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January 12, 2004 We're almost there... just one cable-cut away from being a free-wheelin' machine. Spirit is now fully stood up, with every last hardware deployment done. The solar arrays are out, the mast is up, the antenna is free, the arm is released, and all six wheels are cut free from the lander. The one and only thing tying us to the lander now is a single electrical cable, and we're going to cut that tomorrow. The egress drive is currently scheduled for Sol 12 if everything goes well, and then we'll be ready to start our exploration of Gusev crater.
And what a site to explore! We're releasing the first full panorama from Pancam today, available for download on the JPL web site. The views off into the distance --particularly of the hills to the east -- are spectacular. And then just another few days and we'll have six wheels in the dirt.
One other bit of good news (it just seems to keep coming): We did a second health check on the Moessbauer Spectrometer today, and it looks fine... every bit as good as it did back in Florida. We still don't know exactly what went wrong with it during cruise, but we're seeing flawless performance now. Strange and wonderful.
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