Projects: Red Rover Goes to Mars
Student Astronaut Maciej Hermanowicz
Maciej and Janice with Morten Madsen
Maciej and Jance get a lesson from Danish magnet scientist Morten Madsen. Created: 2 February 2004.
Credit: The Planetary Society
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Spirit Sol 27 / Opportunity Sol 7
Saturday, January 31, 2004
Today is one of the most wonderful days in my whole life - my great adventure
with the Red Rover Goes to Mars Student Astronaut Program and Mars Exploration
Rover mission is about to begin for good! At 11:00 am we had an orientation
meeting in the Planetary Society HQ. That's where I met the other Student
Astronauts: Janice, Wei-Lin and Vignan. It's really great to get to know more
people of your age sharing your interest in exploring the unknown!
The first thing to do was to get to know all the Planetary Society's staff
members. Well, in my case that was rather a meeting I had years ago, as I've
already been in Pasadena two years ago when I was accompanying my younger
brother Daniel, who was selected as one of the Student Navigators and had
a chance to work with Field Integrated Design and Operations (FIDO) Rover
at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The atmosphere in the HQ was really wonderful!
Just before the lunch Janice and I had a small briefing led by Bruce Betts
and Jennifer Vaughn, including earthquake precautions. That's an odd feeling,
knowing that the ground under your feet can prove to be not as stable and
reliable as it looks like. That's the additional thrill of staying in California!
Later on we had a quick tour of the building, including a story about a hidden
staircase that hasn't been found yet and probably was destroyed during one
of the renovations, but it used to lead through all the levels. Or at least
it is said to have been.
Later on we went to JPL for orientation there. We brought our souvenirs to
our cubicle on the 8th floor. Janice brought the American national flag and
a board with the text of American national anthem "The Star-Spangled
Banner". I brought a pair of souvenir dolls wearing traditional clothes
from the southern region of Poland, near Kraków. We then had a stroll
through all the floors used by the Mars Exploration Rover mission. On the
fifth floor we spotted a big rubber rat perched on one of the cubicles. I
don't know whether it has any connection whatsoever with the RAT (Rock Abrasion
Tool) team, but I guess it has. We also visited the JPL gift shop where we
purchased a lot of gifts.
After a few hours of sleep, we started the first day of real work at JPL
for Janice and me. It's absolutely great! We were taking the night shift with
Opportunity tonight - beginning at 00:15. That wasn't that bad for me, luckily,
as it's almost matching Polish time. The first thing for us to do was a training
in using MarsDial software, led by our veterans here: Wei-Lin and Vignan.
That surely made us more self-confident for the future.
The most exciting thing today, though, was watching the Opportunity's egress.
We've been watching the control room via NASA TV and saw all these magnificent
new images coming - first the rear Hazcam, which has shown us that the rover
successfully rolled off from the lander, then front Hazcam and a Navcam image
of the landing module left behind. We've got 12 wheels on Mars right now!
The scientists were absolutely delighted, I've seen some of them gesturing
already in front of the screen, waving their hands and indicating interesting
places where the rover may go.
That's it for now, I believe. We're going right now to attend our first science
meeting. That's something to look forward to!
Spirit Sol 28 / Opportunity Sol 8
Sunday, February 1, 2004
That was an absolutely wonderful day. Janice and I were having our first
real touch with the Marsdial software, as we began individual work with some
of the Mars Dial images. Janice is dealing with a project concerning dust
optical properties that we are carrying out for Jim Bell and I was processing
the last few images of the Mars Dial I mean last until well get new ones from
the rovers. Thats real fun, although dealing with the software is a bit tricky.
Youve got to have a sure hand and a good eye to receive good results but thats
the beauty of it even in the age of computers the human factor is still significant.
I cant wait till we get more of these images to process and Im sure that by
the end of our duty here in JPL Janice and I will have mastered this skill.
After finishing this task we went to where a 1:1 model of the Mars Exploration
Rover is placed and took some group and individual pictures in front of it.
Today was the last day In JPL for Wei-Lin and Vignan. Thats a pity because
weve done a whole lot of things together here. Without them our cubicle is
going to appear empty.
Later on today, weve taken part in the Strategic Science Assessment Meeting.
Before it started, however, we had a fascinating talk with Donald Banfield
from the atmospheric team, who was processing Mini-TES data from Opportunity.
The chat was mainly about how you use Mini-TES to measure the air temperature
on the Red Planet on different heights. He has shown us the data form this
instrument mounted on Spirit as well. We have also listened to an extremely
interesting explanation of some engineering matters concerning soil properties
and driving conditions.
During the meeting we got acquainted with the plan for the rovers for the
few following sols as well as with some possible future targets presented
by the long-term planning group. There is some immensely thrilling research
planned for tomorrow. Im really looking forward to it, as the results are
going to be really interesting.
After the meeting Ive had a brief conversation with Donald Banfield once
again, this time about how astonishing amounts of information you can get
from a single spectrum. Thats the charm of being inside the mission the scientists
are all very friendly, they are not at all reluctant to getting involved in
a talk about their current occupation. Thats what makes the air in JPL unique.
On our way to our cubicle we visited the Pancam lab, not even knowing how
lucky we were choosing this very moment. The scientists were in the middle
of receiving new images from Opportunity and we were among the few lucky ones
to see them first. That gave an additional taste to this great experience,
because it was not only about looking at marvelous images weve been looking
at them as one of the first. After viewing them we returned to our cubicle
to write our journals.
There are wonderful things to come during the next few sols and its a real
pity that Wei-Lin and Vignan wont have the chance of witnessing it first-hand.
Spirit Sol 30 / Opportunity Sol 9
Monday, February 2, 2004
Today Janice and I switched from Opportunity to Spirit, so as to work during
the day instead of extremely early morning. That is a really good solution,
although working with Opportunity didn't actually disturb me, as it was more
or less the same as using the Polish time. What's more, sleeping two times
a day gives you the illusion of having two days instead of one.
We have participated in our first meeting concerning Spirit - the Science
Context Meeting. That was really interesting, as we've met completely new
scientists, as previously we were seeing only the Opportunity team. There
was a talk about Spirit recovery - they're going to have the whole flash memory
reformatted the day after tomorrow to sort it out and that's why you have
to receive all valuable data before you do so and it makes setting up the
transmission priorities a tough challenge. Then there was a presentation by
a scientist from the atmosphere team on their latest findings. They were talking
about the measurements made by Mini-TES and some interesting things they have
learned. I must admit, that the conversation we've had yesterday with Donald
Banfield helped me a lot in understanding the whole problem. The atmospheric
team also presented some possibilities of future research, some of them really
fascinating, including a method of trying to spot a dust devil (a small tornado) "red-handed".
That would be something extremely cool to see - of course you'd need a dust
devil actually occur in front of the rover to get the image. Let's hope we
have enough good luck!
Later on there was a very interesting briefing on rover magnets by a Danish
scientist, Morten Madsen. It was really great! He also mentioned the significance
of imaging Astrobot Biff Starling once again, as he is equipped with magnets
of three different strength levels, which comes in handy when you want as
much data in one image as possible. After the meeting we had a little chat
about the great meaning of assessing the magnetic properties of the dust,
because it would definitely be a significant knowledge in the future, during
a manned mission, as the magnetic dust could interfere with the astronauts'
gear such as magnetic locks and similar equipment. Then we had just a small
talk about music, together with listening to a part of soundtrack from "The
Hours". That was really unexpected turn of our conversation - from space
research to musical art!
After returning to our cubicle we had an interview for the Polish TV station
called TVN. They were very nice people and the whole event went smoothly and
quite quickly, although the shots were made in a variety of places and it
took us some time just to walk between them - especially with a cameraman
accompanying your every step.
Later on, back at our place in the building 264, we were having great fun
processing the Pancam images of the rock called Adirondack (see the ones at
right). The camera itself provides no color images; all of them are black
and white. However, by using certain filters you can get an image as seen
only in one fixed wavelength. Human eye detects three basic colors - red,
green and blue; all the other colors are simply a mixture of these. By using
certain filters (so as to get images as seen in the basic colors) and merging
the images into one you get what is called a true-color image. This means
that it represents approximately what a human eye would see when looking at
the target. We managed to develop a 3D image of Adirondack, which is really
cool to see! We have also produced some false-color images, which you get
when you use other types of light e.g. infrared. Although the colors have
nothing to do with what you would actually see on Mars on your own, they still
give you an immense knowledge, as they allow you to see the differences you
wouldn't spot otherwise. Actually, some of the animals see far differently
than humans do. There is an Earth shrimp that detects 12 different basic colors
together with the light polarization. God, that must be a colorful world!
The next thing for us to do was to attend the Science Downlink Assessment
Meeting. We were in the room a couple of minutes earlier and - guess what!
We came across the scientists discussing the brand new Microscopic Imager
snap from the Opportunity. One of them actually made us interpret the image
on our own - he was just asking the right questions and it helped us to find
the answers. We shall see whether we were right as soon as we get more measurements
from Opportunity. During the meeting there was another discussion about which
data is to be extracted from the rover memory. The transmission capacity is
far too little to get it all downloaded - and there is also a possibility
of performing new research, which makes new data on its own. What to do? This
is a tough nut to crack and I'm extremely curious to find out how this is
going to be sorted out.
That was a really busy day - and there is about a hundred new images still
waiting for processing! One thing is 200% sure - we won't be bored tomorrow.
Spirit Sol 31 / Opportunity Sol 10
Tuesday, February 3, 2004
Today we were working with Emily Lakdawalla once more. After arriving to
JPL we wanted to go straight to our cubicle in the building 264. However,
we were intercepted en route by the TVN crew that filmed us yesterday. After
a few minutes of taping we headed to our place and went to the room where
the Science Context Meeting was scheduled to begin. When we got there, though,
we discovered that the meeting itself was to be held together with the Science
Downlink Assessment Meeting later on. The reason of merging both events is
that we’re having flash memory reformat planned for tomorrow and therefore
there are far fewer things to talk over right now, at least short-term ones.
Nevertheless, in the room we ran across a group of scientists discussing
the long-term plan for Spirit. That was a fascinating thing to witness, because
it actually made us realize a couple of things. First of all, there is one
resource that is extremely scarce in the mission – it is time. With
the scientific gear onboard the rover and all these rocks and soils surrounding
it you could actually carry out research for a couple of years. However, we
have only 60 sols of primary mission left and some very difficult choices
are to be made. There is a possibility of extending the mission, but nonetheless
the rover is nominally designed to work for 90 sols.
The point is that the longer the rover is on the surface of Mars, the more
dust will accumulate on its solar panels and that will cause a downfall in
the amount of energy provided. Another reason for it is the change of seasons
on the Red Planet, just like on Earth. One of the criteria for minimum mission
success is for at least one of the rovers to drive at least 300 meters. For
full mission success, the criterion is at least 600 meters by at least one
rover. Driving consumes energy and time and pretty soon we’ll be running
short of both. The other aspect presented was that a significant part of the
time will be used for engineering purposes, which will give you very little
scientific data. However, it is only by driving that you can get to possibly
the most fascinating object in the vicinity of the Spirit’s landing
place – the Bonneville Crater, which is a window to the past of the
whole area. Therefore, getting there is the most important long-term goal
for the rover, at least according to the long-term planning scientists.
There were also different points of view on whether the rover should stop
for a greater period of time on its way towards the crater. The whole conversation
gave us an insight of what is actually happening “behind the scenes” of
the mission – there is always a decision to be made, always a conflict
of interests to be brought to a compromise. And there is the clock ticking,
as “the time never comes back”.
After listening to this conversation we went back to our cubicle to get some
work with Mars Dial done. Janice calibrated a whole lot of new images from
Opportunity while I was checking the former measurements for the dust project
the Student Astronauts are involved in. That is really cool, although doing
it on your own is far greater fun than recalibrating old data. Nevertheless,
it took me plenty of time and there is still a huge amount of data to process
and double-check, with new images still incoming.
After two hours or so of work on the images we went downstairs to attend
the science “combo” meeting. Because of the memory reformat taking
place tomorrow, the only point of the meeting was a presentation by Dave Des
Marais on the future long-term goals for Spirit – the traverse to Bonneville
Crater. The subsequent discussion was quite similar to what we already heard
a few hours earlier, but it also included some new points of view. In general,
although there is a preliminary schedule ready for the rover, what actually
will be done will depend on what will be found during the drive towards the
crater. That’s the charm of the space missions – you always have
to be flexible, as you cannot fully predict what the next sol will bring.
Spirit Sol 32 / Opportunity Sol 11
Wednesday, February 4, 2004
This was a really long and exciting day. The very first thing for us to do
after reaching JPL was to attend the Science Context Meeting for Spirit. However,
there was not much new talked over due to the flash memory reformat, which
was actually one of the main points of the meeting. All the scientists were
relieved to hear that it was proceeding all right, so that they could get
back to doing science next sol. There were also some previews of whatll be
discussed during the Science Assessment Meeting that will be something to
listen to! The rest of the meeting was quite similar to what took place yesterday
considering a future campaign for the rover.
After the meeting we had another interview for the second Polish TV crew
this time it was TVP. That's the main reason why I didn't get much work done,
but I did manage to process a couple of images anyway. That was quite a different
TV session, as this time there were shots of me talking with Morten Madsen
from the magnet team. It was really great, as we had some fascinating discussion
by the way. We talked about the planned analysis of Adirondack as well as
on the latest plans of imaging the Astrobot Sandy Moondust on Opportunity
the images are to be downloaded sometime soon. One more thing that astonished
me was that Morten gave me a CD by an American composer, Conlon Nancarrow.
Im listening to it while I'm writing these very words and I tell you its great,
something I've never heard before! That's a marvelous thing about being here
being treated like equals by all the scientists and even like friends by some
of them.
Later on I had a talk (in front of the camera) with Witold Sokolowski, a
Polish scientist who works here in JPL. Ive actually met him two years ago,
when I was in Pasadena with my younger brother Daniel. What's more, my Dad
and I went together with him to a reception at the Polish Consulate in Los
Angeles. The conversation was very pleasant and after the TV crew departed
Witold led us to the Mars Yard where the prototypes of engineering rovers
are tested. Thats where the Field Integrated Design and Operations (FIDO)
Rover was when Daniel operated it remotely. Then we actually had an opportunity
to walk on the Martian terrain, although still under the Earth sky.
On our way back to the building 264 we watched a field test of trench digging,
the results of which will definitely come in handy for the Opportunity team.
It was just about to begin when the batteries in our camera went dead! We
just rushed back to our cubicle to seek new ones and dashed back to where
the test was being carried out. Luckily, we made it in time. So that's the
K.J.'s advice for you: always carry spare batteries!.
The test itself was absolutely awe-inspiring, as it was actually the first
time for us to witness a real Mars Exploration Rover in action all weve seen
previously were computer simulations. During the event the rover had a number
of cables plugged in to maintain communication, which was an unusual sight.
However, it is a really wonderful feeling to see this sophisticated robo-geologist
in the move.
In a minute or so we are about to go downstairs to attend the Science Assessment
meeting. There will be definitely numerous important matters presented as
it is time to make the final decisions on what to do once Spirit is in perfect
health again. Being there will certainly be a superb experience.
Spirit Sol 33 / Opportunity Sol 12
Thursday, February 5, 2004
This was a bit quieter day than the previous. The first point of our schedule,
just like during a few previous days, was attending the Science Context Meeting.
This was really brief as most of the decisions for the few next sols are already
made.
Too bad we couldn't perform any Mini-TES measurements during the planned
brushing of Adirondack, as the rover cannot take these measurements and move
its robotic arm simultaneously. When the future drive was being considered,
one of the scientists joked that Spirit was standing in one place motionlessly
for such a long time that we can actually analyze the formation of wind tails,
which are streaks of dust assembling behind obstacles. Another said then,
that even when we were inactive, we served science. Well, that's why you have
to be flexible. However, it is certain that this opportunity of doing that
kind of research will be ignored due to very strict time limits. As I've already
said, you could spend years in Spirit's landing site performing marvelous
studies of the surroundings. What a pity that it is impossible.
After attending the meeting we went to the JPL gift shop to purchase some
more souvenirs. The walk was enjoyable as the sun was shining in the true
California style. Afterwards we got down to our MarsDial work. Janice did
a great job calibrating a lot of images and I was filling up gaps in the dust
project database. That was fascinating as you can actually feel how it is
like to have a genuine scientific work. I'm sure that we'll have some valuable
information extracted from our measurements. The project will help in determining
the optical properties of the Martian atmosphere together with the airborne
dust. This way we'll get more information on the dust itself, which is crucial
in developing future missions to the Red Planet. The reason for this is that
the airborne dust will be the element of the Martian environment that will
interfere with any gear.
Later on we attended the Science Downlink Assessment Meeting. The main point
of it were amazing preliminary results of the first RAT-brushing. That has
just taken aback all the people here! We also had an opportunity of examining
the test targets for the Rock Abrasion Tool - that's really great! What you
get is a polished, shiny surface out of a coarse rock.
Spirit Sol 34 / Opportunity Sol 13
Friday, February 6, 2004
This was one of the greatest among all the great days we’ve spent in
JPL. Today we’ve met the next pair of Student Astronauts – David
and Saatvik. We met for the first time at a lunch at the Planetary Society’s
HQ. Their arrival actually made Janice and me realize, that our duty here
comes to an end and that soon we’ll be back home – back to reality.
Welcome to the real world, as they say. However, it is always more fun when
we’re working in a bigger team – we had really a plenty of laugh
together. We also enjoyed the souvenirs David and Saatvik brought to decorate
our cubicle. David brought a Rubik’s cube -- Hungarian best-known riddle
-- while Saatvik brought a beautiful decorative Indian tapestry.
The first thing for us to do after reaching JPL was going to the JPL gift
shop. There is one funny thing with my shopping there – I always leave
the shop with one of the cute JPL teddy bears. Well, as long as I pay for
them it’s OK, isn’t it?
The next thing for us to do was to take a quick tour of the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. We had an opportunity of watching another trenching test live
near the In-situ Instrument Laboratory. You see, trenching was never tested
on a 20° slope – because a slope like that was the last thing you
would expect to come across on Meridiani Planum, which is considered to be
the flattest place on the surface of the Red Planet. One of the scientists
said a couple of days ago: “this is funny; Spirit landed on a plain
inside Gusev Crater and Opportunity inside a crater on Meridiani Planum”.
Probably the coolest thing about the test was a box with a huge, fiery red
button, which one of the engineers, Bob Anderson, was holding and which looked
pretty much like a detonator. Its function, though, was to “kill” rover’s
activities to keep it safe in case anything goes wrong. Luckily, it wasn’t
necessary to use that one during the test, but the impression was still indescribable.
Then we went to the Mars Exploration Rover exhibition near the entrance to
the complex to have a couple more shots for the Polish TV crew. Afterwards
we headed for the room where the science meetings are held to participate
in the Science Context Meeting. There was more discussion about establishing
the final route for the soon coming traverse towards the rock called White
Boat. There were also some points made about balancing the science and driving
parts of the long distance traverse to Bonneville Crater rim, together with
presenting some optimal routes on the Pancam images. However, the most fascinating
part of the meeting was seeing Steve Squyres, the Big Boss in the Mars Exploration
Rover mission stride into the room, talk for a while with some scientists
and then sneak in to wake up a scientist who was taking a snooze right beside
us. I will never forget the look upon his face! But you have to understand
the poor man – working on Mars time is not easy.
After the meeting we had a talk with a member of the atmosphere team who
showed us the results of sky research done by his team. Later on we had a
conversation with Geoffrey Landis, who’s carrying out analysis of the
process the accumulation of dust on the solar panels. We had some discussion
about possible reasoning of the variations of the intensity of this process.
I will definitely miss these dialogues with all the scientists. That’s
probably the best part of being here at JPL and one that cannot be substituted
in any way by access to the Internet mission websites.
Afterwards we headed to our cubicle to get David and Saatvik prepared for
what actually awaits them – work with MarsDial images and the dust project
measurements. I was training David and I must say that he’s fast like
a fiend when it comes to computers – I’m sure that he’ll
do a piece of great work here. It was a truly strange feeling – briefing
David on what I was briefed only a week ago. Amazingly, how fast one turns
form a rookie to veteran in here.
The next point of our program was to attend the Science Downlink Assessment
Meeting. There was a marvelous 3D simulation of Spirit’s drive towards
White Boat presented by Scott Maxwell. There was also a brief note on the
progress of RATting activity: “we think that we’re RATting, we
think that the rover's arm (the "IDD") is in the right place, we
think that we’re on Mars”. These assumptions are pretty realistic,
in my opinion. Later on there were comparisons of the Mössbauer Spectrometer
and APXS readings form after the brushing with the pre-brushing analysis.
Subsequently, Patrick Whelly requested performing additional Pancam imaging
in order to get some data on how standing in one place for 19 sols on the
surface of the Red Planet triggers aeolian accumulation. This actually is
some relief – even though we were offline for a long period, we were
still doing some science, although in the most passive fashion ever performed.
The last thing for us will be to witness the Science Operations Working Group
ongoing. It will be a completely new experience for Janice and me, as we didn’t
have this opportunity previously. It’s a pity that our time here is
slowly coming to an end. Fortunately, we’ll all keep in touch and will
never forget this wonderful adventure.
Spirit Sol 35 / Opportunity Sol 14
Saturday, February 7, 2004
Everything that has a beginning has an end. The same thing is with our duty
here at JPL. This is the very last shift for Janice and me and we fly back
to our homes the next day. However, this didn’t prevent us from enjoying
our last sol inside the mission operations.
The first thing for us to do today was to get some work done in our cubicle.
With the other three, I managed to finish filling in gaps in the Mars dust
project spreadsheet. David and Saatvik will deal with the new images. I’m
sure that they will do a piece of great work during their stay in Pasadena.
It is a wonderful feeling when you know that your effort will be continued
and will actually yield some results.
After a couple of hours spent in the cubicle, we went downstairs to take
part in the Science Context Meeting – for one last time, at least during
the Mars Exploration Rovers mission. The point of the discussion was the future
traverse towards the Bonneville Crater – what route should we choose,
what waypoints are to be set, and which targets might be examined on the way
to the final destination. The science team wants to get some reasonable balance
between drive and research, so as not to turn this mission into an engineering
field test. On the other hand, neither Spirit nor Opportunity was designed
to linger in one place for its (her?) whole lifetime. In the end, a general
plan of a 24 –sol “campaign” was developed, based on cycles
of 3 sols of drive together with short research, like remote sensing and imaging
the magnets and 3 sols of precise analyses performed by the instruments mounted
on the robotic arm. We’re ready and willing to go, so it’s time
to earn some Martian mileage!
This will be the first long-range travel on the surface of the Red Planet.
I wish I had the chance to watch it from here, from the very heart of events,
from JPL. Relying on the other Student Astronaut journals and JPL press releases
won’t be the same. However, it’s great that David and Saatvik
will feel the thrill of this activity – just as we did while watching
Opportunity’s egress. Nevertheless, I’ll definitely miss that
feeling.
It was a magnificent experience, being in the place that is currently the
capital of Mars research. Being a member – a minor one, but still a
member - of an international team of scientists, who had the opportunity to
analyze first-hand information from the Red Planet was a marvelous adventure.
When you’re here, it doesn’t matter what your nationality, religion
or political opinions are. What matters is that you’re from Earth and
exploring Mars.
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