Spirit lands on Mars successfully

[Brian G Turner]

Good to wake up this morning to see that Spirit appears to have landed safely on Mars. Still no sound frmo Beagle 2, but I'm hopeful that the orbiter will find something soon.

Anyway, at least we've got something to watch out for this week, no matter the news from the British team. The space race has landed again no Mars, and hopefully we can benefit again from the ongoing exploration of our Solar system.

Here's the NASA site:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/

and if you'd like to download those animations they keep showing on the News:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/video/animation.html

As for the story itself - here's how the BBC cover it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3365371.stm

excerpt:

A Nasa space probe has landed on Mars to seek signs that the planet was once capable of supporting life.


The six-wheeled rover Spirit parachuted on to the planet's surface at about 0435 GMT on Sunday.

The robotic spacecraft has already sent back historic images of the rocky landscape where it bounced to rest.

It will explore a crater that may once have held a lake in a three-month mission to examine rocks and search for water.

The six-minute descent to the surface was the final and most daunting leg of the seven-month voyage from Earth. In the past, two out of three attempts to land spacecraft on the Red Planet have failed.

 

[Allyn]

This is indeed great news. I saw it, um, whenever it happened and was happy. We have atleast 1 successful landing on mars, and some great pictures of it, even though they were only b&w last I checked.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Can't wait for the colour pics. I'll post them here when they're online.

 

[Brian G Turner]

First colour picture released from Spirit is here:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20040106a/PIA04995_br.jpg

And here's a smaller thumbnail:

 

[littlemissattitude]

I just love the photographic proof that Mars is a place, not just a point of light in the sky. Just more incentive to get there ourselves to join our machines, as far as I can see.

 

[Allyn]

looks kinda desolate there.

Although my dad brought up a good point, what is with all the small rocks everywhere?

 

[littlemissattitude]

looks kinda desolate there.

Although my dad brought up a good point, what is with all the small rocks everywhere?

Well, for one thing, it proves that Mars is now, or at least has been in the past, a geologically active planet. Something has been moving those rocks around, breaking the larger ones up into smaller ones. Might have been crustal movements, might have been wind, might have been water action...and probably a combination of all three at some time or another.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Didn't Spirit target a plain?

 

[littlemissattitude]

Didn't Spirit target a plain?

I believe it landed in a crater that the scientists think once held a lake.

 

[Incognito]

There's a nice panoramic pic at the BBC of the site:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3394295.stm

excerpt:

The US space agency Nasa has unveiled a list of targets on the Martian surface which it plans to explore using its robot rover Spirit.


Areas earmarked for investigation include a nearby crater, where a meteorite may have exposed some of Mars's mysterious underground geology.

The rover will then proceed toward distant hills to learn more about the processes that shaped Mars. Spirit should leave its landing pad to roll on to the surface on Thursday GMT.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Of course, we all now know what happened next:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3424835.stm

excerpt:

The US space agency says it may take days, even weeks, to get its Martian rover Spirit back into action.


The probe had short contacts with Earth on Friday, sending some engineering data that mission staff can now use to try to diagnose and fix its problems.

Spirit has not worked properly since Wednesday, when a command was sent for it to test an instrument motor.

Nasa has now formed an "anomaly team" which will attempt to work through ideas to get the rover back to health.

"I think we should expect that we will not be restoring functionality for a significant amount of time," said Mars Exploration Rover project manager Pete Theisinger. "I expect this to go on in this mode for several days - of talking to the spacecraft, gathering more data, winnowing out theories, testing those theories against observables and continuing that process."