halley
using the Moessbauer spectrometer.

Sol 839 to 841 (May 13 to 15, 2006): Plans called for Spirit to move
the
rover's robotic arm back to the soil target nicknamed "Progress," where
the rover previously brushed away a fine layer of soil. The next phase
of the rover's detailed winter soil analysis experiment will be to
conduct a three-day study of the brushed surface using the Moessbauer
spectrometer. Plans for remote sensing were kept very light in order to
devote resources to transmitting data acquired in recent weeks.

Odometry:

As of sol 836 (May 11, 2006), Spirit's total odometry remained at
6,876.18 meters (4.27 miles).