Three-month Martian journey turns into five years

William Atkins
Thursday, 26 March 2009 18:34

Science - Space

U.S. planetary scientist Raymond E. Arvidson (Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri), is the deputy principal investigator for the MER mission.
 
Arvidson goes into more details, "Endeavor is an intriguing target because the rocks close to it look different from the ones surrounding the other craters Opportunity has visited. Part of Endeavor crater's rim is sticking up – Mars' ancient bedrock exposed -- and rocks nearby may be suggestive of acidic lakes on Mars' surface billions of years ago."

Spirit is heading toward von Braun, an mesa-shaped cap-rock that is only located about 250 meters away but will take months to reach. After than journey, Spirit will go to a 30-meter diameter pit called Goddard that may be a volcanic explosion crater -- and perhaps a location for hydrothermal activity.

Squyres states, "Spirit is the more challenging rover to operate. There's not as much wind at its location to clean the solar arrays, and that affects the vehicle's power. Also, Spirit has to travel a more challenging terrain. The rocks and loose sand at Spirit's location are treacherous. Of course, to top it all off, Spirit is driving backwards.”

The two rovers are still searching for evidence that the planet once supported life. Arvidson says, "Because of the geology of its surroundings, Spirit specializes in looking for evidence in the rock record of water-charged explosive volcanism. Such areas could have once supported life."

And, Arvidson continues, "Home Plate, where Spirit spent the winter, is a volcanic structure eroded down so we can see the layers. And we think von Braun and the neighboring Goddard structure may be made of the same stuff."

Squyres concludes by saying, “We have no way of knowing what the future holds for the rovers at this point. The mission could easily end tomorrow. But, the miracle could continue."

Check out the video “Five Years on Mars” at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory website.

For a chronology of the MER mission, please go to “Mars Exploration Rover – Mission Events Timeline.”

Additional information on the current status and future plans for the twin rovers is found on The Planetary Society's website "MER Update" (February 28, 2009).