After spending some time getting used to the terrain on top of "Home Plate," Spirit began driving across the top of the elevated plateau, en route to taking more images and examining a possible fracture in the bedrock.
On the rover's 1,310th Martian day, or sol, of exploration (Sept. 9, 2007), Spirit completed a drive characterization to determine how the rover responded on Home Plate terrain. After passing that test, Spirit proceeded toward a destination known as "Site 2." Plans called for the rover to acquire the second portion of a long-baseline, stereo view of "Husband Hill" and study the potential fracture. In addition, Spirit was slated to collect remote sensing data looking to the west, southwest, and south in search of possible drive paths as well as geological information.
Sol-by-sol summary
In addition to measuring atmospheric opacity with the panoramic camera, surveying the sky and ground with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and checking for drift (changes with time) in the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, Spirit completed the following activities:
Sol 1309 (Sept. 8, 2007): Spirit examined targets known as "Gumbo," "Goulash," "Stew," and "Pudding" with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Spirit took wide-range atmospheric dust measurements using the panoramic camera and then, after the evening pass of the Odyssey orbiter, recalibrated the dust measurements of the panoramic camera.
Sol 1310: Spirit acquired panoramic camera images of Gumbo and Goulash. The rover turned in place to characterize the drive toward Site 2 and started driving in that direction. Spirit took images with the hazard avoidance cameras just before and after completing the drive as well as post-drive images with the panoramic camera.
Sol 1311: Spirit surveyed the horizon with the panoramic camera.
Sol 1312: Spirit monitored dust accumulation on the rover's mast with the panoramic camera and continued driving. The rover acquired images with the hazard avoidance cameras before and after completing the drive and acquired post-drive images with the panoramic and navigation cameras. Spirit acquired a rearward-looking mosaic of navigation camera images, surveyed the external calibration target with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and completed a systematic ground survey using all 13 filters of the panoramic camera.
Sol 1313: Spirit surveyed the horizon with the panoramic camera.
Sol 1314 (Sept. 13, 2007): Spirit acquired full-color views, using all 13 filters of the panoramic camera, of the fracture on Home Plate. The rover acquired forward-looking images with the panoramic camera and acquired data from targets dubbed "Tapioca," "Bouillabaisse," and "Dumplings" with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Spirit acquired wide-range measurements of atmospheric dust with the panoramic camera and measured atmospheric argon with the alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer. After the overpass of the Odyssey orbiter, Spirit recalibrated dust measurements with the panoramic camera. The following morning, the rover was to acquire panoramic camera images of Dumplings and complete a survey of rock clasts.
Odometry:
As of sol 1312 (Sept. 11, 2007), Spirit's total odometry was 7,206 meters (4.48 miles).
