Pair Of Little Troopers Get New Missions
NASA's Mars rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, have taken a licking
and... well, you know the rest. The dynamic duo continue to amaze
the engineers who designed, built and operate them. The pair have
already exceeded their planned three-month mission lengths by
almost eleven times!
Both robots have responded to NASA communications following the
most recent superior conjunction -- the time when the sun blocks
communication between Mars and Earth -- and are ready to go back to
work.
Scientists intend to send Opportunity on a clockwise traverse of
Victoria Crater, a destination the crawling robot reached last
September after a 21-month journey.
Lead scientist with the Mars Exploration Rover mission at
Cornell University in Ithaca, NY Steve Squyres told Space.com,
"We haven’t decided how far we’ll go in that direction,
but it seems clear that some of the most intriguing geology we can
see from the rim is to be found that way. So that’s where
we’re headed for now."
Spirit also has new marching orders, but a glitch with its right
front wheel is slowing it down a bit. The wheel has stopped
turning. To get around the impediment, Spirit just powers along
with its five remaining wheels dragging the bad one through the
terrain.
Mission member Larry Crumpler, from the New Mexico Museum of
Natural History and Science in Albuquerque said, "It makes
approaches for studies of targets with the instruments tricky,
requiring a crab-like motion to put targets within the instrument
work space. So the first drives are tentative and very carefully
considered for their value in learning anew how to drive on
Mars."
Spirit is also recovering from a long winter which limited power
storage gleaned from its solar panels. "Hopefully, we will have a
solar panel cleaning event somewhere in the future. That will make
the power situation better even as the atmosphere becomes dustier
and the Sun's rays are dimmed," said Crumpler.
Scientists hope to get Spirit back to a region called "Home
Plate," an area with unusual formations worth further study says
mission member Jim Rice.
Rice, from Arizona State University, said, "I am personally
looking forward to seeing new cross sectional views of the layered
rock outcrops along the southern margins of Home Plate. How long we
will stay at Home Plate is unknown...it sort of depends on what we
find there. This is the nature of exploration."
Rice says he would very much like Spirit to continue to another
region called the "Promised Land" following its exploration of Home
Plate. He says origin of materials in the area are unknown and
scientists would like a closer look.
All of that depends, of course, on how long the little troopers
can hold out. Spirit's balky wheel might preclude a nearly 2/3 mile
trip to the Promised Land.
"But we should at least try. It would be a shame if we only see
it from afar. We will not know what possible geologic treasures the
Promised Land holds until we enter its domain," opined Rice.
For now, Opportunity and Spirit have their work cut out for
them.