Spirit - Still Alive - volume 2 - Page 8

sol 2115 ( Dec 15, 2009 ) 3D detail of "greenish spot" as seen in reply 135:

with links to the full 3D with links to other interesting spots.

The left eye image ( right side ) is a full filter image white balanced to a spot on the rover that I consider "gray" and the right eye image ( left side ) is a synthetic color image from the R1..R6 filters color balanced to the white balanced left eye image.

Oook.

Pay no attention to the new bright spot of soil or to the fine network of patterns in the wheel trench soil -- as a bunch of science type guys have determined that these features seen by pachyderms are "not real".

( And yes, I am annoyed that no one else "sees" them. )

Here is a 7 month animation of saturated color ( L456 ) of changes in this area.

Lott'a "stuff" going on in this area.

Apparent sunlight glints from separate points in the left-side and right-side hazcam images. Some shiny debris thrown up by the wheel rotation?

sol 2117 ( Dec 17, 2009 ) 3D movement of right front wheel:

Well. The RF wheel is functional? This gives new hope in a hopeless situation.

Here is the animation of the left front wheel and here is the MI animation of the right middle wheel and here is the left middle wheel MI animation.

I can't detect any forward progress and the rover in fact may have sunk deeper.

I don't see any wear marks on the RF tread due to its being dragged quite a distance.

Maybe it was free to rotate more than they thought

Well folks>>>

NASA has been playing with this way too long. Full steam ahead with ALL wheels full power until the warp drives blow Scottie! That ought to get it out of the rut it made for itself...there is really nothing to loose. Spirit will regenerate electricity anyway so why not give it full power and spin all 6 wheels, either reverse or forward...I say reverse to where it came from and get out of this uphill 'quick-sand'!

yt
dx

Agree, throttle pedal to the metal until battery levels reach red.

sol 2088-2118 ( Nov 17-Dec 18, 2009 ) 9 frame animation of "The Great Escape" MI from Troy as seen from under the rover:

This is a half-size, extensively processed version.

The last frame from sol 2118 is really bad news. The rover is not going forward - only down and may be grounded out on "Belly rock"

Here is the right middle wheel animation and here is the front hazcam animation of sol 2118 movement.

The drive was only 35 minutes - probably stopped because of the further sinking of the rover.

The brief hope of the functioning right front wheel is no more.

Bummer.

Hindsight is a great thing but I am wondering why it took so long to attempt the escape surely by not moving things will have seized up i.e. the wheels.

This is not good at all and I think Spirit is about to become a lander.

sol 2115-2119 animation of the soil slumping into the left front wheel trench:

The "greenish" blob is slumping like the other soil, so it doesn't have any internal structure and thus is likely "just" a lens of oddly colored soil. Bummer.

Nothing to see here folks, move along - move along.

Ok, Here is the sol 2117 animation of the left rear wheel sinking not so slowly into the dust. Yikes!

And here is the left middle wheel also sinking from sol 2088 to 2118 and here is the right middle wheel during the same time frame.

The right rear wheel is nowhere to be seen.

Come on - let's do some science during Spirit's remaining sols.

There is, for instance, the greenish blob on the edge just waiting to be MIed. And the curious orange angle iron shape within reach; and the complex edge between the crust and the left wheel trench; and the mysterious vanishing white ring next to the right wheel trench - and - and...

All of Mars can be discovered in a grain of sand.

Hi Hort

I tend to disagree with your "The greenish "blob" is slumping like the other soil so it does'nt have any internal structure and thus is likely to be only a lens of lightly coloured soil" IMHO, the slump does not appear to be a loose amorphous mass but seems to be made up of discrete clumps of material. The agency that causes the clumping might be physical, chemical or other. The greenish material doesn't have to have an internal structure to be of interest it could be another phase of the the clumping agency.

Winston

3D animation of the blob of reply 149:

with a link to an anaglyph version just for Winston.

I think the discrete clumps are small rocks in the blob.

What I was kind'a hoping for was the entire green blob moving as a unit - or perhaps separating into strands.

Notice that the soil cracked in lines before falling and there are also vertical striations in the soil.

The forces that are holding the soil together seem to have some long range order - but are not strong enough to hold the blob together under Mars weak gravity.

So what's responsible for the cohesion?

Chains of magnetic dust ? Bipolar electrostatic charged dust? Some interesting polymers? other ideas?

Any ideas about what observations might disprove one or all of these hypothesis?

Let's work the problem guys.

sol 2120 ( Dec 20, 2009 ) animaton of front wheels:

and rear wheels:

and sol 2088-2120 looking back under the rover:

Still goin' down.

I can't bear to watch any more.

Hi Hort

Thanks. I have'nt had the opportunity to look at the anaglyph yet. Hope to do so tomorrow.

Winston

If Spirit can't escape, then maybe it should dig the deepest trench it can, and explore downwards.

It's kind of sad but Spirit's journey had to end somesol, somewhere. There may still be more than the original 90 sol expectation in which to operate and Spirit is in a very interesting place. I wish that the Rover folks would get back to the Science now that escape is too unlikely to waste more time trying. How about an MI mosaic of all the surfaces available to the tool arm. I'd like to see a section through the soil crust that is now overhanging the trench walls in places where they have gradually wasted out from underneath. I'd like to see what constitutes the bright and dark colored lines that have appeared in the disturbed areas of soil. I'd like to see a section through one of the tiny ripples on the undisturbed areas if this is still possible.

What I expect to see is more blurry and increasingly pointless MIs from under the rover. Hope I'm wrong.

Looks like the long defunct right front wheel is functioning! At least that seems to be what this story is reporting!

Long-defunct Mars rover wheel spins
NASA surprised that wheel actually showed signs of activity

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34513129/ns/technology_and_science-space/

If we have any chance of getting out it will be with that wheel's help. We'll see what happens the next few days.

Quote by Hort:I think the discrete clumps are small rocks in the blob.

What I was kind'a hoping for was the entire green blob moving as a unit - or perhaps separating into strands.

Notice that the soil cracked in lines before falling and there are also vertical striations in the soil.

The forces that are holding the soil together seem to have some long range order - but are not strong enough to hold the blob together under Mars weak gravity.

So what's responsible for the cohesion?

Chains of magnetic dust ? Bipolar electrostatic charged dust? Some interesting polymers? other ideas?

Any ideas about what observations might disprove one or all of these hypothesis?

Let's work the problem guys. END QUOTE

What Kye Goodman is saying above is what I've been preaching for months.
Good luck with "Lets work the problem,Guys"
Hort,I have been literally BEGGING for this.

Very refreshing to see Kye,Ben,Barsoomer,post above,,
keep it coming.If we don't know the answers then lets just keep asking questions.
How "sticky" is the soil?
When/what how does it become not-sticky?
How can we squeeze more data from NASA?
(off topic below)
Phoenix story has to many holes.
I don't think half of the instruments worked as they were designed.AFM??,Barometer with zero spikes???
About the only thing I got from Phoenix was a telltale,and 51 Dust Devil events.Which is good,although Mars reportedly has a "near vacuum" atmosphere??
Whew!!
Too much for me.
Good Luck,God Bless and stay warm!

Joe in Texas
btw:There seems to be a really good MODERATOR now.This is very good.Who ever it
is (I don't have a "burning need to know)they
are doing an excellent job.

Sol 2122 animations.

Down, down, down.

LF wheel is UP slightly.

Joe in Texas

TEST,(to post a link)
These Guys impress me a LOT

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8222045907997981867&q=antigravity&hl=en

Moderator,delete/change above,please?
I posted the wrong link.
Try again.

http://marsandme.blogspot.com/

I have a high confidence in THESE guys.

Joe in Texas