Spirit Sol 72 Daily Image Caption
Release Date:  
March 16, 2004
Image File Name:  
x_pubeng_sol72_navcam.tif
Source File Name: 
sol72_navcam.tif
Summary Information:
Navigation camera image taken by Spirit on sol 72 of the scuffed drift dubbed "Serpent."
Submitter:
Steve Ruff
Institution: ASU
 Theme/Team/Group:  
Sol of Observation:
72
Earth Date of Observation:
03-15-04
Title of Image

Spirit Digs In

Spirit acquired this navigation camera image on sol 72, March 15, 2004, after digging its wheel into the drift dubbed “Serpent.”  Creating the commands that would generate this “scar” was not an easy task for rover controllers.  They essentially had to choreograph an intricate dance for Spirit that would take it up the side of the dune, shimmy its left front wheel a number of times to create the scuff, and then reverse to attain proper positioning for mini thermal emission spectrometer observations.  Before the task was finished, Spirit had to do a final approach forward to put the scuff in the work volume of the rover’s arm.  

The wheel-inflicted scar allows scientists to see below the drift surface and use the rover’s instruments to find out what it is made of.   Initial results indicate that the drift material is similar to the basaltic sands that have been seen throughout Spirit’s journey to the Bonneville crest.  The material does not seem to be the same as what is inside the crater.

Scientists are now looking at two questions;  why the dark sand in the crater is not the same as the dark sand in the drift, and why there are two different dark soil-type deposits in such a small place.  

Credit:  NASA/JPL


Email:  steve.ruff@asu.edu
Cell:      480-748-9667

<br> USERNAME: shlieven