Posted on 08/10/2011 5:44:24 PM PDT by mandaladon
WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- NASA on Wednesday announced that its Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has reached the planet's Endeavour crater to study rocks never seen before.
On Monday, the golf cart-sized rover relayed its arrival at a location named Spirit Point on the crater's rim, after a journey of almost three years. Opportunity was able to drive approximately 13 miles (21 kilometers) after climbing out of the Victoria crater, NASA said.
Endeavour crater is more than 25 times wider than Victoria crater, being 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter. At Endeavour, scientists expect to see much older rocks and terrains than those examined by Opportunity during its first seven years on Mars.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter first detected clay minerals that may have formed in an early warmer and wetter period, making Endeavour an intriguing destination.
"NASA is continuing to write remarkable chapters in our nation's story of exploration with discoveries on Mars and trips to an array of challenging new destinations," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "Opportunity's findings and data from the upcoming Mars Science Laboratory will play a key role in making possible future human missions to Mars and other places where humans have not yet been," he added.
Matthew Golombek, Mars Exploration Rover science team member at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said the exploration will allow sampling of a rock type the rovers had not seen before. "Clay minerals form in wet conditions so we may learn about a potentially habitable environment that appears to have been very different from those responsible for the rocks comprising the plains."
(Excerpt) Read more at channel6newsonline.com ...
un-flippin-believable. One of the space programs greatest successes.
I have always enjoyed the Mars Rover reports. Now that we can no longer put U.S. citizens in space..., not so much.
We have had our priorities upside down for decades. Never has than been more apparent than right now.
Mars Rover Curiosity, Front View
This photograph of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, was taken during mobility testing on June 3, 2011. The location is inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Preparations are on track for shipping the rover to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in June and for launch during the period Nov. 25 to Dec. 18, 2011.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory mission for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. This mission will land Curiosity on Mars in August 2012. Researchers will use the tools on the rover to study whether the landing region has had environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and favorable for preserving clues about whether life existed.
LLS
In Morse Code.
LLS
You sure it’s not JPL in morse code?
Yes, that’s right.
thanks !
LLS
I thought it was super cool also!
LLS
J . - - - P . - - . L . - . .
Mars Science Laboratory Mission's Curiosity Rover (Right Eye of Stereo)
This is the right-eye member of a stereo pair of images of the Mars Science Laboratory mission's rover, Curiosity.
The image was taken May 26, 2011, in Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The rover was shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on June 22, 2011. The mission is scheduled to launch during the period Nov. 25 to Dec. 18, 2011, and land the rover Curiosity on Mars in August 2012. Researchers will use tools on Curiosity to study whether the landing region has had environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and for preserving clues about whether life existed. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
I want one!
LLS
I agree, I like it.
Mine would have to contain an Icom 7800 HF transceiver, a directional yagi antenna and a 1500 Watt Alpha 9500 linear amplifier!
7_ _... 3..._ _
LLS
Mars Rover Curiosity with Wheel on Ramp
This photograph of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, was taken during mobility testing on June 3, 2011. The location is inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Preparations are on track for shipping the rover to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in June and for launch during the period Nov. 25 to Dec. 18, 2011.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory mission for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. This mission will land Curiosity on Mars in August 2012. Researchers will use the tools on the rover to study whether the landing region has had environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and favorable for preserving clues about whether life existed.
“Do you know what those slots print out in the dirt when they roll? They spell out the letters JPL.”
What a marketing idea! They could have sold the rights to Pepsi and funded the whole mission.
I appreciate the photos... I truly do.
LLS
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