Posted on 01/11/2004 7:34:23 AM PST by blam
Rover Ready to Roll Onto Martian Surface
By ANDREW BRIDGES, AP Science Writer
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA 's Spirit rover has fully unfolded itself and stretched up to its full 4-foot, 11-inch height, making it ready to drive off the lander that delivered it to Mars, the space agency said. The rover could reach the martian surface as early as Wednesday morning.
"It now stands at full height and all six wheels are in their final position," mission manager Jennifer Trosper said during a news conference at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Saturday.
The unfolding was one of the most complex deployments ever performed by a robotic spacecraft, mechanical systems engineer Chris Voorhees said. NASA had to fold up the 384-pound rover to make it fit inside the lander, which opened up like a four-petal flower.
When Spirit does leave the lander, it will take a different route than scientists had hoped. Air bags used to cushion the rover's landing are now blocking the ramp NASA had planned to use. Instead, Spirit will turn 120 degrees to its right and take a second, more risky ramp to the ground, mission manager Matt Wallace said.
Even though it remains on its lander, 16 inches above the martian surface, Spirit already has found traces of minerals that could have formed in what might have been an ancient lake at the landing site.
That geologic observation could support theories that liquid water persisted on the surface of the planet during Mars' ancient past and provided an environment conducive to life.
However, scientists stressed that finding the minerals, called carbonates, does not immediately prove the lake theory. The carbonate dust also could have formed by reactions with the tiny amounts of water vapor found in the martian atmosphere.
"We've got a bunch of ideas and we don't know which one is right yet," said Steven Squyres of Cornell University, the mission's main scientist. A previous NASA spacecraft detected carbonates from orbit.
Spirit also was measuring the temperature and makeup of the rocks and soil around it with its thermal emission spectrometer.
The instrument sees infrared radiation — heat — emitted by objects, including rocks and soil. Variations in the radiation indicate differences in mineralogical composition. That's crucial information for scientists eager to learn what sort of rocks lie strewn around Spirit and which of them are most worth analyzing.
Photographs taken by Spirit of its surroundings have also been trickling in, deputy project scientist Albert Haldemann said.
The $820 million Mars Exploration Rover project includes a second, identical rover, named Opportunity, which is scheduled to land on Jan. 24.
NASA sent the two robotic geologists to prospect for evidence that Mars may once have been a wet world conducive to life.
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We aren't exploring Mars just for fun. We're going to have settlements there. If we weren't interested in living there, there wouldn't be any interest in exploring with robots or people.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 2004, 1725 GMT (12:25 p.m. EST)
On the just-completed Sol 8 workday for Spirit, the two middle wheels were released from the lander as planned and the science arm was unlocked from its launch location and moved to the "drive" position for the upcoming roll to the surface.
Sol 9 that begins tonight (Earth time) will be dedicated to science activities.
On Monday night, the final cable between the lander and rover -- a power and communications umbilical -- will be cut. Spirit then will perform the first of three turns on the lander to reach an alternate driveway. This first turn will be about 45 degrees as the rover moves from a southward heading to the lander egress path facing northwest. The south path is partially blocked by an airbag that prevents a straight drive to the surface.
Tuesday night will see two more turns on the lander -- to 95 degrees and then to the final 115-120 degree position. After every turn the rover's hazard cameras will snap views to ensure there are no problems before continuing.
Spirit's drive off the lander has been pushed back one day to Wednesday night/Thursday morning -- Sol 12. This is a delay to the schedule announced yesterday. Officials caution that activities could be postponed further depending on how well the turns go and the outcome of engineering testing on Earth.
At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's landing site mockup, a dress rehearsal is planned today to practice the procedures that Spirit will use.
,,, damn it Muttly! That wasn't a BBQ, it was a drilling rig. There's oil on M'ars.
Anyone who's spent much time in the field prospecting, especially for Wyoming jade, can see that most of the exposed Martian rocks are wind-eroded dreikanters. That's the German term for 3-faced rocks that are carved into that shape by wind-blown sand.
Now that doesn't mean the rocks weren't originally water-worn before they were exposed to the winds and blowing sands. If you go to Hoaglund's tinfoil site Interesting Rocks, and blow up the picture on the lower right, however, you get something truly interesting IMHO. That baby wasn't shaped by wind erosion, nor was the one above it IMO. Both appear either water-worn or as primary volcanic ejecta. Can't wait for Spirit to start returning more/better data!
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