Forty Meters from Entry to Victoria Crater
Posted on 09/11/2007 9:38:48 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
NASA's Mars rover Opportunity is making its way into a giant impact crater to learn more about the Red Planet's geologic past.
Engineers sent commands to Opportunity to drive into Victoria Crater and received a confirmation signal from the rover. It will be several hours before NASA knows how well the drive went.
Opportunity is expected to drive all six wheels into the crater and back out before making the full plunge several days from now.
The drive comes two months after a massive Martian dust bowl kept Opportunity and its twin Spirit hunkered down to conserve energy.
Like Timex watches , after all these years, still tickin' after takin' a lickin'.
Sweet, they survived the dust storm.
I think the more interesting thing are those caves that MRO found. We need to find out how big they are, how stable, and if its possible to seal them with airlocks and pressurize them for living and working space.
I would love it if the crew were playing...
All day I face
The barren waste
Without the taste
of water...cool...clear...water (water,water)
Is this the same rover that was supposed to have died long ago?
These things are just amazing.
There’s 2 of them, and they were only expected to last 90 days.
This January will be 4 years.
“and if its possible to seal them with airlocks and pressurize them for living and working space.”
Yeah sure, and then Cohaagen will start charging us for air!
Start the reactor, free Mars! ;)
Wow! Seems to me we should find a way to be independent of oil, if we can do this!
They feared losing both rovers if the recent dust storms prevented them from getting solar rays to keep ‘em running, they shut them down and parked them except for running essential stuff, the batteries have held up well considering...
one of them does have a bum inside wheel but they are still able to get around..
Mars rover to make risky crater descent (Opportunity ready to descend into Victoria Crater) ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1858008/posts
Posted by NormsRevenge
On News/Activism ^ 06/28/2007 5:22:13 PM PDT · 54 replies · 1,201+ views
AP on Yahoo ^ | 6/28/07 | Jon Antczak - ap
LOS ANGELES - NASA’s aging but durable Mars rover Opportunity will make what could be a trip of no return into a deep impact crater as it tries to peer further back than ever into the Red Planet’s geologic history. The descent into Victoria Crater received the go-ahead because the potential scientific returns are worth the risk that the solar-powered, six-wheel rover might not be able to climb out, NASA officials and scientists said Thursday. The vehicle has been roaming Mars for nearly 3 1/2 Earth years. Scientists and engineers want to send it in while it still appears healthy....
Has the Rover been able to take a picture of the U.S. flag our astronauts planted? [chuckle]
nope.. lol. Another ‘Priceless!’ moment from one of America’s ‘space-y’ Congre$$critters.
Free Luna! All hail Adam Selene!
They just keep going, and going , and going.....
I don’t know how to ‘read’ that picture, Norm.
Maybe they’ll find one of those on the surface.
Or maybe they’ll find my parents...
*shifty eyes*
I wonder who keeps the solar panels clean?
It’s a panorama shot,, the gully or washout area in front of the rover is where it will go forward thru to make entrance into the main crater area in the distance shown in the upper middle left.
Why can’t they make cars as good as these things lol. Buy one with a planned life of 6 years, have it go on for 60.
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