Ron, Do you know if the rover was still parked in front of the Adirondack named rock?
I was just curious where it was and what was it doing. Someone mentioned a rumor was that it drove into a "soft" spot. I thought it was parked by the rock. John > > > MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE > JET PROPULSION LABORATORY > CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY > NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION > PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 > http://www.jpl.nasa.gov > > Guy Webster (818) 354-5011 > Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. > > Donald Savage (202) 358-1547 > NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. > > NEWS RELEASE: 2004-031 January 23, 2004 > > Rover Team Readies For Second Landing While Trying to Mend Spirit > > Some members of the flight team for NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers are > preparing for this weekend's landing of the second rover, Opportunity, > while others are focused on trying to restore the first rover, Spirit, > to working order. > > "We should expect we will not be restoring functionality to Spirit for > a significant amount of time -- many days, perhaps two weeks -- even > in the best of circumstances," said Peter Theisinger, rover project > manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. > > Spirit transmitted data to Earth today for the first time since early > Wednesday. The information about the rover's status arrived during > three sessions lasting 10 minutes, 20 minutes and 15 minutes. > Engineers will be examining it overnight and developing a plan for > obtaining more on Saturday morning. > > Spirit's flight software is not functioning normally. It appears to > have rebooted the rover's computer more than 60 times in the past > three days. A motor that moves a mirror for the rover's infrared > spectrometer was partway through an operation when the problem arose, > so the possibility of a mechanical problem with that hardware will be > one theory investigated. > > "We believe, based on everything we know now, we can sustain the > current state of the spacecraft from a health standpoint for an > indefinite amount of time," Theisinger said. That will give the team > time to work on the problem. > > Meanwhile, Spirit's twin, Opportunity, will reach Mars at 05:05 > Universal Time on Jan. 25 (12:05 a.m. Sunday EST or 9:05 p.m. Saturday > PST) at a landing site on the opposite side of the planet from Spirit. > Opportunity's landing site is on plains called Meridiani Planum > within an Oklahoma-sized outcropping of gray hematite, a mineral that > usually forms in the presence of water. Scientists plan to use the > research instruments on Opportunity to determine whether the gray > hematite layer comes from sediments of a long-gone ocean, from > volcanic deposits altered by hot water, or from other ancient > environmental conditions. > > Analysis of Spirit's descent through Mars' atmosphere for its landing > at Gusev has contributed to a decision by flight controllers to > program Opportunity to open its parachute higher than had been planned > earlier, said JPL's Dr. Wayne Lee, chief engineer for development of > the rover's descent and landing systems. > > The Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter has > taken an image of Spirit's landing region that shows the spacecraft's > lander platform on the ground. The jettisoned parachute, backshell > and heat shield are also visible, noted Dr. Michael Malin of Malin > Space Science Systems, San Diego, lead investigator for the orbiter's > camera and a member of the rover science team. > > JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, > manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space > Science, Washington, D.C. Images and additional information about > the project are available from JPL at > > http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov > > and from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at > > http://athena.cornell.edu/ . > > -end- > > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
