Projects: Red Rover Goes to Mars
Student Astronaut Shih-Han Chen
Abby, Shih-Han, Vignan and Wei Lin in the Student Astronaut Office
First day on duty for Vignan, from India, and Wei Lin, from Singapore. Created: 22 January 2004.
Credit: The Planetary Society
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Spirit Sol 14
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Abby and I were very excited on our first day in the Mars Exploration Rover
missions. Although we had already had a brief introduction and orientation
yesterday with Emily, we couldn't wait to get started. For our office decorations,
Abby brought an American quilt to and I brought a Chinese tri-coloured glazed
ware picture.
First, our day started by learning how to use the sundial software to draw
hour markings for the Pancam calibration target, which assumes the shape of
a sundial as well as fulfilling its purpose of a calibration target. As Susini
and Tomas are on their last day of the mission, they showed us how to use
the software. Although it may seem a very simple task for them as they have
been having a lot a practice, things were not going so well at first. There
was a new software update and we were experiencing problems with the new version.
Tomas also mentioned a saying in Spanish, which its English equivalent is
the proverb "Better the devil you know than the devil, you don't know." Fortunately,
we finally managed to use the new software with ease.
Then, we went to the Science Assessment Meetings which the science theme
groups discuss their current development in the project and make possible
proposals. First, the Moessbauer team celebrated their newly returned spectrum
from Mars as it was the first ever Moessbauer spectrum ever taken from an
extraterrestrial planet. Then, each theme group presented their investigation
in their specific areas and produced some preliminary proposals for the sol
21, 22 and 23. On these Sols, the team would focus on Opportunity, as it would
be landing, during which Spirit would be in a state of "Stand Down".
The plans are to park the rover at a selected site and assign activities for
the rover while the mission scientists focus on Opportunity. Finally, Steven
Squyres, the principle investigator, requested that each science theme group
should suggest a perspective stand down target during the Science Operations
Working Group (SOWG) meeting later in the day. However, we shall not be going
to the SOWG meeting as we have other activities instead.
The plans for the next few sols were to drive the rover to a place called
Adirondack where the scientists were interested in investigating a pyramid-shaped
rock on the surface. The SOWG meeting will focus on the proposals for an alternative
site for the stand down. Although the original proposal for the stand down
was Sleepy Hollow, which has a deep layer of dust on its surface, the engineering
team indicated that the rover would not be able to drive to Sleepy Hollow
in time. There is a small crater between Adirondack and Sleepy Hollow, which
means that the rover must drive around the circumference of the crater.
It was a very fun morning and we are ready to prepare for the recording of
the Passport to Knowledge TV show.
Spirit Sol 15
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Abby, Susini, Tomas and I went to the Passport to Knowledge Live Show yesterday
after we finished our duties. I was kind of sleepy as we have been working
all day since 5.00 a.m. The show was mostly on the Mars Exploration Rover
mission and it was filmed live inside the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena.
The show even had mission operatives such as Steve Squyres and Wayne Lee as
well as Bill Nye, although Bill Nye was supposed to be in Houston talking
over a radio link.
As well as having these famous people on TV, the show also mentioned our
project, the Red Rover Goes to Mars Student Astronaut project. They even pushed
us on stage to answer questions from local students. Abby responded extremely
well to a question about 'is our project real science?' Tomas and Susini also
answered flawlessly to the question 'is the project harder than school science?'
and I answered about working on the project in Martian time.
It was Susini and Tomas' last day yesterday so we bid them farewell after
the TV show. It was very nice to work with them as they helped us so much
during the first day.
Today, we arrived at 2.00 a.m. for the science context meeting. The meeting
discusses the events that have happened during the previous sol. In addition,
we heard a lecture about the explanation for the Moessbauer spectrum. More
data needed to be gathered before they can confirm their explanations. We
also had a celebration from the APXS team as the first APXS spectrum has just
been received during the meeting.
After the meeting, we talked to some of the theme groups about their current
development. The geology team actually had a computer generated 3-D image
of our target at Adirondack. The image was so real that the details of the
crack in the rock and the texture can be somehow felt in some way.
Then we talked to one of the scientists who are interested in a group of
rocks called, wasabi, sashimi and sushi (named by their appearance). Sushi
was a cylindrical rock (hence, sushi, a Japanese style food made by rolling
seaweed sheets around rice) with a curious rectangular hole in it. The scientists
were quite interested in the hole but they could not explore it more due to
the drive to Adirondack. One geologist believed that Sushi might be formed
by lava flow as molten lava moves in a part rolling and part flowing pattern.
The appearance of the rock is also porous and contains many vesicles that
also suggest an igneous origin.
Finally, we talked with Morten Madsen about dust collection and the Moessbauer
spectrometer before writing our journals and preparing to attend the Science
Assessment Meeting.
Spirit Sol 16
Monday, January 19, 2004
During the Science Assessment Meeting in the previous sol, some APXS data
was analysed by the APXS team. They found signatures in the APXS spectrum,
which is similar to a typical Martian soil obtained by previous discoveries.
Therefore, one scientist said that "this proves that we are on Mars." However,
the science team was still uncertain the cause of the slight differences in
the spectrum. This still needs more data for investigation.
The procedures of the Science Assessment Meeting are very interesting. First,
Steve Squyres commanded the PDLs to report their current instrument health
status and the data they received. Payload Downlink Leads (PDLs) are on-duty
members from each instrument team who are responsible for the status and data
receival of the instrument. Then, he commanded that the Science Theme groups
to report their current analysis status and their proposals. There is always
some good natured rivalry and competitions between each theme groups so continuous
questioning and on-going debates are common during the meeting. Finally, Steve
Squyres assign tasks for each science theme group to focus on before the SOWG
meeting. It is always fun to see the irony when opposing theme groups have
to co-operate together to complete the task.
This morning, Abby and I attended the Science Context meeting again. During
today's meeting, some background information of the Mössbauer spectrum
was presented to each theme group. After that, another scientist talked about
the first Microscopic Image. From their observations, they discussed the possibilities
of aggregations of very fine dust, which were called fairy castles and the
possible formation process. At the end of the meeting, all scientists were
encouraged to propose some possible explanations.
After the meeting ended, Abby and I went to talk to Lutzo Richter about some
images of the rover hazcams. The image showed one rock sinking into the surface
next to the wheel track. He believed that the rock was pushed into the soil
by the rover wheels during the driving process. However, an interesting irony
is that other rocks were not pushed into the soil so there was some uncertainty
about the observations. This uncertainty must now always remain a mystery
for the scientists as the rover has driven away from the location and cannot
observe the site anymore.
Abby and I realized from this that the truth we unveil is so tiny compared
to the vast uncertainty we left untouched.
After the Science Context meeting, Abby and I went to the Science Assessment
meeting. One of the scientists expressed his view on one of the Hazcam images.
In the image, a rounded pebble was pressed into the surface very close to
the rover wheel trails. However, there were no wheel trails on the surface
the pebble was pressed into. From his observations, he suggested that there
might be a thin layer of crust on the surface.
We then attended the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Press Conference, which is
the official announcement of the mission progress. Abby and I found it very
different to the science meetings which we have attended as the Press Conference
is to be presented to the public. The information that is released inside
the Press Conference must be extremely accurate, based on a lot of scientific
discussion.
Finally, we watched Steve Squyres conduct the SOWG meeting, which plans the
activities for the rover. It was an incredible experience as the software
used to plan the rover activities is so useful that it can calculate every
little detail of the rover's status including data volume and power consumption.
The meeting ended as Steve Squyres and the rest of the science team reached
their initial planning targets in such a short time with seamless cooperation.
This shows the scientists are willing to give in for the good of the team
even when it includes deleting their own proposed plans.
Spirit Sol 17
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
The Science Context meeting today was mainly focused on some strategies or
hypotheses and predictions to explore the rock Adirondack. These proposals
were mainly based on the visual appearance of the rock.
During the meeting, there was discussion about the use of the Rock Abrasion
Tool (RAT) on Adirondack. First, one scientist explained how the RAT worked
and its special features which might benefit the discovery. Then there was
a sharing of ideas about the use of the RAT. Some scientists asked questions
about the depth of the RAT abrasion. It was explained that the idea is to
take "baby steps' in using the tool for the first time on Mars to carefully
study how the tool operates in that environment.
During the meeting, Emily Dean, a student intern, did a fantastic image processing
demonstration. She used the software to copy out a broken rock next to a rock
called Sushi and she joined the copy to the broken end of Sushi. Amazingly,
it was a perfect fit. This supports the hypothesis that the broken rock may
be a broken down fragment of Sushi.
After the meeting, Abby and I talked to some of the Athena Student Interns,
Mark and Brandon (Jay). The students are always very friendly to us as it
is very unusual to see other student inside the operations. Kids always like
seeing kids around. Their teacher, Mr. Aragon, said that there are many fascinating
volcanic lava fields close to their school in New Mexico and JPL even tested
some of their Mars missions there as the environment is very similar to Mars.
Finally, Abby and I went back to our office to do some image processing.
Spirit Sol 18
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
As a daily routine, Abby and I went down to the Science Context meeting at
the start of the sol. Today, most of the scientists were mainly focused on
the Microscopic Imager image that Spirit transmitted back yesterday during
the Science Assessment meeting. After the meeting, we talked to Geoffrey Landis,
one of the atmospheric scientists.
During the brief talk, he was very interested in one of the investigations
which we were doing concerning about the amount of Martian dust. Abby and
I measured optical opacity by measuring the brightness ratio of a sunlight
region to the shadow region of the Pancam calibration target. The target assumes
the shape of a sundial that carries the motto Two Worlds, One Sun. Geoffrey
Landis, however, has been using a slightly different method of measuring the
dust level. He used the current produced by a particular solar cell on the
solar panel to determine the amount of sunlight blocked by the dust in the
atmosphere.
He was very interested in our crude method as in theory both methods should
at least agree to some extent. To our surprise, he suggested that our method
produced reasonably accurate results despite its simplicity. The general trend
of our graph is very similar to his model as in theory it should be a sine
curve with respect to the solar azimuth (the angle the sun makes with the
horizon). This shows that the amount of light gathered is at its peak during
noon (12.00) Local True Solar Time. He then suggested the theory behind our
results and asked us to send him a copy of our results when we have completed
the investigation. Abby and I found that most of the scientists were all very
friendly to us and would be happy to provide help or support. Abby and I felt
that we have contributed in the science team, instead of just observing at
the sideline.
After the talk, Abby and I continued to do some image processing before KJ
Walsh, our mentor, decided that it was time for a break. He said that he was
getting bored of the pictures taken of us inside the mission operations, as
most of them were quite repetitive. The pictures were mostly of Abby and I
talking to scientists. KJ suggested that we should go and take photos of something
more interesting. So, we went downstairs to find the free ice cream machine,
which was given to the Mars Exploration Rover team as a congratulation of
the successful Spirit landing.
I am also looking forward to see Wei-Lin and Vignan at the Planetary Society
soon as they would be joining us in the mission operations when Opportunity
lands.
Spirit Sol 19
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Today was a day with a type of mixed atmosphere inside the mission operations.
First, Abby and I met Wei-Lin and Vignan, the next pair of student astronauts,
who will be succeeding us after next Tuesday. Wei-Lin brought a nice Singaporean
watch that shows the time in Singapore. Vignan also brought a Veena, which
is a musical instrument of Indian origin. Both of them were very nice as Abby
and I showed them around the mission operations.
However, the scientists in the Science Context meeting were not in a happy
mood at all. Apparently, a communication link with the Deep Space Network
was cancelled due to stormy weather in Australia yesterday. In addition, certain
uplink commands failed to reach the rover and some science activities were
cancelled. It was very distressing for most of the scientists inside the mission
operations as no science activities can be done until a successful communication
link is resumed.
The Press Conference was grave and gloomy unlike the one Abby and I attended
a few days ago. At the end of the Press Conference, some officials from the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced that there is a signal indicating that
Spirit might be in 'fault protection mode'. However, this is still unconfirmed.
But as long as there is some form of communication with Spirit, there is still
a good chance of re-establishing normal communication.
This incidence, however, affected scientists to various different extents.
Some of the scientists are very concerned and unhappy when we were in the
Science Assessment meeting. However, Ron Greeley, who worked on both Vikings
and the Pathfinder mission, believes that there are always small challenges
in every mission. He says that although most of the scientists are worried,
it would be very unlikely for such difficulties never to happen at all.
Ironically, some scientists believe that this difficulty may be a perfect
chance to analyse previous downlinked data, as there is a break in science
activities. Lutz Richter continued to give some further analysis to the science
group about his crust theory and also suggested that more evidence is required
to confirm his hypothesis. The plans leading to the 'Stand Down' was also
discussed in the meeting although some scientist said that 'this plan would
only work if we get our communications back' in a humourous tone. This shows
that certain scientists that may have past experiences in these missions are
less bothered about these challenges.
As a happy ending to the Science Assessment meeting, all the scientists celebrated
Ray Arvidson's birthday at the end of the meeting. One scientist said humourously
that the fire department did not allow them to bring in seventy candles. Finally,
Wei-Lin, Vignan, Abby and I had some of the cake and went back into our office
cubicle to prepare for the Chinese New Year celebration. Geoffrey Landis organised
a celebration in a Chinese restaurant for the end of sol discussion.
It was a very unusual day but we all hope that tomorrow would turn out to
be a better day.
Spirit Sol 20
Friday, January 23, 2004
What happened today in the Mission Operations was very similar to the past
few days. Again, we attended the Science Context meeting in the Science Assessment
room. Surprisingly, there was a very low attendance. Normally, there would
be many scientists working inside the room as the meeting times were approaching
normal working hours. However, for today, the room was nearly empty.
At the end of the meeting, Abby, Wei-Lin, Vignan and I viewed a satellite
photograph of the Meridiani landing site for the Opportunity rover. According
to Joe Oliver, our mentor, during the day of landing, there is a fun game
inside the Science Assessment room. Most of the science team members would
mark a landing spot on the image with a pen. After the landing, the actual
location of the rover is determined and marked on the picture. The person
with his or her mark closest to the actual landing spot wins. This shows part
of the humour amongst the science team in contrast to tense nail-biting moments.
We attended two press conferences in the auditorium. The conferences were
focused on the Opportunity's landing and the communications with Spirit. Wayne
Lee, the chief engineer, explained all the analysis of data returned from
the Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) of the Spirit rover and the modification
to the EDL systems of Opportunity made by these observations. Mike Malin also
showed us a very interesting image of the Spirit landing site taken by the
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) before and after the landing. We could clearly
see the extra two white regions, which represents the location of the back
shell and parachute. He also zoomed in onto the lander, which showed that
the white dot was a rough shape of the lander. He even compared the picture
to a colour photograph of the lander taken by Spirit after landing. He said
that this is pretty good considering it was taken in space by an orbital spacecraft.
He also said that Mars Global Surveyor is able to take a photograph of Sprit
if it is sufficiently far away from the lander.
Although most of the mission operations are concerned about the EDL of Opportunity,
the media was still focused on Spirit. Dr. Theisinger explained that the team
is trying to find out the problem causing the fault in Spirit, and that they
have resumed communications with the spacecraft. 'We got it broke,' he said,
'and we are trying to find out what is wrong with it.' He indicated that after
the landing of Opportunity, the Impact to Egress of Opportunity would be delayed
to allow the engineers to focus fully on Spirit.
The landing is scheduled tomorrow and we hope Opportunity lands safely. Also,
we hope that Spirit can be back to normal soon.
Spirit Sol 21 / Opportunity Sol 1
Saturday, January 24, 2004
What a superb experience it is for Abby, Wei-Lin, Vignan and I inside the
Mission Operations. It was the landing for Opportunity! Along with its twin
Spirit, there are now two rovers on the surface of Mars!
The atmosphere was very unusual today when we started work. Although all
of us were very tired after the Universal Studio's trip yesterday, we couldn't
wait to watch the landing in the Opportunity Science Assessment room. However,
before we could watch the live landing, we all joined 'the game' which the
scientists play before the landing. Abby, Wei-Lin, Vignan and I all chose
our best spots on the Opportunity landing ellipse hoping to win the prize.
After spending what seemed like a quarter of an hour picking our best spots,
we headed towards the Science Assessment room. Abby and I burst out laughing
when we saw the sign renaming the room as the 'EDL War Room'. Ironically,
most of the scientists in the room were talking to each other as if there
was no landing at all. The voices were so loud that the chair had a pretty
hard time trying to obtain silence when the landing started.
As the landing started, there was silence. Most of the people were focused
on the screens inside the room showing the live TV coverage from the Mission
Operations room. The landing process was unexplainable. First there was silence
in the nail-biting moments while the chief engineer, Wayne Lee, announced
the estimated time of each event. Then, there was the confirmation of the
event being completed and the room was filled with happiness and applause.
Finally, the sounds died down so that the only sounds audible were the voices
coming from inside the speaker. This cycle repeated for many times until there
was a signal confirming that Opportunity was bouncing on Mars. This is the "six
minutes of terror," as the rover continued to bounce and roll until coming
to a stop. After the signal indicating that the rover landed on one of the
side petals, excitement filled the room. Scientists were congratulating, shaking
hands or even hugging each other. This continued until we left the room to
meet Bill Nye, the Science Guy, in the cafeteria.
In the cafeteria, Bill Nye explained to us his experience with sundials as
time-keeping devices. He explained to us the origins of sundials and its past
history. The idea of using a MarsDial as a calibration target was originally
his idea. Abby was really excited, as Bill Nye was like a hero to her. Finally,
Bill kindly agreed to sign our notepads before leaving for the Press Conference.
After the Press Conference, we all went back to the Science Assessment room
to view some of the photos returned from Opportunity. The landscape was spectacular
as the view was very different to the usual perception of a Martian surface.
It was such an unforgettable day as it was a chance once in 60000 years.
There is so much difference between learning the path and walking the path.
Today would be a milestone in human history, which we earthlings succeeded
in providing Opportunity.
Spirit Sol 22 / Opportunity Sol 2
Sunday, January 25, 2004
The number of people in the mission operations was significantly less than
yesterday. It seemed as if everyone are trying to have some rest after the
experience yesterday. After wandering around the nearly empty rooms for both
Spirit and Opportunity (a very ironic appearance compared to yesterday's scene),
we went back to our office cubicles to make some progress on the MarsDial.
Then, we talked to Jim Bell, the Pancam Element Lead (PEL), about the Opportunity
post card. The post card is in false colour, and the blue chip on the Pancam
calibration target appears red instead of blue. This is caused by using the
L2 (infra-red) filter instead of the L4 (red) filter for processing the colour
image. After talking to Jim Bell, we went back to our office to continue with
the image processing.
Then, we went down to the Science Assessment room just before the Science
Assessment meeting to talk to some scientists. Abby and I asked Geoffrey Landis
some questions concerning about the rover's heating system. Wei-Lin also inquired
about the possibility of lightning forming in the Martian atmosphere. He suggested
that lightning might be possible in the atmosphere as the low pressure allows
the voltage of discharge to be significantly lower than on Earth. However,
there is still no direct evidence of lightning existing on Mars.
When the meeting started, the number of people finally started to increase.
Gradually, the room was full of people similar to the Science Assessment meetings
held for Spirit. We believe that some of the scientists working for Spirit
have also joined in the meeting. Matt Golombek, the Principal Investigator
for the Pathfinder mission, said that they were like free agents, except for
those who have been assigned.
Finally we left the meeting as it was getting late (our shift ended at 2.15
am) and we were all getting tired. We would all need to get some sleep for
tomorrow which would be Abby and my last day in the mission operations.
Spirit Sol 23 / Opportunity Sol 3
Monday, January 26, 2004
"Everything that has a beginning, has an end…" Sadly, it
is finally the time for Abby and I to say farewell to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
After our long ten-day shift, Abby will be returning back to her hometown
in Maryland and I shall be returning back to England.
Our experience inside the mission shall be the most enjoyable and unforgettable
memory of our lives. Sometime in the future, we would look back to the time
when we were attending all of the meetings, talking to the scientists, doing
some image processing, updating the image database, watching the landing of
Opportunity, working on Mars time and suffering from sleep deprivation, of
course. It was such an enjoyable time inside the mission operations and although
we did not get enough sleep, we were still enthusiastic about going to work
the next day after our day was finished.
Attending all of the science meetings was fun as it allowed us to obtain
the most up to date information about the mission. Sometimes we were the first
group of people to see the newly received images from Mars. In addition, talking
to project scientists allowed us to have further understanding of their inferences
of the observations. Most of the scientists were very friendly people and
would like to share their knowledge to a group of kids. Abby and I would like
to thank Geoffrey Landis, Lutz Richter, Morden Madsen, Bill Nye, Jim Bell
and various other scientists for providing help during our project. It was
such an honour to be working with these scientists that provided such help
to the knowledge of mankind. As Neil Armstrong once said, ‘one small
step for man; one giant leap for mankind’ and these scientists have
come from various places spending their time on unveiling the truth, which
is find the origin of Mars, Earth and the Universe.
In addition, Abby and I would like to thank all of the other Student Astronauts,
especially Tomás, Susini, Wei-Lin and Vignan for providing support
and company during the brief overlap inside the mission operations. We would
also like to thank Emily Lakdawalla, KJ Walsh, Joe Oliver (whom won the grand
prize for the landing site ‘game’ although Abby was close to winning),
Bruce Betts, Louis Freeman, Vilia Zmuidzinas and all the other staff at The
Planetary Society for providing us the chance to have this extraordinary experience.
Abby and I would also like to thank all the staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
for their hard work in providing us the Spirit and Opportunity.
Although ‘Everything that has a beginning, has an end…’ this
is just the end of the beginning as Spirit and Opportunity provided future
space enthusiasts, such as all of us, the chance to explore our strengths
in space discovery.
Finally, Abby and I wish all future Student Astronauts an extremely enjoyable
time inside the mission operations and a safe return journey.
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