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ZL2VAL > ROVERS 14.02.04 12:46l 92 Lines 3653 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 5181-ZL2VAL
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Subj: Opportunity to dig for evidence
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Sent: 040214/1040Z @:ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC #:35826 [New Plymouth] FBB7.00g $:5181-ZL
From: ZL2VAL@ZL2AB.#46.NZL.OC
To : ROVERS@WW
Opportunity to Burrow Under Martian Surface
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 05:00 pm ET
13 February 2004
Mars rover Opportunity is about to dive into the trenches.
The six wheeled rover is in excellent shape within its crater landing
site at Meridiani Planum. The robot has officially completed a remote
sensing campaign to study a rock outcrop exposed along the crater's rim,
stopping at three different observation outposts: Alpha, Bravo, and
Charlie.
At each of those sites, Opportunity has performed "shoot and scoop"
measurements utilizing onboard science tools to inspect the rock outcrop
in great detail.
The robot's movement from the Charlie outpost to an area called "Trough"
was delayed today, however, due to an issue with re-stowing the rover's
mechanical arm. The eventual move to Trough, south of the Opportunity's
present spot, would be the rover?s longest drive -- a little over 30
feet (9 meters).
Putting on the night-goggles
Matt Wallace, JPL's Opportunity Mission Manager, reported today in a
telephone press briefing that the robot has exercised, for the first
time, a "high order" self-navigation capability.
Using its own vision and software smarts to sense and map reference
points, Opportunity can ascertain for itself where it sits within local
surroundings. That ability will be particularly helpful, Wallace said,
for the rover to better maneuver up, down, and across crater slopes.
Opportunity has also performed the first nighttime session using its
Mini-Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES). "We got our first
opportunity to check out our night vision," Wallace said. Results of
that scan to see in infrared the heat emitted by rock and soil is now
being digested by scientists, he said.
Big dig on Mars
Once at Trough, the rover is to initiate three days of labor in the
harsh environment, carving a trench within the martian surface.
A "pre-trench" is the first order of business. That activity uses
Opportunity's out-stretched robot arm equipped with science gear to
study the surface to be trenched.
This will be followed by the rover using one of its six wheels that
spins back and forth, digging into Mars' surface. After a trench has
been created, Opportunity is to deploy its suite of instruments into the
scooped out area.
Carving a trench
The site selected is rich in hematite, Wallace said. That mineral has
been found in abundance at Meridiani Planum. On Earth, this type of iron
oxide mineral usually, but not always, forms in association with water.
On this first trench, Wallace told SPACE.com , engineers will be
conservative in using the rover's wheel. No telling what kind of
material -- perhaps bedrock -- might be underneath the top surface covering.
The plan is to spin one of the rover's front wheels in reverse, move the
rover a tad, then forward - repeating this pattern to carve a trench in
the soil about half the wheel's diameter -- about 4 inches (10
centimeters) in depth.
"We have a lot of confidence in how this trenching system is going to
behave," Wallace said. This will be a first, he added, to help grasp
what is below the top layer of the soil.
==============================
73 de Alan
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Points to ponder
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.
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