05 January 2004
U.S. Spacecraft Lands on Mars to Explore for Signs of Past Life
Rover sends back images three hours after landing
The rover Spirit of the U.S. National Aeronautic and Space Administration
(NASA) has landed on Mars and begun transmitting its first images of a
crater that it will explore for signs that the Red Planet could have
sustained life in the past.
A January 4 NASA press release says the spacecraft, cushioned with
airbags, bounced and rolled for several minutes following its initial
impact with the Martian surface on January 3. After descent and
deceleration from a speed of more than 19,000 kilometers per hour using a
heat shield, parachute and retro-rockets in landing, Spirit is now perched
in good condition on its lander platform in Gusev Crater. The landing site
was chosen because scientists believe it may be an ancient lakebed.
"This is a big night for NASA," Administrator Sean O'Keefe said after a
radio signal from Spirit confirmed its safe landing. "We're back . . . and
we're on Mars."
A twin NASA spacecraft, the Mars Rover Opportunity, is on course for a
landing on the opposite side of the Red Planet on January 25.
Three hours after landing, Spirit transmitted images to Earth using NASA's
orbiting Mars Odyssey spacecraft. According to a separate NASA release,
the terrain of the crater looks different from any of the sites examined
by NASA's three previous successful Mars landers -- two Viking craft in
1976 and Pathfinder in 1997. The United States lost an entire generation
of Mars probes during a 1999 attempt to explore the planet.
"We see a rock population that is different from anything we've seen
elsewhere on Mars," said principal investigator Steve Squyres of Cornell
University. In addition, he said winds and dust devils appear to have
swept the local terrain of the dust layer that cloaks much of Mars,
leaving the rocks exposed for investigation with the rover's geological
instruments.
Spirit's task is to spend the next three months exploring for clues in
rocks and soil that might indicate whether the past environment of this
part of Mars was ever watery and suitable to sustain life. Based on
evidence gathered by Mars orbiters, Cusev Crater may have held a lake long
ago. A long, deep valley, apparently carved by ancient flows of water,
leads into Gusev. The crater itself, about 13,000 square kilometers in
size, was created by an asteroid or comet impact early in Mars' history.
The NASA flight team is expected to spend more than a week testing the
rover's mechanisms before it is rolled off its platform onto the ground.
Meanwhile, Spirit's cameras will begin examining the surrounding terrain.
The rover traveled 487 million kilometers to reach Mars after its launch
on June 10 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Following are the texts of the NASA press releases:
(begin text)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena, Calif.
January 4, 2004
SPIRIT FROM EARTH LANDS ON MARS
A traveling robotic geologist from NASA has landed on Mars and returned
stunning images of the area around the landing site in Gusev Crater.
Mars Exploration Rover Spirit successfully sent a radio signal after the
spacecraft had bounced and rolled for several minutes following its
initial impact at 11:35 p.m. EST (8:35 p.m. Pacific Standard Time).
"This is a big night for NASA," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.
"We're back. I am very, very proud of this team, and we're on Mars."
Members of the mission's flight team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif., cheered and clapped when they learned that NASA's Deep
Space Network had received a post-landing signal from Spirit. The cheering
resumed about three hours later when the rover transmitted its first
images to Earth, relaying them through NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter.
"We've got many steps to go before this mission is over, but we've retired
a lot of risk with this landing," said JPL's Pete Theisinger, project
manager for the Mars Exploration Rover Project.
Deputy project manager for the rovers, JPL's Richard Cook, said, "We're
certainly looking forward to Opportunity landing three weeks from now."
Opportunity is Spirit's twin rover, headed for the opposite side of Mars.
Dr. Charles Elachi, JPL director, said, "To achieve this mission, we have
assembled the best team of young women and men this country can put
together. Essential work was done by other NASA centers and by our
industrial and academic partners."
Spirit stopped rolling with its base petal down, though that favorable
position could change as airbags deflate, said JPL's Rob Manning,
development manager for the rover's descent through Mars' atmosphere and
landing on the surface.
NASA chose Spirit's landing site, within Gusev Crater, based on evidence
from Mars orbiters that this crater may have held a lake long ago. A long,
deep valley, apparently carved by ancient flows of water, leads into
Gusev. The crater itself is a basin the size of Connecticut created by an
asteroid or comet impact early in Mars' history. Spirit's task is to spend
the next three months exploring for clues in rocks and soil about whether
the past environment at this part of Mars was ever watery and suitable to
sustain life.
Spirit traveled 487 million kilometers (302.6 million) miles to reach Mars
after its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on June 10,
2003. Its twin, Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, was launched July 7,
2003, and is on course for a landing on the opposite side of Mars on Jan.
25 (Universal Time and EST; 9:05 p.m. on Jan. 24, PST).
The flight team expects to spend more than a week directing Spirit through
a series of steps in unfolding, standing up and other preparations
necessary before the rover rolls off of its lander platform to get its
wheels onto the ground. Meanwhile, Spirit's cameras and a
mineral-identifying infrared instrument will begin examining the
surrounding terrain. That information will help engineers and scientists
decide which direction to send the rover first.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the
Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science,
Washington. Additional information about the project is available from JPL
at:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov
and from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at:
http://athena.cornell.edu
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
January 4, 2004
HEALTHY ROVER SHOWS ITS NEW NEIGHBORHOOD ON MARS
NASA's Spirit Rover is starting to examine its new surroundings, revealing
a vast flatland well suited to the robot's unprecedented mobility and
scientific toolkit.
"Spirit has told us that it is healthy," Jennifer Trosper of NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., said today. Trosper is Spirit
mission manager for operations on Mars' surface. The rover remains perched
on its lander platform, and the next nine days or more will be spent
preparing for egress, or rolling off, onto the martian surface.
With only two degrees of tilt, with the deck toward the front an average
of only about 37 centimeters (15 inches) off the ground, and with
apparently no large rocks blocking the way, the lander is in good position
for egress. "The egress path we're working toward is straight ahead,"
Trosper said.
The rover's initial images excited scientists about the prospects of
exploring the region after the roll-off.
"My hat is off to the navigation team because they did a fantastic job of
getting us right where we wanted to be," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell
University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the science payload.
By correlating images taken by Spirit with earlier images from spacecraft
orbiting Mars, the mission team has determined that the rover appears to
be in a region marked with numerous swaths where dust devils have removed
brighter dust and left darker gravel behind.
"This is our new neighborhood," Squyres said. "We hit the sweet spot. We
wanted someplace where the wind had cleared off the rocks for us. We've
landed in a place that's so thick with dust devil tracks that a lot of the
dust has been blown away."
The terrain looks different from any of the sites examined by NASA's three
previous successful landers -- the two Vikings in 1976 and Mars Pathfinder
in 1997.
"What we're seeing is a section of surface that is remarkably devoid of
big boulders, at least in our immediate vicinity, and that's good news
because big boulders are something we would have trouble driving over,"
Squyres said. "We see a rock population that is different from anything
we've seen elsewhere on Mars, and it comes out very much in our favor."
Spirit arrived at Mars Jan. 3 (EST and PST; Jan. 4 Universal Time) after a
seven month journey. Its task is to spend the next three months exploring
for clues in rocks and soil about whether the past environment at this
part of Mars was ever watery and suitable to sustain life.
Spirit's twin Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, will reach its landing
site on the opposite side of Mars on Jan. 25 (EST and Universal Time; Jan.
24 PST) to begin a similar examination of a site on the opposite side of
the planet from Gusev Crater.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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