Update: Spirit and Opportunity

M I S S I O N     M A N A G E R S
	Scott Lever		Mike Seibert		Al Herrera

SPIRIT UPDATE:  Spirit Remains Silent at Troy - sols 2621-2627, May 18-24, 2011:

More than 1,300 commands were radiated to Spirit as part of the recovery effort in an attempt to elicit a response from the rover. No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010). The project concluded the Spirit recovery efforts on May 25, 2011. The remaining, pre-sequenced ultra-high frequency (UHF) relay passes scheduled for Spirit on board the Odyssey orbiter will complete on June 8, 2011.

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

Spirit Update Archive

OPPORTUNITY UPDATE:  Energy Levels Decreasing - sols 2853-2859, February 01-08, 2012:

Opportunity is positioned on the north end of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater with an approximate 15-degree northerly tilt for favorable solar energy production.

While positioned for the winter, Opportunity is conducting regular radio Doppler tracking measurements to support geo-dynamic investigations of the planet, in-situ (contact) science investigations of the rock target, "Amboy," including an extended Microscopic Imager mosaic, and continued collection of the 13-filter 360-degree "Greeley" panorama.

Additionally, during the late afternoon radio Doppler tracking passes, the rover is collecting spectacular low-light (low sun elevation) images. Decreasing energy levels with the approach to the winter solstice has constrained conducting both a radio Doppler tracking pass and an afternoon Ultra High Frequency relay pass on the same sol. The operations team performs energy trades on the tactical timeline as to which, if not both, of these communication passes are performed on a given sol.

On Sol 2852 (Feb. 1, 2012), the Mössbauer Spectrometer was placed on Amboy for a multi-sol integration and subsequently 24 hours of integration has occurred. Also, there were three radio Doppler tracking passes during this time on Sols 2853, 2855, and 2856 (Feb. 2, 4 and 5). And finally, on Sol 2858 (Feb. 7, 2012), the robotic arm continued its extended Microscopic Imager mosaic campaign of the surface area that includes the target Amboy.

As of Sol 2859 (Feb. 8, 2012), solar array energy production was 283 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.648 and a solar array dust factor of 0.478.

Total odometry is unchanged at 21.35 miles (34,361.37 meters).

Opportunity Update Archive