Release Date: 3/31/04 Image Filename: x_pubeng_Hazcam_Mazatzal_Post_Sweep.jpg Source Filename: Summary Info: Hazcam of rat mosaic on mazatzal taken by Spirit on sol 86 Submitter: Phil Chu Paul Bartlett Institution Honeybee Robotics Theme RAT Rover Spirit Sol of Observation 86 Earth Date of Obs March 31 Spirit Has Flower Power This hazard avoidance camera image was taken on sol 86, March 31, 2004, after the rock abrasion tool on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit brushed for three minutes on each of six locations on the rock named Mazatzal to create this flower-shaped mosaic. The goal for this operation was to create a brushed area that was big enough for the mini thermal emission spectrometer to capture within one of its 11-centimeter (4.3 inch) diameter pixels. Because the rock abrasion tool creates individual brushed areas approximately 5 centimeters (2 inches) in diameter, the team designed this six-location brushing to successfully provided 92-95 percent brushed coverage of the 11 centimeter (4.3 inch) circle that the mini thermal emission spectrometer team needed. This operation is only the second time the rock abrasion tool has created a brushing mosaic. The first time was a three-spot brushing on the rock called “Humphrey.” The brush was originally designed to be used as an aide during full grinding operations, however it has been very effective in brushing the top layer off of dusty martian rocks to allow scientists a multi-depth look into the rocks on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL Approved by Phil Chu and Paul Bartlett Index Map Details The hematite abundance index map was created from a panoramic camera mosaic of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity’s landing site on top of which is layered circles of mini thermal emission spectrometer data. Each circle in the image is an example of the size of a miniature thermal emission spectrometer footprint. This image demonstrates the approximate pixel diameter of the mini thermal emission spectrometer, and helps to illustrate why Spirit’s rock abrasion tool had to create a brushing mosaic on sol 86 large enough so that the mini thermal emission spectrometer captured only brushed rock within its footprint.
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