Mars Rovers mission status |
10th June, 2005
A Moment Frozen in Time
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On May 19th, 2005, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. This Panoramic Camera (Pancam) mosaic was taken around 6:07 in the evening of the rover's 489th martian day, or sol. Spirit was commanded to stay awake briefly after sending that sol's data to the Mars Odyssey orbiter just before sunset. This small panorama of the western sky was obtained using Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer color filters. This filter combination allows false color images to be generated that are similar to what a human would see, but with the colors slightly exaggerated. In this image, the bluish glow in the sky above the Sun would be visible to us if we were there, but an artifact of the Pancam's infrared imaging capabilities is that with this filter combination the redness of the sky farther from the sunset is exaggerated compared to the daytime colors of the martian sky. Because Mars is farther from the Sun than the Earth is, the Sun appears only about two-thirds the size that it appears in a sunset seen from the Earth. The terrain in the foreground is the rock outcrop "Jibsheet", a feature that Spirit has been investigating for several weeks (rover tracks are dimly visible leading up to Jibsheet). The floor of Gusev crater is visible in the distance, and the Sun is setting behind the wall of Gusev some 80 km (50 miles) in the distance.
This mosaic is yet another example from MER of a beautiful, sublime martian scene that also captures some important scientific information. Specifically, sunset and twilight images are occasionally acquired by the science team to determine how high into the atmosphere the martian dust extends, and to look for dust or ice clouds. Other images have shown that the twilight glow remains visible, but increasingly fainter, for up to two hours before sunrise or after sunset. The long martian twilight (compared to Earth's) is caused by sunlight scattered around to the night side of the planet by abundant high altitude dust. Similar long twilights or extra-colorful sunrises and sunsets sometimes occur on Earth when tiny dust grains that are erupted from powerful volcanoes scatter light high in the atmosphere.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, has managed NASA's Mars Exploration Rover project since it began in 2000. Images and additional information about the rovers and their discoveries are available on the Internet at http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mer_main.html and http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov .
Mission overview
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NASA's twin robot geologists, the Mars Exploration Rovers, launched toward Mars on June 10 and July 7, 2003, in search of answers about the history of water on Mars. They landed on Mars January 3 and January 24 PST (January 4 and January 25 UTC).
The Mars Exploration Rover mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the red planet.
Primary among the mission's scientific goals is to search for and characterize a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars. The spacecraft are targeted to sites on opposite sides of Mars that appear to have been affected by liquid water in the past. The landing sites are at Gusev Crater, a possible former lake in a giant impact crater, and Meridiani Planum, where mineral deposits (hematite) suggest Mars had a wet past.
After the airbag-protected landing craft settle onto the surface and open, the rovers will roll out to take panoramic images. These will give scientists the information they need to select promising geological targets that will tell part of the story of water in Mars' past. Then, the rovers will drive to those locations to perform on-site scientific investigations over the course of their 90-day mission.
These are the primary science instruments to be carried by the rovers:
- Panoramic Camera (Pancam): for determining the mineralogy, texture, and structure of the local terrain.
- Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES): for identifying promising rocks and soils for closer examination and for determining the processes that formed Martian rocks. The instrument will also look skyward to provide temperature profiles of the Martian atmosphere.
- Mössbauer Spectrometer (MB): for close-up investigations of the mineralogy of iron-bearing rocks and soils.
- Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS): for close-up analysis of the abundances of elements that make up rocks and soils.
- Magnets: for collecting magnetic dust particles. The Mössbauer Spectrometer and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer will analyze the particles collected and help determine the ratio of magnetic particles to non-magnetic particles. They will also analyze the composition of magnetic minerals in airborne dust and rocks that have been ground by the Rock Abrasion Tool.
- Microscopic Imager (MI): for obtaining close-up, high-resolution images of rocks and soils.
- Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT): for removing dusty and weathered rock surfaces and exposing fresh material for examination by instruments onboard.
A goal for the rover is to drive up to 40 meters (about 44 yards) in a single day, for a total of up to one 1 kilometer (about three-quarters of a mile).
Moving from place to place, the rovers will perform on-site geological investigations. Each rover is sort of the mechanical equivalent of a geologist walking the surface of Mars. The mast-mounted cameras are mounted 1.5 meters(5 feet) high and will provide 360-degree, stereoscopic, humanlike views of the terrain. The robotic arm will be capable of movement in much the same way as a human arm with an elbow and wrist, and will place instruments directly up against rock and soil targets of interest. In the mechanical "fist" of the arm is a microscopic camera that will serve the same purpose as a geologist's handheld magnifying lens. The Rock Abrasion Tool serves the purpose of a geologist's rock hammer to expose the insides of rocks.
3rd June , 2005
Spirit Hits the 500-Sol Mark! - sol 497-503, June 03, 2005
Spirit has been working on Mars for more than 500 sols! This week the rover completed its close-up observations of "Larry's Outcrop" and drove back toward "Methuselah," looking for a passable way up to the summit. The rover will continue to drive around the perimeter of "Husband Hill" until it finds a good pathway.
Sol-by-sol summaries:
Sols 497 and 498 (May 27 and 28, 2005):
Spirit used tools on its robotic arm at west Larry's Outcrop and made remote-sensing observations.
Sols 499 to 501:
Spirit continued using the tools on the arm to examine the outcrop and soils. It also made more observations with tools on the camera mast.
Sol 502:
Soil observation; remote sensing.
Sol 503 (June 2, 2005):
Finished soil work, took microscopic images of outcrop, drove toward Methuselah.
10th june, 2005
Opportunity is out! - sol 484-489, June 10, 2005:
Success! Opportunity made forward progress to free itself from the Purgatory Dune! Another exciting achievement for the week was the healthy return of data from the Mini-TES instrument, which the mission team turned back on for the first time in 47 sols. The rover also returned pancam and navcam images, and the team is now planning the rover's next drive on sol 490.
Sol Details:
Sol 484: 20 meters (65.62 feet) commanded; 14 meters (45.93 feet) executed, 98.4 centimeters (38.74 inches) progress. Opportunity is out of Purgatory Dune!
Sol 485: This was the second sol of a 2-sol plan. The team planned to drive, but didn't send the drive sequences to the rover because the rover was already out of the dune.
Sol 486: This was the third sol of a 3-sol plan. Again, the team planned to drive, but didn't send the drive sequences because Opportunity were already out of the dune. The team took post-drive imaging, including a navcam of the trench.
Sol 487: The team took a pancam of the tracks and then turned on the Mini-TES for the first time after the sol 440 anomaly. Mini-TES rasters were taken of of Purgatory Dune and Ante-Purgatory Dune. The team was excited to receive healthy data products from this activity!
Sol 488: On this remote-sensing sol, the rover took a 360-degree navcam panorama and a pancam image of the magnets, and then deep slept for the night.
Sol 489: On this remote-sensing sol, the rover took a 13-filter pancam image of Purgatory tracks and deep slept for the night.
As of sol 489, distance traveled is 5347.89 meters (3.32 miles).