M2K4 Roaming the Red Planet -Why Mars/ Mission to Mars
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Mission to Mars
The Mars Exploration Program continues NASA's quest to understand the role of water on Mars by placing roving robotic geologists on the surface of the planet. The first rover, Spirit, will arrive on Jan. 4, 2004, with the second, Opportunity, following on Jan. 25. Both rovers, equipped with scientific instruments, will analyze rocks and soils for three months looking for clues to wet environments from the planet's past as recorded in the rocks and soils.
The rovers will bounce to airbag-cushioned landings at locations carefully selected for evidence of possible water activity in the long-distant martian past. Spirit will land at Gusev Crater, which appears to have been a crater lake flooded by means of a long channel of an ancient riverbed, indicating water flowed into it. Opportunity will go to a site called Meridiani Planum, near the martian equator, halfway around the planet from Gusev. The smooth landscape is rich in gray hematite, a mineral that on Earth usually forms in a wet environment, or at least in association with liquid water.
For power, each six-wheeled robot will rely on a deck of solar panels -- about
the size of a kitchen table. As the rovers roam the surface searching for interesting
rocks, each can detect hazards and maneuver around them. The rover extends an
arm with tools on the end to inspect the selected rock. A microscopic imager,
like a geologist's hand lens, gives a close-up view of the rock's texture. Two
spectrometers will identify the composition and mineral make-up of the rock.
The fourth tool, which acts like a geologist's hammer, exposes the interior
of the rock by scraping away the weathered surface layer.