Rovers on Mars

Looks to me like its all over red rover.

In a few hours we get another chance with the second rover. Mars is a tough one, but it will yield its secrets.

2004-01-25 12:05 am EST (2004-01-24 09:05 pm PST; 2004-01-25 0505 GMT) is Sol 1 13:33:38 at the landing point (prospect) of the MER-B (Opportunity).
- Light distance of 11:04 should be taken into account.
Ground controllers on Earth are simply spectators, now.

"0508 GMT (12:08 a.m. EST)
A good signal is still being received! Unlike the Spirit landing where signal was lost immediately after touchdown, Opportunity continues to talk to Earth."
http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html

This seems a good indication of the rover.

The roll continues, more than 10 minutes.

I'm anxiously waiting.

Opportunity told controllers that no faults or errors had been experienced during the rollout.

"Engineers confirm that the spacecraft is resting on its side. But the lander is designed to right itself during the petal opening sequence.
"Also, they believe that Opportunity wasn't really rolling all of that time. The fluctuating indication taken to mean rolling was really an artifact of the communications path with the craft on its side. "


Anyhow it communicates with the controllers. It's almost a success at this stage already.
Congratulations!

I bet it works good.

It is transmitting not only a signal but data. It looks like opportunity is alive and well on Mars.

It seems that this was a text book landing.

A view from Opportunity


A view at the surface




A panorama

"Scientists say they have hit the jackpot with Opportunity's exotic, alien landing site. It appears nothing like the previous robotic landing locales on the Red Planet."
http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html

when they turn the IR emmission spec on well see what those blobs are. I say that the areas very wind scoured with igneous fabric in the 2nd 3rd and 5th pics. Those blobs look like areas of igneous carbonates called carbonotite, they form this way on earth as well. Id love to be in the geo lab .

I've waited over fifty years for this to begin to happen. I had almost given up hope they would make much progress within my lifetime.

This is so cool!

Hi Farmerman,



If you're talking about those orange colored round blotches on the surface right next to the lander, then I think those are disturbance imprints made by the lander balloons before they deflated. There are also drag marks where the balloons were retracted after deflation.

It looks to me like the surface material is more lightly colored than the stuff a bit below. Maybe the surface dust layer is bleached by exposure to light, or maybe it's a fine material blown onto the heavier layers (which are redder).

rosborne-You could be right. I saw the cuts across the blobs and the cuts look like theyve been there a while and they extend across and beyond the blobs. The rock patterns under the foot of the rover seem like theyve been eroded for a period of time, unless the surface winds are that strong as to set up a pattern of mini deposition. However, if that were the case, then the lander platform would be covered with dsut and it isnt . I guess I shouldnt go jumping off boards till we have the whole sequence of pix.
I believe that the red colored material is wind blown and wind scouring is fairly apparent over the edge of the crater rocks

I am so happy I've lived long enough to see this kind of thing.

So many of my boyhood dreams are being realized.

waitll they start marketing ray guns Frank, youll wet yourself.

Oh, ain't that the truth.