[meteorite-list] NASA's Opportunity Rover Rolls Free on Mars

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Jun 6 13:02:08 2005
Message-ID: <200506061701.j56H1Sd16837_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

Dolores Beasley
Headquarters, Washington June 6, 2005
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

Natalie Godwin
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
(Phone: 818/354-0850)

RELEASE: 05-142

NASA'S OPPORTUNITY ROVER ROLLS FREE ON MARS

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission engineers and managers
cheered when images from the Martian surface confirmed
Opportunity successfully escaped from a sand trap.

>From about 108 million miles away, the rover team at NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., had worked
diligently for nearly five weeks to extricate the rover. The
long-distance roadside assistance was a painstaking operation
to free the six wheeled rover, which was mired in the soft
sand of a small Martian dune.

"After a nerve wracking month of hard work, the rover team is
both elated and relieved to finally see our wheels sitting on
top of the sand instead of half buried in it," said Jeffrey
Biesiadecki, a JPL rover mobility engineer.

Traction was difficult in the ripple-shaped dune of windblown
dust and sand that Opportunity drove into on April 26. In the
weeks following, the rover churned 629 feet worth of wheel
rotations before gaining enough traction to actually move
three feet. The rover team directed the drives in cautious
increments from May 13 through last Saturday.
 
"We did careful testing for how to get Opportunity out of the
sand. Then we patiently followed the strategy developed from
the testing, monitoring every step of the way," Biesiadecki
said. "We hope to have Opportunity busy with a full schedule
of scientific exploration again shortly," he added.

Opportunity's next task is to examine the site to provide a
better understanding of what makes that ripple different from
the dozens of similar ones the rover easily crossed. "After
we analyze this area, we'll be able to plan safer driving in
the terrain ahead," said JPL's Jim Erickson, rover project
manager.

Both Spirit and Opportunity have worked in harsh Martian
conditions much longer than anticipated. They have been
studying geology on opposite sides of Mars for more than a
year of extended missions since successfully completing their
three-month primary missions in April 2004.

"The first thing we're going to do is simply take a hard look
at the stuff we were stuck in," said Dr. Steve Squyres of
Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. He is the principal
investigator for the Mars rovers' science instruments. "After
that, we will begin a cautious set of moves to get us on our
way southward again. South is where we think the best science
is, so that's still where we want to go," he added.

Shortly after landing in January 2004, Opportunity found
layered bedrock that bore geological evidence for a shallow
ancient sea. Spirit did not find extensive layered bedrock
until more than a year later, after driving more than two
miles and climbing into a range of hills known as "Columbia
Hills."

Images and information about the rovers and their discoveries
are available on the Web at:

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mer_main.html

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html


-end-
Received on Mon 06 Jun 2005 01:01:28 PM PDT