Spirit Updates: 2011

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

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).


sols 2615-2620, May 12-17, 2011: Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

The project is continuing the recovery effort with both Deep Space Network X-band and ultra-high frequency (UHF) relay communication attempts.

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


sols 2608-2614, May 5-11, 2011: Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

The project is continuing the recovery effort of both Deep Space Network X-band and ultra-high frequency (UHF) relay communication attempts.

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


sols 2602-2607, April 29 - May 4, 2011: Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

The project is continuing the recovery effort of both Deep Space Network X-band and ultra-high frequency (UHF) relay communication attempts.

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


sols 2594-2601, April 21-28, 2011: Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

Deep Space Network X-band listening and commanding covering a range of frequencies and local solar times on Mars is continuing. Selected over flights by the relay orbiters are exercised to elicit a response from the rover through the separate ultra-high frequency (UHF) system.

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


sols 2587-2593, April 13-19, 2011: Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

Deep Space Network X-band listening and commanding covering a range of frequencies and local solar times on Mars is continuing. Selected over flights by the relay orbiters are exercised to elicit a response from the rover through the separate ultra-high frequency (UHF) system.

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


sols 2580-2586, April 6-12, 2011: Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

Deep Space Network X-band listening and commanding covering a range of frequencies and local solar times on Mars is continuing. Selected over flights by the relay orbiters are exercised to elicit a response from the rover through the separate Ultra-high frequency (UHF) system.

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


sols 2574-2579, March 31 - April 5, 2011: Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

Deep Space Network X-band listening and recovery commanding continue. The project has been systematically conducting commanding over a range of frequencies and over a range of local solar times on Mars. This covers possibility that the rover's receiver has degraded and/or the clock has drifted significantly since March of 2010.

The project is continuing the commanding of extra-long ultra-high frequency (UHF) relay passes to account for possible rover clock drift or clock error and to make the rover responsive to UHF relay (if it is has experienced a mission-clock fault). The team is also commanding the backup solid-state power amplifier, in case the primary X-band transmitter has failed.

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


sols 2567-2573, March 24-30, 2011: Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

Deep Space Network X-band listening and recovery commanding continue. The project has been systematically conducting commanding over a range of frequencies and over a range of local solar times on Mars. This covers the possibility that the rover's receiver has degraded and/or the clock has drifted significantly since March of 2010.

The project is continuing the commanding of extra-long ultra-high frequency (UHF) relay passes to account for possible rover clock drift or clock error and to make the rover responsive to UHF relay (if it is has experienced a mission-clock fault). The team is also commanding the backup solid-state power amplifier, in case the primary X-band transmitter has failed.

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


sols 2560-2566, March 17-23, 2011: Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010), over a year ago.

Deep Space Network X-band listening and recovery commanding continue. The project has been systematically conducting commanding over a range of frequencies and over a range of local solar times on Mars. This covers the possibility that the rover's receiver has degraded and/or the clock has drifted significantly since March of 2010.

The project is continuing the commanding of extra-long ultra-high frequency (UHF) relay passes to account for possible rover clock drift or clock error and to make the rover responsive to UHF relay (if it is has experienced a mission-clock fault). The project is also commanding the backup solid-state power amplifier, in case the primary X-band transmitter has failed. Peak solar energy production for Spirit at the Gusev site is estimated to have already occurred back around March 10, 2011.

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


sols 2553-2559, March 09-16, 2011: Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

Deep Space Network X-band listening and recovery commanding continue. The project has been systematically conducting commanding over a range of frequencies and over a range of local solar times on Mars. This covers possibility that the rover's receiver has degraded and/or the clock has drifted significantly since March of 2010.

The project began this week commanding extra-long ultra-high frequency (UHF) relay passes to account for possible rover clock drift or clock error and to make the rover responsive to UHF relay (if it is has experienced a mission-clock fault). The project is also commanding the backup solid-state power amplifier, in case the primary X-band transmitter has failed. Peak solar energy production for Spirit was estimated to occur around March 10, 2011.

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


sols 2546-2552, March 02-08, 2011: Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

Deep Space Network X-band listening and "Sweep & Beep" commanding continue. The project has been systematically conducting the Sweep & Beep commanding over a range of frequency reference offsets and over a range of local solar times on Mars. This covers the possibility that the rover's receiver has degraded and/or the clock has drifted significantly since March of 2010.

Shortly, the project will command the use of the backup transmitter (in case the primary transmitter has failed), and will command extra-long ultra-high frequency (UHF) passes to account for possible timing drift of the relay passes, and to make the rover responsive to UHF relay (if it is has experienced a mission-clock fault). Normally, only X-band communication is possible under mission-clock fault.

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


sols 2540-2545, February 24 - March 01, 2011: Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

Deep Space Network X-band listening and "Sweep & Beep" commanding continue. The Sweep & Beep command duration has been shortened to 10 minutes, increasing the likelihood of commands being received within the 20-minute awake (fault) window for the case of a mission clock fault response on Spirit.

Further, the Deep Space Network X-band frequency reference offset (FRO) is stepped over a much larger range to account for the possibility of a degraded receiver on the rover. Scheduled DSN passes now occur over a broader range of local times of day on Mars covering the possibility that the rover's clock has drifted significantly since March of 2010. The period of maximum solar insolation (energy production) for Spirit occurs around mid-March 2011.

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


sols 2533-2539, February 17-23, 2011 Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

Deep Space Network X-band listening and "Sweep & Beep" commanding continues. The Sweep & Beep command duration has been shortened to 10 minutes, increasing the number of command attempts and the possibility of commands being received within the 20-minute awake (fault) window for the case of a mission clock fault response on Spirit.

Further, the DSN X-band frequency reference offset (FRO) is stepped over a much larger range to account for the possibility of a degraded receiver on the rover. Scheduled DSN passes now occur over a broader range of local times of day on Mars covering the possibility that the rover's clock has drifted significantly since March of 2010. The period of maximum solar insolation (energy production) for Spirit occurs around mid-March 2011.

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


sols 2527-2532, February 11-16, 2011 Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

The solar conjunction communication moratorium has concluded. Solar conjunction is the period when communications between Earth and Mars are disrupted because the Sun is directly in between the two planets.

The Deep Space Network (DSN) X-band listening and "Sweep & Beep" commanding have resumed. The Sweep & Beep paging strategy has been changed and augmented. The Sweep & Beep command duration has been shortened to 10 minutes, increasing the number of command attempts and the possibility of commands being received within the 20-minute awake (fault) window for the case of a mission clock fault response on Spirit.

Further, the DSN X-band frequency reference offset will be stepped over a much larger range to account for the possibility of a degraded receiver on the rover. DSN passes have also been modified to occur over different local times of day on Mars covering the possibility that the rover's clock has drifted significantly since March of 2010. The period of maximum solar insolation (energy production) for Spirit occurs around mid-March 2011.

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


sols 2520-2526, February 03-10, 2011 Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

However, the solar conjunction communication moratorium has now begun and will extend until approximately Feb. 12, 2011. Solar conjunction is the period when communications between Earth and Mars are disrupted because the Sun is directly in between the two planets. The period of maximum solar insolation (energy production) for Spirit occurs around mid-March 2011.

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


sols 2512-2519, January 26 - February 02, 2011 Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

However, the solar conjunction communication moratorium has now begun and will extend until approximately Feb. 7, 2011. Solar conjunction is the period when communications between Earth and Mars are disrupted because the Sun is directly in between the two planets. The period of maximum solar insolation (energy production) for Spirit occurs around mid-March 2011.

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


sols 2505-2511, January 19-25, 2011 Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

The project continues to listen with the Deep Space Network (DSN) and the Mars orbiters for autonomous recovery communication from a low-power fault case. Different frequency reference offsets will be used by the DSN in case Spirit's receiver's frequency response has drifted.

The project also continues the "Sweep & Beep" paging strategy to stimulate the rover in the case of a mission-clock fault. The time window for the Sweep & Beep commanding is being expanded to cover more possible timing cases. The JPL Radio Science team is also expanding the time window over which it listens to cover the possibility that Spirit's clock may have drifted more than estimated, and the rover locks up at a different time on the signal to the Mar Reconnaissance Orbiter (which shares the same X-band frequency channel). The period of maximum solar insolation (energy production) for Spirit occurs around mid-March 2011.

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


sols 2498-2504, January 12-18, 2011 Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

The project continues to listen with the Deep Space Network (DSN) and the Mars orbiters for autonomous recovery communication from a low-power fault case. Different frequency reference offsets will be used by the DSN in case Spirit's receiver's frequency response has drifted.

The project also continues the "Sweep & Beep" paging strategy to stimulate the rover in the case of a mission-clock fault. The time window for the Sweep & Beep commanding is being expanded to cover more possible timing cases. The JPL Radio Science team is also expanding the time window over which it listens to cover the possibility that Spirit's clock may have drifted more than estimated, and the rover locks up at a different time on the signal to the Mar Reconnaissance Orbiter (which shares the same X-band frequency channel). The period of maximum solar insolation (energy production) for Spirit occurs around mid-March 2011.

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


sols 2492-2497, January 06-11, 2011 Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

The project continues to listen with the Deep Space Network (DSN) and the Mars orbiters for autonomous recovery communication from a low-power fault case. Different frequency reference offsets will be used by the DSN in case Spirit's receiver's frequency response has drifted.

The project also continues the "Sweep & Beep" paging strategy to stimulate the rover in the case of a mission-clock fault. The time window for the Sweep & Beep commanding is being expanded to cover more possible timing cases. The JPL Radio Science team is also expanding the time window over which it listens to cover the possibility that Spirit's clock may have drifted more than estimated and the rover locks up at a different time on the signal to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (which shares the same X-band frequency channel). The period of maximum solar insolation (energy production) for Spirit occurs around mid-March 2011.

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


sols 2486-2491, December 31 - January 05, 2011 Spirit Remains Silent at Troy

No communication has been received from the Spirit since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

The project continues to listen with the Deep Space Network (DSN) and the Mars orbiters for autonomous recovery communication from a low-power fault case. Different frequency reference offsets will be used by the DSN in case Spirit's receiver's frequency response has drifted.

The project also continues the "Sweep & Beep" paging strategy to stimulate the rover in the case of a mission-clock fault. The time window for the Sweep & Beep commanding is being expanded to cover more possible timing cases. The JPL Radio Science team is also expanding the time window over which it listens to cover the possibility that Spirit's clock may have drifted more than estimated and the rover locks up at a different time on the signal to Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (which shares the same X-band frequency channel). The period of maximum solar insolation (energy production) for Spirit occurs around mid-March 2011.

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