[meteorite-list] NASA's Opportunity Rover Rolls Free on Mars

[Ron Baalke]

Dolores Beasley 
Headquarters, Washington                     June 6, 2005
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

Natalie Godwin 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
(Phone: 818/354-0850)

RELEASE: 05-142

NASA'S OPPORTUNITY ROVER ROLLS FREE ON MARS

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission engineers and managers 
cheered when images from the Martian surface confirmed 
Opportunity successfully escaped from a sand trap.

>From about 108 million miles away, the rover team at NASA's 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., had worked 
diligently for nearly five weeks to extricate the rover. The 
long-distance roadside assistance was a painstaking operation 
to free the six wheeled rover, which was mired in the soft 
sand of a small Martian dune.

"After a nerve wracking month of hard work, the rover team is 
both elated and relieved to finally see our wheels sitting on 
top of the sand instead of half buried in it," said Jeffrey 
Biesiadecki, a JPL rover mobility engineer.

Traction was difficult in the ripple-shaped dune of windblown 
dust and sand that Opportunity drove into on April 26. In the 
weeks following, the rover churned 629 feet worth of wheel 
rotations before gaining enough traction to actually move 
three feet. The rover team directed the drives in cautious 
increments from May 13 through last Saturday.
 
"We did careful testing for how to get Opportunity out of the 
sand. Then we patiently followed the strategy developed from 
the testing, monitoring every step of the way," Biesiadecki 
said. "We hope to have Opportunity busy with a full schedule 
of scientific exploration again shortly," he added.

Opportunity's next task is to examine the site to provide a 
better understanding of what makes that ripple different from 
the dozens of similar ones the rover easily crossed.  "After 
we analyze this area, we'll be able to plan safer driving in 
the terrain ahead," said JPL's Jim Erickson, rover project 
manager.

Both Spirit and Opportunity have worked in harsh Martian 
conditions much longer than anticipated. They have been 
studying geology on opposite sides of Mars for more than a 
year of extended missions since successfully completing their 
three-month primary missions in April 2004. 

"The first thing we're going to do is simply take a hard look 
at the stuff we were stuck in," said Dr. Steve Squyres of 
Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. He is the principal 
investigator for the Mars rovers' science instruments. "After 
that, we will begin a cautious set of moves to get us on our 
way southward again. South is where we think the best science 
is, so that's still where we want to go," he added.

Shortly after landing in January 2004, Opportunity found 
layered bedrock that bore geological evidence for a shallow 
ancient sea. Spirit did not find extensive layered bedrock 
until more than a year later, after driving more than two 
miles and climbing into a range of hills known as "Columbia 
Hills."

Images and information about the rovers and their discoveries 
are available on the Web at:

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mer_main.html

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html


-end-