Mars Exploration Rovers Update - April 7, 2004

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

SPIRIT UPDATE: Monitoring Magnets on Mars - sol 92, Apr 07, 2004

Spirit awoke on sol 92, which ended at 7:18 p.m. PST on April 6,
and completed some early morning panoramic camera sky and ground
measurements. Spirit also took a look at the capture and filter
magnets with the panoramic camera prior to taking a short
mid-morning nap. Upon wake-up around 12:30 p.m. Mars Local Solar
Time, the rover opened the doors on the alpha particle X-ray
spectrometer and took 3 images of each magnet. Spirit also placed
the Mössbauer spectrometer on the capture magnet and began an
integration.

In the afternoon, Spirit completed coordinated observations with
the thermal emission spectrometer instrument on NASA's Mars Global
Surveyor orbiter. The observations involved miniature thermal
emission spectrometer pre-flight, simultaneous, and post-flight
sky and ground measurements. Spirit also collected a panoramic
camera opacity observation.

Early on Sol 93, which ends at 7:57 p.m. on April 7, the rover
will switch the instruments on its instrument deployment device
from the Mössbauer spectrometer to the alpha particle X-ray
spectrometer. Sol 93 is the last day for newly planned science
observations, as Spirit will be getting a flight software update
during sols 94-98.



OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Traveling Around the Trough - sol 72,
Apr 07, 2004

"The Wanderer" by Dion and the Belmonts woke Opportunity on its
72nd sol, which ended at 7:39 a.m. PST on April 7. The rover
drove around the sinuous trough in a long dogleg pattern. Remote
sensing to examine the crevice was conducted on the 50-meter
(164 feet) drive to its ultimate position for the sol, at the
northeast extreme of "Anatolia."

On sol 73, the rover will perform a trenching operation in the
soil. During the following sol, the instrument's arm will be
placed on the trenched area.

The planned flight software upload will begin on Opportunity's
75th sol.

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Traveling Around the Trough - sol 72,
Apr 07, 2004

"The Wanderer" by Dion and the Belmonts woke Opportunity on its
72nd sol, which ended at 7:39 a.m. PST on April 7. The rover
drove around the sinuous trough in a long dogleg pattern. Remote
sensing to examine the crevice was conducted on the 50-meter
(164 feet) drive to its ultimate position for the sol, at the
northeast extreme of "Anatolia."

Here's a colorized shot of part of the trough:

http://www.copperas.com/astro/trough_uncal.jpg

Spacecraft: OPPORTUNITY
Camera: PANCAM, left (L2,3,4,5,6,7)
Spacecraft clock: 134753030 (seconds since January 1, 2000, 11:58:55.816
UTC)
Product type: EDR full frame
Site number: 10
Drive number: CG
Command sequence number: P2591 (PMA or remote sensing instrument) PANCAM
Producer: MIPL/JPL
Acquisition time (Earth): Thu Apr 8 23:11:43 EDT 2004
Acquisition time (Mars): Sol 74 11:35:58

Joe