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Hawaii Volcano Observatory -- Kilauea, Hawaii
Today marked completion of the fifth consecutive day of successful testing for the Kilauea science and field teams. Science operations for this day were shortened both to allow the field team some well deserved rest, and to provide the science team at Ames time to evaluate data from the previous day. At the start of operations, the field team encountered initial problems involving TCA messaging on the local Sun workstation used for data trafficking between the control room at NASA Ames and the rover. Once this problem was solved, the team performed operations which included three major accomplishments.
First, rover mobility was demonstrated over the most severe terrain yet attempted during this round of Marsokhod testing. The day's traverse included operations at two major rifts, allowing the science team located to evaluate local layering and other features through the rover's imaging systems (including the Kodak DCS 420 digital camera). At both rifts, imaging requirements made it necessary to position the rover on extremely rough terrain. Operations included traversing cross slopes of up to 45 degrees, and descending and climbing down slopes in excess of 30 degrees unassisted.
Second, scientists at NASA JSC were able to participate in real-time data analysis and decision making with the team located at NASA Ames. The JSC team was able down both the live satellite video feed and high resolution science imagery from the rover using Mosaic to access the science data archive established at NASA Ames. The JSC team was linked to the control center at Ames via telecon. In the words of Kent Joosten from JSC, testing "validated the operations concept proposed by this team for NASA's Discovery Program". Such real-time distributed science operations is a significant aspect of our team's Discovery proposal, and will reduce costs, increase speed, and broaden the participation in the analysis of mission science data.
Third, PIN site software for the JASON portion of the expedition was successfully demonstrated through control of the rover simultaneously from Utah State University, McDonnell Douglas Huntington Beach, and the local control station at Kilauea. Gary Glover and Karl Pfitzer of MDA successfully ported the PIN software to Utah State and monitored operations while they controlled the rover for over 1/2 hour via internet during the team's regular end-of-the-day public demo. The rover was also operated locally during this time by a half dozen eager local middle school kids.
Science operations conclude tomorrow with the final day of lunar mode testing. Objectives include examination of the interface region between two flows and a layer of ash deposit, and characterization of the boulders strewn about an ejecta field. Additionally, PIN software flexibility will be further validated through operations from Gary and Karl's homes in Huntington Beach. Both will dial in simultaneously via slip line, perform control and receive telemetry from the rover. Following the conclusion of operations at HVO, the team will transition the hardware to the JASON site at the base of the currently active lava flow. A site visit this morning revealed that recently emerging flows have consumed the site originally planned for JASON operations. Needless to say, the situation promises to keep the field team on their toes!
Test footage may be seen by folks with access to NASA Television. Overall statistics and milestones for the mission will be available in future status reports.
Dave
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Gene Carl
Feldman
(gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov)
(301) 286-9428
Todd Carlo Viola,
JASON Foundation for Education
(todd@jason.org)