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U.S. Rover Calls Home, Beams Back Color Photos
Reuters ^ | 01/05/03 | Gina Keating

Posted on 01/05/2004 9:06:06 AM PST by Pikamax

U.S. Rover Calls Home, Beams Back Color Photos Mon January 05, 2004 10:12 AM ET

By Gina Keating PASADENA, Calif. (Reuters) - The U.S. robotic probe Spirit beamed panoramic color images of unprecedented clarity back to Earth Sunday after establishing direct contact with NASA scientists guiding its search for ancient signs of life on Mars.

The successful deployment of the rover's lollipop-shaped main antenna cuts the delay in communications between the rover and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena to about nine minutes from the hours needed to relay signals through two Mars orbiters, flight director Jason Willis said.

At 9:20 p.m. PST, the control room at JPL erupted in cheers as test signals showed that the rover had correctly located Earth in the Martian sky and had positioned the main, "high gain" antenna correctly.

"This is just fantastic. We got the high gain antenna to work on the very first try," Mark Adler, Spirit mission manager, said. "We are ready for the rest of the mission."

Spirit began transmitting science and telemetry data, as well as the mission's first color images of the Martian landscape from the rover's high-resolution panoramic cameras.

"I expect to see a lot of good stuff on this pass," Adler said, adding that scientists planned to "wake up" the rover four or five times during the night to calibrate temperature sensors that may have failed.

The mission fell behind Sunday as scientists ran out of time to cut cables that tied the folded-up rover to battery and electronics systems on its landing pad, an omission that may delay its three-stage "stand-up" by one Martian day, or "sol," about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day, Adler said.

The team also may try to retract airbags that cushioned the rover's landing but now block its path to the planet's surface, adding another sol to the time needed to prepare the robotic rover for its three-month trek across Mars' surface to look for ancient evidence of life-giving water in the rocks and soil.

The rover's "stand-up" was scheduled for sols three through five, after more cables bolting the rover's wheels and robotic arm are cut by pyrotechnic blades, and its six wheels are moved to their correct positions, Adler said.

Once the rover is freed, scientists will "do a little drive" on top of the lander and turn it to drive off the lander -- about sol eight or nine.

The team of scientists and engineers that guided Spirit to a bouncy but textbook-perfect landing pored over data beamed back by the rover Sunday to learn more about its descent, landing and exact position on the hostile planet.

The craft landed Saturday night -- mid-afternoon Mars time -- almost exactly on target, at Gusev Crater, a massive basin the size of Connecticut that scientists believe may be the site of dry lake bed once fed by a long, deep Martian river.

Besides being an ideal place to search for evidence of water, and possibly life, the landing zone is an area free of large boulders and thick accumulations of dust, making it easier to maneuver the rover.

"It's a lot flatter than I expected and a lot less rocky than I expected," geologist Wendy Calvin told reporters at an Sunday evening news conference.

Mission controllers said Spirit appeared to have come through its rough-and-tumble descent and touchdown in good working order. "All in all things performed pretty nominally and we are very satisfied," Prasun Desai, NASA trajectory analyst, said.

Spirit is the fourth probe ever to successfully land on Mars, following in the footsteps of two Viking landers in the 1970s and the Pathfinder mission in 1997. Spirit's twin explorer, the rover Opportunity, is due to land on the opposite side of the planet on Jan. 25.

Spirit's triumphant arrival Saturday night, confirmed by a radio signal at 8:52 p.m. PST, came after it plunged through the thin Martian atmosphere tethered to a parachute, then bounced to the surface cushioned in a cluster of air bags. The landing climaxed a seven-month journey to the fourth planet from the sun -- the second closest to Earth after Venus.

Mars has proven a perilous destination. NASA said more than half of man's missions to the red planet have ended in failure. Mars claimed two NASA spacecraft in 1998 and 1999.

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe called the $820 million mission a "double-header" following the successful Stardust mission Friday that intercepted a comet and gathered particles from its tail in a first that could offer clues about how Earth began.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: jpl; mars; nasa; spirit
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1 posted on 01/05/2004 9:06:06 AM PST by Pikamax
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To: Pikamax
bttt
2 posted on 01/05/2004 9:09:15 AM PST by farmfriend ( Isaiah 55:10,11)
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3 posted on 01/05/2004 9:10:25 AM PST by Support Free Republic (I'd rather be sleeping. Let's get this over with so I can go back to sleep!)
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To: Pikamax
Are these Mars color pics posted anywhere?
4 posted on 01/05/2004 9:10:44 AM PST by Califelephant
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To: Pikamax
That's so cool! Way to go little Spirit.

I was very disappointed in E.D. Hill this morning on FNC. Apparently, she's not impressed and is against spending her money on space exploration because it's not directly benefitting her.


5 posted on 01/05/2004 9:12:17 AM PST by mtbopfuyn
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To: Pikamax
Maybe we can compare some of our photos with those taken by the EU landing craft.
6 posted on 01/05/2004 9:18:14 AM PST by Agnes Heep
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To: mtbopfuyn
I thought it was a reasonable question, personally. I do kind of agree with her. This whole robots thing has been done for decades. Unless there's a man setting foot on Mars, my reaction will continue to be "oh, that's nice."
7 posted on 01/05/2004 9:19:58 AM PST by Future Snake Eater ("Oh boy, I can't wait to eat that monkey!"--Abe Simpson)
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To: Pikamax
Has it seen the Frog's Beagle yet?
8 posted on 01/05/2004 9:20:13 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Drug prohibition laws help fund terrorism.)
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To: Future Snake Eater
Unless there's a man setting foot on Mars, my reaction will continue to be "oh, that's nice."

Would you have preferred the Beagle mission to have been manned?

Until we can safely land at least 25 consecutive robotic probes on Mars, sending a manned mission would be irresponsible.

9 posted on 01/05/2004 9:23:59 AM PST by Prime Choice (Americans are a spiritual people. We're happy to help members of al Qaeda meet God.)
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To: Future Snake Eater
Unless there's a man setting foot on Mars, my reaction will continue to be "oh, that's nice."

This is cheaper. I would rather see better and better robots. Any science that a robot can do, I would rather that they do it. When we get to the point where we have done all that robots can do then I would like to see construction robots that would create an infrastructure for a human presence.
10 posted on 01/05/2004 9:25:00 AM PST by Arkinsaw
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To: Future Snake Eater
This whole robots thing has been done for decades. Unless there's a man setting foot on Mars, my reaction will continue to be "oh, that's nice." We need the experience with robots in order to do a human trip. Which, I think is a very important thing to do.

I think we should do everything we can to populate both the Moon and Mars. The science is cool, but to become a space fairing species, we need to get off the pot and do it. If we have people there, the science will be easy.

11 posted on 01/05/2004 9:26:38 AM PST by narby (McGovern lost in 72 - and launched the left's takover of the Dem party)
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To: Pikamax
bump
12 posted on 01/05/2004 9:27:25 AM PST by Lokibob
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To: Pikamax
If you have a high-speed connection and RealVideo, the animated movie of the Rover's journey and mission on this page:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/video/animation.html
is awesome!

Click on the link that says "Watch an updated, RealVideo version of this spectacular animation."
13 posted on 01/05/2004 9:31:46 AM PST by Califelephant
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To: Califelephant
Bump for later read!
14 posted on 01/05/2004 9:46:04 AM PST by marvlus
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To: Future Snake Eater
It may have been a reasonable question, but this funding is far better spent on space exploration than say welfare or benefits for illegal aliens.
15 posted on 01/05/2004 9:55:14 AM PST by Truth29
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To: Pikamax
It's going to take a little while to get the color pics processed. Each image is estimated to be around 35 megabytes in size. It takes a little while for a package that size to get from Mars to here. : )
16 posted on 01/05/2004 10:04:44 AM PST by Prime Choice (Americans are a spiritual people. We're happy to help members of al Qaeda meet God.)
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To: Pikamax
Do any of them show the American Flag?
17 posted on 01/05/2004 10:08:46 AM PST by N. Theknow (Be a glowworm, a glowworm's never glum, cuz how can you be grumpy when the sun shines out your bum.)
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To: Prime Choice
"Spirit beamed panoramic color images of unprecedented clarity back to Earth Sunday "

Where's the beef?
18 posted on 01/05/2004 10:12:39 AM PST by Rebelbase (If I stay on topic for more than 2 posts something is wrong. Alert the authorities.)
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To: Prime Choice; Pikamax
So far only a low-res thumbnail of a larger image has come in and been published. See below.

The rust color of the martian landscape is apparent in this low-resolution thumbnail
image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. This
image is part of a larger image currently stored onboard the rover in its memory.

Image credit:NASA/JPL/Cornell

19 posted on 01/05/2004 10:16:12 AM PST by petuniasevan (Caught you reading my taglines again!)
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To: Pikamax
Found some of these on The Nasa Mars Rover Website.


First 3-D Panorama of Spirit's Landing Site - Jan. 5, 2004

There are a few more but I imagine that there will be alot in the next few days.

20 posted on 01/05/2004 10:36:04 AM PST by SpottedBeaver (Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sun-dial in the shade? - Benjamin Franklin)
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