Did the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit image its own heatshield? The photo release caption makes no mention of it.
March 11th, 2004
Spirit Looks Down Into Crater After Reaching Rim
NASA’s Spirit has begun looking down into a crater it has been approaching for several weeks, providing a view of what’s below the surrounding surface.
Spirit has also been looking up, seeing stars and the first observation of Earth from the surface of another planet. Its twin, Opportunity, has shown scientists a “mother lode” of hematite now considered a target for close-up investigation.
March 11th, 2004
Spirit completes road trip, peers over crater rim CBC News
The Mars rover Spirit has driven a “long, windy road” and reached the edge of a large crater on Thursday where it looked inside with a camera.
Spirit travelled for over four weeks to reach Bonneville, a 150-metre-diameter impact crater. Since it landed in early 2004, the six-wheeled rover has driven 30 metres.
March 11th, 2004
Mars Rovers to Last Longer Than Expected
It took more than a month for NASA’s Spirit Mars rover to finish the drive to its destination, a crater called “Bonneville,” but mission planners are already looking toward more distant pastures, confident that their robust robot — and its twin, Opportunity — will last twice as long as originally expected.
Spirit was scheduled to travel the last few feet to the rim of Bonneville today, then look around with its panoramic camera for anything interesting enough to nuzzle its science instruments against.
March 11th, 2004
A Deep Dish for Discovery
On the 66th martian day, or sol, of its mission, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit finished a drive and sent back this navigation camera image mosaic revealing “Bonneville” crater in its entirety. Spirit has spent more than 60 sols, two thirds of the nominal mission, en route to the rim of the large crater dubbed “Bonneville.” The rover stopped on occasion to examine rocks along the way, many of which probably found their resting places after being ejected from the nearly 200-meter-diameter (656-foot) crater.
March 11th, 2004
Mars Rovers See Earth, Moons and Stars
The Spirit rover on Mars took the first picture of Earth ever made from the surface of another planet. It also did a little astronomy, imaging bright stars. It also spotted what could be a Viking Orbiter spacecraft or a meteor — scientists aren’t sure which. The photo of Earth shows the planet as a bright dot above the horizon about an hour before sunrise. The image is not in color, though scientists say if a human stood in the same spot and looked earthward, home would probably appear pale blue.
March 11th, 2004
Mars rover gets ready to peek inside crater
The NASA rover Spirit was ready today to make its final push to the rim of a big crater that scientists hope will provide a window into Mars’ geologic history. Spirit was close enough Wednesday to snap a panorama showing the rim on the opposite side of the crater, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Spirit was expected to finish its drive and be in position to peer inside the crater with a camera today. “We’re all waiting very anxiously to see what’s inside this crater,” said George Chen, the Spirit flight director.
March 11th, 2004
Private Detectives Investigate Mars
The unmatched imagery being relayed from the two NASA Mars rovers — Spirit and Opportunity have made it possible for amateur investigators to explore the red planet as never before. Thanks to the Internet, various software packages, and a generous helping of patience, the general public can jump right in and scout out Mars for themselves.
March 10th, 2004
Today’s Press Release Images
A Long Way From Home: This pair of pieced-together images was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit’s rear navigation camera on March 6, 2004. It reveals the long and rocky path of nearly 240 meters (787 feet) that Spirit had traveled since safely arriving at Gusev Crater on Jan. 3, 2004.
A Glimpse of What’s to Come: This 360-degree navigation camera mosaic was taken by Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on March 9, 2004, after a drive that brought the rover to less than 20 meters (66 feet) from the rim of the crater nicknamed “Bonneville.”
March 10th, 2004
Leadership Lessons from the Mars Missions Wharton School
Was there water on Mars? Could it have supported life? For centuries, people have speculated about such questions. Since the beginning of this year, though, when two unmanned rovers, Spirit and Opportunity , landed on the red planet, real answers have begun to appear based on the streams of data that the robots have been beaming back to earth. This month Spirit and Opportunity found evidence of Martian water in layers of volcanic rock.