Rover Opportunity Strolls On Mars
NASA's Opportunity successfully rolled off its lander and onto the rusty soil of Mars early Saturday, a week after the six-wheeled rover arrived on the Red Planet -- and just hours following confirmation of its first major geologic discovery.
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory erupted in cheers as the first photograph taken by Opportunity following its roll-off appeared on a screen in Mission Control. The picture, received shortly after 3 a.m. PST, confirmed Opportunity had joined its twin, Spirit, on the ground. More pictures flooded in minutes later to continued cheers and applause.
"Two for two, one dozen wheels on soil," flight director Chris Lewicki said.
"We knew it was going to be a good day," said mission manager Matt
Wallace, as reported by CBS News Space Consultant William Harwood. "The rover woke up fit and healthy to Bruce Springsteen's
'Born to Run.' Really, from the time Opportunity was first born, only
about two years ago, this vehicle has been a blue-collar,
hard-working machine. She's got the scars to prove it. But like the
team that designed her, she would not quit and she's where she should
be on Meriadani Planum."
The initial black-and-white picture taken by Opportunity's rear hazard camera showed the rover's empty lander and a parallel set of tracks leading away from it, traced in the pebbly Martian dirt 128 million miles from Earth.
"That is the money shot," said mechanical engineer Kevin Burke, who had given the roll forward command to Opportunity.
Opportunity took 83 seconds to cover the 10 feet to the dark floor of the 72-foot-wide crater where it landed.
"That was probably the scariest part of the drive we'll have on Mars," said mission manager Jim Erickson, adding there were no spotters on the planet to catch the rover if it toppled, as there had been during tests on Earth.
The roll-off went without a hitch, other than a wobble to the lander that caused the rover to slightly veer to its right while in motion, Burke said.
Hours earlier, scientists confirmed Opportunity's mini-thermal emissions spectrometer had discovered a mineral called gray hematite at the rover's landing site. The heat-sensing instrument, nicknamed Mini-TES, detected the iron-rich mineral loosely scattered across the ground. Another NASA spacecraft previously spied the mineral on Mars from orbit.
"Mini-TES has indeed discovered hematite on the surface of Mars," instrument scientist Phil Christensen, of Arizona State University, announced during an early morning news conference. Rowdy but jubilant scientists filled the back of the auditorium, sipping champagne as they listened.
Preliminary evidence suggests the hematite formed in low-temperature chemical reactions in liquid water, Christensen added.
If confirmed, the finding could mean the dry and dusty Red Planet once was wetter and more hospitable to life. NASA designed the $820 million double-barreled mission to seek exactly that sort of geologic evidence.
Mission plans called for Opportunity to spend several days parked beside its lander after rolling off, allowing it to conduct further chemical and elemental analysis of the Martian soil.
NASA then planned for Opportunity to roll about 26 feet and examine a finely layered outcropping of rock. It should reach the outcropping within a week.
Spirit has rolled just a short distance across the rockier surface at its landing site. Software problems drew its mission to a temporary halt on Jan. 21.
On Friday, NASA erased 1,700 files from Spirit's flash memory, making it more manageable for the rover's random-access memory. Engineers then rebooted Spirit.
"I am pleased to report it appears to be working just fine," said Glenn Reeves, chief engineer for the rover's flight software. He said NASA by Sunday should be able to declare Spirit "fully recovered."
Opportunity's roll-off came comparatively soon after its landing. Spirit sat atop its lander for 12 days following its Jan. 3 touchdown before it moved onto the Martian surface.
Spirit had to turn in place and use a secondary ramp to leave its lander, after engineers failed to clear the path that lay straight ahead of the rover. The delay cost the mission three days.
Opportunity faced no such obstacles. NASA also accelerated the rover's schedule to allow it to begin its field work more quickly. Experience helped as well, engineer Joel Krajewski said.
"We're getting good at this," Krajewski said.
NASA has two operating spacecraft on Mars and another pair orbiting overhead. The European Space Agency also has a satellite at Mars.
NASA built the twin rovers to last 90 days, although they could survive twice as long, engineers have said. The rovers face continued risks, including bitter cold that already has claimed some spacecraft components.
CBS News Space Consultant William Harwood has covered America's space program full time for nearly 20 years, focusing on space shuttle operations, planetary exploration and astronomy. Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood provides up-to-the-minute space reports for CBS News and regularly contributes to Spaceflight Now and The Washington Post.