Mars and Me Blog: The unofficial diary of a Mars rover driver

Spirit Sol 176

This is Cassini's big day -- SOI[X] is upon us. Maybe it's my imagination, but it doesn't seem to me that they're getting the same kind of media coverage we got. Which is a shame: Saturn's a beautiful planet, and Cassini's an exciting mission that will help unravel its mysteries. Still, it seems that the public likes us better.

Nyaah nyaah.

I have my own reasons for being more interested in MER. As usual, today brings something new. As part of solving the problem we've had with the terrain not being where the images made us think it was, we're recalibrating the IDD today. This involves commanding the arm to a series of twenty or so positions, and taking a picture of each one. Later, Eric Baumgartner will compare the commanded position with the actual position as seen in the HAZCAMs, and he'll use that information to recalibrate the IDD.

Steve Squyres has a simpler description: "Martian tai-chi," he calls it.

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