U.S. Rover Lands on Mars, Strong Signal Heard

Reuters ^ | Sat, Jan 03, 2004 | Dan Whitcomb and Gina Keating

[anymouse]

A U.S. spacecraft carrying a robotic rover designed to search for signs of life on Mars arrived safely on Saturday, capping an almost seven-month space journey and dangerous six-minute final plunge through the hostile Martian atmosphere.

The spacecraft carrying the Spirit rover made its touchdown on the red planet known by sending back a series of tones to scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

The control room erupted in cheers and smiles each time the spacecraft appeared to hit its marks during the six-minute entry sequence but turned to tense silence as flight engineers frantically searched for a signal from Spirit.

The craft broke several minutes of radio silence at 8:52 p.m. PST (11:52 EST) to announce it had survived its perilous journey through the Martian atmosphere and had arrived at its designated landing site in a massive impact crater.

Signals from the spacecraft showed it had landed on its base, as project managers had hoped, capping an approach to the planet that appeared to be textbook-perfect.

The presence of NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe made clear that the $820 million mission's success was of utmost importance to the U.S. space agency, which had seen its last two Mars missions end in failure because of software and mathematical errors.

The spacecraft entered Mars' atmosphere at about 7:29 p.m. PST (10:29 p.m. EST) after an approach that took the spacecraft from a top speed of 12,000 mph to a full stop in six minutes.

To arrive intact on the planet's surface, the spacecraft had to deploy a parachute, jettison its heat shield, and fire retro rockets to slow a descent that officials predicted could be "hell."

A final drop of about four stories was cushioned by giant airbags, which allowed the lander to bounce across the bleak Martian landscape for up to half a mile before coming to rest inside the giant Gusev crater.

Inside the lander is the Spirit rover, a golf-cart sized mobile geology laboratory that will study the rocks and soil on Mars for evidence of water and past or present life.

Project managers said the landing was the riskiest part of a mission that began with launch in June.

Earlier, optimistic scientists from the space agency said their craft appeared to be hurtling toward a "bulls-eye" touch-down.

The scientists had made final adjustments to the parachute deployment to accommodate a dust storm blowing on Mars, but found themselves on such a perfect course that they could scrap more navigation maneuvers.

"Today is a great day to land on Mars," deputy mission manager Mark Adler told reporters.

Spirit's arrival was the climax of a weekend of interplanetary discovery after a U.S. spacecraft on Friday gathered particles from a comet in a first that could give scientists clues about how Earth began.

Project managers picked Gusev, an impact crater bigger than Connecticut, in part because they believed it may have once held a lake.

"We couldn't have possibly hoped to do better," said Louis D'Amario, Mars Exploration Rover navigation team chief. "This is essentially hitting the bulls-eye. We're very happy."

Though the unexpected dust storm was blowing on the other side of the planet from where Spirit was due to land, the scientists said it had warmed and thinned the upper Martian atmosphere, prompting them to plan on an earlier deployment of the parachute.

A second rover, nicknamed Opportunity, is expected to land on the other side of the Red Planet in three weeks.

[bonesmccoy]

correction that should read... The reasons for these blackouts are political bias by the major news outfits on the EAST coast.

[The Raven]

High res. shot from the rover lander

here

[irv]

Looks like NASA finally got it right.

That's a big 1 in a row for NASA Mars missions.

It's a start, I guess.

[irv]

goals of a permanently manned lunar station by the end of this decade and then a manned mission to the Red Planet by the end of 2020

I have less faith that the president will set those goals, and I'm not sure I'd want him to. I would rather see NASA support civilian space initiatives than have that bloated agency continue its self-important monopoly of space "exploration."

[anymouse]

Well the article about the actual successful landing was breaking news.

[Phil V.]

By that standard the grounding of passenger flights is not breaking news. We must wait until a building comes down to enter passenger flight info into BREAKING . . .

[Bobby777]

yes, I believe a second unit is on it's way, just a few weeks behind if I read the article correctly ... groovy

[Bobby777]

stunning image returned!



(hehe, I couldn't find the image where the satellite landed on Gilligan's Island and they were all covered with glue and feathers) ...

again, congratulations to NASA ...

[Truth666]

"The spacecraft entered Mars' atmosphere after an approach that took the spacecraft from a top speed of 12,000 mph to a full stop in six minutes."
Nice to see things happening in Mars that never happened before on Earth ...

[isthisnickcool]

No kidding. The only thing that may come close is Howard Dean's presidential campaign.

[germanicus]

The only problem with NASA operating too close to home is that they get too involved with disinformation on ozone holes , global warming and other "green" issues.

[Tunehead54]

thanks for your sentiments. The moderator pulled my thread from the breaking news after 30 minutes of posting it.

---

Probably for impersonating an officer of the SS Enterprise! ;-)

I put up a breaking news post about a stolen dump truck outside of Orlando< FL and its still there - truck found - no terrorists - prolly someone moving during xmas vacation. ;-)

Go figure - On Mars and communicating - that's breaking news in my book.

[dr_who_2]

Yes, a strong signal is heard. Especially in China and Europe. They'd better get their spacecraft up there real quick, or Mars will be ours.

[recalcitrant]

some of the religious right conservatives really don't approve of the search for life or materials to sustain life in outer space, believing it runs contrary to their religion.

some of the religious left (as in enviros and social policy spendaholics) find it against the tenets of their defacto religious beliefs as well. They think we should spend more on saving the fishies and the state welfare program.

Just as there is a right-left union on certain moral issues like the regulation of every aspect of life either pro or con... there is a union opposing spending money for exploration of space, furtherance of science and endless pooping on the parade of progress.

"this is a waste of taxpayer dollars" they scream red faced, as they storm into the local seven eleven and throw a frozen burger into the microwave oven (space technology helped make it possible) and then paying their tab, with a debit card on a micro mainframe and satellite uplink... all largely courtesy of and largely due to, our nation's exploration and utilization of space.

I for one am totally stoked.
and yes, the extreme right and the left BOTH oppose the space program...

[Phil V.]

Stay stoked. . . stoked is GOOD!

[bonesmccoy]

Thanks, but the sys admins have never permitted my NASA related threads to exist in their search engines.

I find the conduct amusing since the biggest thread on the Columbia Accident (and the best thread on the internet) was the one I started on Free Republic. That thread is now over 4000 postings and tracked the accident from the start.

Now, my Mars Exploration Rover thread is over 2500 posts, but don't let the "breaking news" sidebar know!

[dsc]

"some of the religious right conservatives really don't approve of the search for life or materials to sustain life in outer space, believing it runs contrary to their religion...Just as there is a right-left union on certain moral issues like the regulation of every aspect of life either pro or con... there is a union opposing spending money for exploration of space, furtherance of science and endless pooping on the parade of progress."

I think you're mistaking a tiny number of people for "the religious right."

I know lots of people on the religious right, and none of them match your descriptions.

[dsc]

"They'd better get their spacecraft up there real quick, or Mars will be ours."

Root them, Mars *is* ours.

[mitch5501]

"I for one am totally stoked."

Same here,I reckon it's amazing to look up at the reddish brown dot in the night sky and contemplate the fact that a man-made little (but BIG!)machine is checking the place out.I imagine watching rover from an imaginary vantage point...wishing real hard that I could be there,and realizing that in some small but real sense I actually am! Awesome.

I also believe that Jesus is Lord.

You reckon you're stoked and yet you're the only one here that sounds pissed off.

take it easy.

[Finalapproach29er]

How can this Italian paper have a color picture of Mars/lander-rover in today paper?

http://www.newseum.org/media/dfp/pdf5/ITA_LS.pdf