NASA's
lively robotic twosome--the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers--are in good shape
to soldier onward in their dealings with the red planet.
Both
machines have come through superior conjunction--when the Sun impedes transmissions
between Mars and Earth--and are in fine shape to start new work assignments.
That
solar conjunction stretched over several weeks, ending in early November. Even
with the Sun getting in the way of direct Earth-Mars telecommunications, the
rovers didn't get a rest.
Each
was uploaded prior to the conjunction with science tasks while they stayed put
- like weather watching and self-inspecting their respective coatings of Martian
dust. Stored data is now making its way from the robots to Earth via NASA's
Mars Odyssey spacecraft that is orbiting the red planet.
Opportunity has reached,
geologically speaking, prime real estate. The robot is surveying Victoria
Crater, a huge impact crater about half a mile (800 meters) in diameter at
Meridiani Planum near the equator of Mars.
On
the other side of the planet, the Spirit rover is ready to take on new errands
at Gusev Crater.
Approaching
three years of service, the rovers have been working on Mars since landing
there in January 2004.
Clockwise fashion
Steve
Squyres, lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, said that it was good to hear from Spirit and Opportunity again after coming through the conjunction. They are in excellent health,
Squyres reported November 3 on a MER web site hosted at the university.
"We've
had to start up a little bit slowly with Opportunity because the rover's flash
memory was very full post-conjunction...mostly with all the images we took
during conjunction. It'll take a little while to clear those out," Squyres
advised.
As
for the Opportunity action plan, a decision has been made to steer the rover
toward the east and north, in clockwise fashion around Victoria Crater.
"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," Squyres declared.
Opportunity is moving toward
one of the highest spots on the crater's rim, a tall promontory named "Cape St.
Mary".
Baby steps at first
Not
to be left out in the cold, the Spirit Mars rover at Gusev Crater is being
primed for more science jobs after the retreat of winter and as spring
approaches.
"For
the immediate future, while the [rover's] power is still low, we're going to
focus on other targets right around us on Low Ridge," Squyres told SPACE.com.
"We're talking about very small moves that will bring nearby soils and rocks
within reach of the [robot's] arm. So it'll be baby steps at first," he said.
Squyres
added that once Spirit's power gets high enough, rover operators will have
plenty of extra energy to wheel the robot to new exploration targets. Then
it'll be time to head back to a feature called "Home Plate".
"And
unlike our last trip there, the power will be gradually increasing and we'll be
able to take our time," Squyres added. "In fact, there are one or two tempting
targets on the way to Home Plate that we think we'll spend a little time on
first."
Once
Spirit wheels back to Home Plate, Squyres said the focus will be on the western
side of the plateau--a locale that has not been previously explored.
New challenge waiting
What
is Home Plate in the first place? The feature conjures up a range of
possibilities, including impact deposits, volcanic deposits or possibly
sediment layers caused by wind or water.
"They're
all still up for grabs, but there are some hypotheses that are substantially
favored over others. We're working on a paper right now that will lay out the
strengths and weaknesses of the various hypotheses," Squyres responded.
Once
the robot slides into Home Plate research mode again, just how long the Mars
machinery will remain on duty there is yet to be determined.
"I
don't have any idea how long we'll spend at Home Plate," Squyres said. "It
really depends on what we find," he observed.
After
departure from Home Plate, Spirit's science team already has another target
they're eyeing.
"There's
a new challenge waiting," Squyres noted. "Off toward the southwest there is
some terrain that's less than a kilometer away that has a strange 'etched'
appearance from orbit... completely different from anything we've seen before.
So that's where we'll be headed," he concluded.
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