NASA’s Opportunity tried driving uphill out of its landing-site crater during its 56th sol, ending at 10:05 p.m. March 21, PST, but slippage prevented success. The rover is healthy, and it later completed a turn to the right and a short drive along the crater’s inner slope. Controllers plan to send it on a different route for exiting the crater on sol 57.
March 19th, 2004
It’s Official. Mars is Now a Career Opportunity!
Strike up the band and roll out the red carpet! The nation’s space agency is coming to a NASA Explorer School near you. During the months of March, April and May, NASA is sending its finest to speak with students and teachers at NASA Explorer Schools across the country about the new Vision for Space Exploration outlined by President Bush in January. One hundred schools were selected in 2003 and 2004 to work with NASA to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics to prepare future engineers and scientists.
March 17th, 2004
NASA Partners With Department Of Energy, For Space Exploration
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Naval Reactors (NR) Program haas joined NASA in its effort to investigate and develop space nuclear power and propulsion technologies for civilian applications. These activities could enable unprecedented space exploration missions and scientific return unachievable with current technology. NR brings 50-plus years of practical experience in developing safe, rugged, reliable, compact and long-lived reactor systems designed to operate in unforgiving environments. NR is a joint DOE and Department of the Navy organization responsible for all aspects of naval nuclear propulsion.
March 17th, 2004
Spirit Digs with a Jig
Sol 72, which ended at 5:06 a.m. PST on March 17, was a day full of digging for NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. Spirit began the day taking panoramic camera and miniature thermal emission spectrometer observations of the drift dubbed “Serpent” before creating the “scuff” that would reveal the inside material at this location.
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
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 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 8th, 2004
Spirit Mission Status: Rolling Along
During its 62nd sol on Mars, ending at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, PST, NASA’s Spirit advanced about one-fifth of the remaining distance between where it began the sol and its mid-term destination, the rim of the crater nicknamed “Bonneville.”
March 8th, 2004
Opportunity Mission Status: No Hole This Time
NASA’s Opportunity attempted to grind a shallow hole into a target called “Flat Rock” during its 42nd sol on Mars, ending at 10:51 a.m. Sunday, PST. However, the operation of the rover’s rock abrasion tool produced almost no discernable impression on the rock.