| |
ZL2VAL > ROVERS 25.01.04 12:03l 73 Lines 3183 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 5155-ZL2VAL
Read: GUEST
Subj: Opportunity lands safely
Path: DB0FHN<DB0FOR<DB0SIF<DB0EA<DB0ACC<DB0GOS<DB0EEO<DB0RES<ON0AR<ZL2BAU<
VK3KAY<ZL2TZE<ZL2AB
Sent: 040125/1036Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:34035 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g $:5155-ZL
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : ROVERS@WW
NEWS RELEASE: 2004-035
January 25, 2004
NASA Hears From Opportunity Rover On Mars
NASA's second Mars Exploration Rover successfully sent signals to Earth
during its bouncy landing and after it came to rest on one of the three
side petals of its four-sided lander.
Mission engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.,
received the first signal from Opportunity on the ground at 9:05 p.m.
Pacific Standard Time Saturday via the NASA Deep Space Network, which
was listening with antennas in California and Australia.
"We're on Mars, everybody!" JPL's Rob Manning, manager for development
of the landing system, announced to the cheering flight team.
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said at a subsequent press briefing,
"This was a tremendous testament to how NASA, when really focused on an
objective, can put every ounce of effort, energy, emotion and talent to
an important task. This team is the best in the world, no doubt about it."
Opportunity landed in a region called Meridiani Planum, halfway around
the planet from the Gusev Crater site where its twin rover, Spirit,
landed three weeks ago. Earlier today, mission managers reported
progress in understanding and dealing with communications and computer
problems on Spirit.
"In the last 48 hours, we've been on a roller coaster," said Dr. Ed
Weiler, NASA associate administrator for space science. "We resurrected
one rover and saw the birth of another."
JPL's Pete Theisinger, project manager for the rovers, said, "We are two
for two. Here we are tonight with Spirit on a path to recovery and with
Opportunity on Mars."
By initial estimates, Opportunity landed about 24 kilometers (15 miles)
down range from the center of the target landing area. That is well
within an outcropping of a mineral called gray hematite, which usually
forms in the presence of water. "We're going to have a good place to do
science," said JPL's Richard Cook, deputy project manager for the rovers.
Once it pushed itself upright by opening the petals of the lander,
Opportunity was expected to be facing east.
The main task for both rovers in coming months is to explore the areas
around their landing sites for evidence in rocks and soils about whether
those areas ever had environments that were watery and possibly suitable
for sustaining life.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena,
manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space
Science, Washington. Images and additional information about the project
are available from JPL at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov
and from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at http://athena.cornell.edu
==============================
73 de Alan
*----------------------------------------------------------------*
| Packet: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC APRS: =3903.39S/17406.40E] |
| E-mail: zl2val@qsl.net Snail mail address: http://www.qrz.com |
*----------------------------------------------------------------*
Points to ponder
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
