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ZL2VAL > ROVERS 04.01.05 12:22l 76 Lines 2822 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 4A0621ZL2VAL
Read: GUEST
Subj: Spirit inspects new rock
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0BEL<ZL2TZE<ZL2TZE<ZL2AB
Sent: 050104/0955Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:54694 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : ROVERS@WW
Jan 3, 5:27 PM
Mars rover inspects key rock after one year
BY CHRIS KRIDLER
FLORIDA TODAY
CAPE CANAVERAL -- Mars scientists and engineers looked forward and back
Monday as they marked the rovers' first year on Mars.
"One year ago, we had no assurances that everything would go according
to plan," said departing NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, who thanked
the rover team during remarks at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
California.
He still has the champagne bottles he poured on the nights Spirit and
Opportunity landed last January. "It was one of the most fulfilling days
I've ever had in public service," he said.
Though the rovers are in good shape, "bad things could happen to us at
any time," project manager Jim Erickson said. "Random part failures
could lose the missions tomorrow."
Spirit landed in 100-mile-wide Gusev Crater a year ago Monday, and like
Opportunity, which landed three weeks later, it was expected to last
three months.
Their initial mission, including launches from the Cape, cost $820
million. Each additional month of operation costs about$3 million, JPL
Mars exploration manager Firouz Naderi said.
Opportunity, whose legacy will be evidence that water once flowed on
Mars, is checking out its discarded heat shield.
On the other side of Mars, "Spirit has moved into something totally
new," said principal investigator Steve Squyres of Cornell.
A grainy rock in the Columbia Hills called Wishstone, different from
anything seen on Mars before, shows a lot of phosphorous that might
indicate the influence of water. Its texture suggests it came from a
volcanic explosion or an impact.
If other rocks in the hills show similar composition, they might
indicate there was a different water chemistry there compared with other
spots on Mars, Squyres said.
To look for more clues, Spirit will climb to a vantage point and see
whether it can spot bedrock to study in the valley below.
Squyres had predicted the rover expedition would be "the coolest geology
field trip in human history. I think events have borne that out," he said.
-=###=-
73, Alan
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