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Published August 6, 2004 | public
Journal Article

Localization and Physical Properties Experiments Conducted by Spirit at Gusev Crater

Abstract

The precise location and relative elevation of Spirit during its traverses from the Columbia Memorial station to Bonneville crater were determined with bundle-adjusted retrievals from rover wheel turns, suspension and tilt angles, and overlapping images. Physical properties experiments show a decrease of 0.2% per Mars solar day in solar cell output resulting from deposition of airborne dust, cohesive soil-like deposits in plains and hollows, bright and dark rock coatings, and relatively weak volcanic rocks of basaltic composition. Volcanic, impact, aeolian, and water-related processes produced the encountered landforms and materials.

Additional Information

© 2004 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Received May 2004; accepted 2 July 2004. Work funded by NASA through the Mars Exploration Rover Project. We thank the MER team of scientists and engineers, who made the landing, traverses, and science observations a reality.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 19, 2023