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ZL2VAL > ROVERS 02.02.04 13:11l 91 Lines 3981 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 8D0471ZL2VAL
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Subj: Opportunity rolls off lander
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Sent: 040131/1916Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:34577 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : ROVERS@WW
NEWS RELEASE: 2004-047
January 31, 2004
Opportunity Rolls Onto Martian Ground
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity drove down a reinforced fabric
ramp at the front of its lander platform and onto the soil of Mars'
Meridiani Planum this morning.
Also, new science results from the rover indicate that the site does
indeed have a type of mineral, crystalline hematite, that was the
principal reason the site was selected for exploration.
Controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory received confirmation of
the successful drive at 3:01 a.m. Pacific Standard Time via a relay from
the Mars Odyssey orbiter and Earth reception by the Deep Space Network.
Cheers erupted a minute later when Opportunity sent a picture looking
back at the now-empty lander and showing wheel tracks in the martian soil.
For the first time in history, two mobile robots are exploring the
surface of another planet at the same time. Opportunity's twin, Spirit,
started making wheel tracks halfway around Mars from Meridiani on Jan. 15.
"We're two for two! One dozen wheels on the soil." JPL's Chris Lewicki,
flight director, announced to the control room.
Matt Wallace, mission manager at JPL, told a subsequent news briefing,
"We knew it was going to be a good day. The rover woke up fit and
healthy to Bruce Springsteen's 'Born to Run,' and it turned out to be a
good choice."
The flight team needed only seven days since Opportunity's landing to
get the rover off its lander, compared with 12 days for Spirit earlier
this month. "We're getting practice at it," said JPL?s Joel Krajewski,
activity lead for the procedure. Also, the configuration of the deflated
airbags and lander presented no trouble for Opportunity, while some of
the extra time needed for Spirit was due to airbags at the front of the
lander presenting a potential obstacle.
Looking at a photo from Opportunity showing wheel tracks between the
empty lander and the rear of the rover about one meter or three feet
away, JPL's Kevin Burke, lead mechanical engineer for getting the rover
off the lander, said "We're glad to be seeing soil behind our rover."
JPL's Chris Salvo, flight director, reported that Opportunity will be
preparing over the next couple days to reach out with it robotic arm for
a close inspection of the soil.
Gray granules covering most of the crater floor surrounding Opportunity
contain hematite, said Dr. Phil Christensen, lead scientist for both
rovers' miniature thermal emission spectrometers, which are
infrared-sensing instruments used for identifying rock types from a
distance. Crystalline hematite is of special interest because, on Earth,
it usually forms under wet environmental conditions. The main task for
both Mars Exploration Rovers in coming weeks and months is to read clues
in the rocks and soil to learn about past environmental conditions at
their landing sites, particularly about whether the areas were ever
watery and possibly suitable for sustaining life.
The concentration of hematite appears strongest in a layer of dark
material above a light-covered outcrop in the wall of the crater where
Opportunity sits, Christensen said. "As we get out of the bowl we're in,
I think we'll get onto a surface that is rich in hematite," he said.
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, D.C. 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, (Sysop ZL2AB).
AX25:ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
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Message timed: 08:17 on 2004-Feb-01 (NZ local)
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Points to ponder
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Birthdays are good for you;
the more you have,
the longer you live.
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