Opportunity looks to have completed a near-perfect entry, descent, and landing, plopping down in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. The spacecraft's exact whereabouts are not precisely known, but did touch down within a pre-determined, cigar-shaped ellipse within Meridiani Planum.
Overshot target
"We are two for two," said Peter Theisinger, JPLs MER Project Manager. "This has been a stupendous adventure," he said at a post-landing press briefing here.
The JPL team has made a double-header, said Ed Weiler, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science in Washington, D.C. He admitted that he came to JPL prepared for a funeral given Spirits current woes.
"We are resurrecting one rover and saw the birth of another today," Weiler said.
First looks at data suggest that the spacecraft overshot the center of the intended target, flying some 15 miles (24 kilometers) downrange , said Richard Cook, MER Deputy Project Manager.
Casual bounce
After the parachute ride and retro rocket firings, Opportunity made a "casual bounce" after being cut free to fall onto Mars, said Manning.
Preliminary data suggested that the spacecraft hit Mars at a relatively slow velocity -- some two to three times the force of gravity. The airbag system is designed to sustain a 40 g's collision with Mars.
Opportunity came to a stop "side-petal" down. That meant the craft first had to right itself on the red planet and then deflate its airbags -- a first for this type of landing system. The earlier landings of Mars Pathfinder in 1997 and Spirit rolled to a base-petal down position a situation much easier for the spacecraft to unfold itself on Mars.
"This is a phenomenal experiment that worked," Manning added.
Perfect maneuvering
The spacecraft slammed into the top of Mars' atmosphere at about 12,000 miles per hour (5.4 kilometers per second). That event was followed by a series of death-defying entry, descent and landing events.
Taking all of six minutes to plummet to the martian landscape, Opportunity bounced across Mars wrapped in its cocoon of airbags before coming to a complete stop.
Opportunity landed on Mars at roughly 12:05 a.m. Sunday EST or 9:05 p.m. Saturday PST.
Early today, mission managers chose not to use an option for making a final tweak to Opportunity's flight path. Previously, as the spacecraft closed in on the planet, the third and fifth out of five scheduled maneuvers were skipped as unnecessary.
Getting to the exact entry point using only three maneuvers since Opportunity's launch was heralded early this morning by JPL's Louis D'Amario, navigation team chief for the Mars rovers.
Data is flowing
Roughly 4 hours after landing, the first images from Opportunity were being reviewed by anxious scientists staring at large screens at JPL.
"The data is flowing," cried out a voice from mission control.
As first images appeared, it was clear that the landscape was dark in color, very different from the Spirit landing site in Gusev Crater.
"It looks like a very different site, said John Callas mission science manager. "The scientists must be running wild."
Matt Wallace, MER rover Deputy Surface Development Manager, called Meridiani Planum "the promised land," and scientists here could not agree more.
Early photos
Engineering data from Opportunity showed that the crafts newly outstretched solar panels began to produce electrical power.
Early photos show no airbag problems in driving Opportunity straight ahead off its lander pedestal. But that event is not likely to occur anytime soon. A slow, methodical checkout of the spacecraft is scheduled, as was the case for the Spirit.
"Im astonishedIm blown away, said Steve Squyres, Principal Investigator for the MER effort from Cornell University. "Opportunity has touched down in a bizarre, alien landscape."
Squyres said he was hard pressed to describe what he is seeing in the first set of images. It is possible that Opportunity has come to rest in a crater, or a large depression, he explained.
Bedrock outcrop
Initial pictures show the first bedrock outcrop ever seen on Mars. "Those rocks grew up in this neighborhood," Squyres said, offering a unique historical record to what has taken place through the ages at Meridiani Planum. "What were going to find there, I dont know."
Squyres told SPACE.com he could not estimate just how far the intriguing, layered slab of rocks sits from Opportunity. "But theyre within reach," he said.
"Weve hit martian pay dirt," said Larry Soderblom, a MER science team member from the United States Geological Survey.
Other images clearly showed distinct marks in the terrain, caused by the airbag-protected craft as it bounced across the landscape. At each bounce mark, the grayish surface is disturbed revealing a vivid reddish color undercoating.
As was seen at the Spirit landing locale, the retraction of Opportunitys airbags created an odd pattern in the soil.
Hematite-rich territory
As Opportunity reached Mars, troubleshooting teams continue to work around-the-clock to get the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover back on line. It landed three weeks ago, but subsequently ran into an apparent computer glitch that halted its science gathering duties.
"We still have a sick child," said Theisinger noted. "The child isnt cured yet."
Opportunitys main task is to explore the Meridiani Planum landing site and determine whether that region could have had a past environment that was watery and possibly suitable for sustaining life.
Opportunity is on the lookout for a gray hematite. Meridiani Planum has been found by orbiting spacecraft sensors to be rich in gray hematite. This type of iron oxide usually forms in association with liquid water.
Added Squyres: "It looks like nothing that Ive ever seen in my life. Holly smokes. Ive got nothing else to say. I just want to look. Ive got no words for this."
Mars Rovers: Complete Coverage
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