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27 January 2004

Second U.S. Mars Rover Sends Back Pictures from Red Planet

Progress also reported in solving Spirit's communications problems

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) second Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, has sent back the first pictures of its landing site, which indicate that the spacecraft sits in a shallow crater about 20 meters across.

According to press releases, Opportunity landed January 24 in a region of Mars called Meridiani Planum, halfway around the planet from the Gusev Crater site where its twin rover, Spirit, landed three weeks earlier.

Images taken by a camera on the bottom of the lander during Opportunity's final descent to the Martian surface show a large crater about 150 meters across likely to be within about one kilometer of the landing site. Scientists selected Opportunity's general landing area because of extensive deposits of a mineral called crystalline hematite, which usually forms in the presence of liquid water.

The main task for both rovers in coming months is to explore the areas around their landing sites for evidence in rocks and soils that might indicate a watery environment in the past -- one possibly suitable for sustaining life.

Engineers have also reported progress in understanding and dealing with communications and computer problems on the twin rover Spirit. Engineers have determined that Spirit's flash memory hardware is functional, strengthening a theory that Spirit's main problem is in software that controls file management of the memory. Officials said earlier that if Spirit's communications problems were due to software, the problem could probably be fixed from Earth.

Spirit landed on Mars on January 3 and then was safely rolled off its lander platform onto Martian soil on January 15. It snapped pictures of the Martian landscape and carried out preliminary work analyzing the minerals and elements that make up the Martian soil before the communications problems began on January 21.

Following are the texts of the NASA press releases:

(begin text)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
January 25, 2004

OPPORTUNITY SITS IN A SMALL CRATER, NEAR A BIGGER ONE

A small impact crater on Mars is the new home for NASA's Opportunity rover, and a larger crater lies nearby. Scientists value such crater locations as a way to see what's beneath the surface without needing to dig.

Encouraging developments continued for Opportunity's twin, Spirit, too. Engineers have determined that Spirit's flash memory hardware is functional, strengthening a theory that Spirit's main problem is in software that controls file management of the memory. "I think we've got a patient that's well on the way to recovery," said Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager Pete Theisinger at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Opportunity returned the first pictures of its landing site early today, about four hours after reaching Mars. The pictures indicate that the spacecraft sits in a shallow crater about 20 meters (66 feet) across.

"We have scored a 300-million mile interplanetary hole in one," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the science instruments on both rovers.

NASA selected Opportunity's general landing area within a region called Meridiani Planum because of extensive deposits of a mineral called crystalline hematite, which usually forms in the presence of liquid water. Scientists had hoped for a specific landing site where they could examine both the surface layer that's rich in hematite and an underlying geological feature of light-colored layered rock. The small crater appears to have exposures of both, with soil that could be the hematite unit and an exposed outcropping of the lighter rock layer.

"If it got any better, I couldn't stand it," said Dr. Doug Ming, rover science team member from NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston. With the instruments on the rover and just the rocks and soil within the small crater, Opportunity should allow scientists to determine which of several theories about the region's past environment is right, he said. Those theories include that the hematite may have formed in a long-lasting lake or in a volcanic environment.

An even bigger crater, which could provide access to deeper layers for more clues to the past, lies nearby. Images taken by a camera on the bottom of the lander during Opportunity's final descent show a crater about 150 meters (about 500 feet) across likely to be within about one kilometer or half mile of the landing site, said Dr. Andrew Johnson of JPL. He is an engineer for the descent imaging system that calculated the spacecraft's horizontal motion during its final seconds of flight. The system determined that sideways motion was small, so Opportunity's computer decided not to fire the lateral rockets carried specifically for slowing that motion.

Squyres presented an outline for Opportunity's potential activities in coming weeks and months. After driving off the lander, the rover will first examine the soil right next to the lander, then drive to the outcrop of layered-looking rocks and spend considerable time examining it. Then the rover may climb out of the small crater, take a look around, and head for the bigger crater.

But first, Opportunity will spend more than a week -- perhaps two -- getting ready to drive off the lander, if all goes well. Engineering data from Opportunity returned in relays via NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter early this morning and at midday indicate the spacecraft is in excellent health, said JPL's Arthur Amador, mission manager. The rover will try its first direct-to-Earth communications this evening.

The main task for both rovers in coming months is to explore the areas around their landing sites for evidence in rocks and soils about whether those areas ever had environments that were watery and possibly suitable for sustaining life.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 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

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
January 25, 2004

NASA HEARS FROM OPPORTUNITY ROVER ON MARS

NASA's second Mars Exploration Rover successfully sent signals to Earth during its bouncy landing and after it came to rest on one of the three side petals of its four-sided lander.

Mission engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., received the first signal from Opportunity on the ground at 9:05 p.m. PST Saturday via the NASA Deep Space Network, which was listening with antennas in California and Australia.

"We're on Mars, everybody!" JPL's Rob Manning, manager for development of the landing system, announced to the cheering flight team.

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said at a subsequent press briefing, "This was a tremendous testament to how NASA, when really focused on an objective, can put every ounce of effort, energy, emotion and talent to an important task. This team is the best in the world, no doubt about it."

Opportunity landed in a region called Meridiani Planum, halfway around the planet from the Gusev Crater site where its twin rover, Spirit, landed three weeks ago. Earlier today, mission managers reported progress in understanding and dealing with communications and computer problems on Spirit.

"In the last 48 hours, we've been on a roller coaster," said Dr. Ed Weiler, NASA associate administrator for space science. "We resurrected one rover and saw the birth of another."

JPL's Pete Theisinger, project manager for the rovers, said, "We are two for two. Here we are tonight with Spirit on a path to recovery and with Opportunity on Mars."

By initial estimates, Opportunity landed about 24 kilometers (15 miles) down range from the center of the target landing area. That is well within an outcropping of a mineral called gray hematite, which usually forms in the presence of water. "We're going to have a good place to do science," said JPL's Richard Cook, deputy project manager for the rovers.

Once it pushed itself upright by opening the petals of the lander, Opportunity was expected to be facing east.

The main task for both rovers in coming months is to explore the areas around their landing sites for evidence in rocks and soils about whether those areas ever had environments that were watery and possibly suitable for sustaining life.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington.

(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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