[meteorite-list] Mars Rovers Advance Understanding of the Red Planet

[Ron Baalke]

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Guy Webster (818) 354-6278   
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
											
George Deutsch/ Erica Hupp	(202) 358-1324/ 1237
NASA Headquarters, Washington 					 

News Release: 2006-015           		 Jan. 24, 2006    
                                                            
Mars Rovers Advance Understanding of the Red Planet

NASA's Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been working 
overtime to help scientists better understand ancient environmental 
conditions on the red planet. The rovers are also generating 
excitement about the exploration of Mars outlined in NASA's 
Vision for Space Exploration.

The rovers continue to find new variations of bedrock in areas 
they are exploring on opposite sides of Mars. The geological 
information they have collected adds evidence about ancient 
Martian environments that included periods of wet, possibly 
habitable conditions. 

"The extended journeys taken by the two rovers across the surface 
of Mars has allowed the science community to continue to uncover 
discoveries that will enable new investigations of the red planet 
far into the future." said Mary Cleave, associate administrator 
for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters.

NASA's third mission extension for the rovers lasts through 
September 2006, if they remain usable that long. During their 
three-month primary missions, the rovers drove farther and 
examined more rocks than the prescribed criteria for success.

Opportunity begins its third year on Mars today. It is examining 
bedrock exposures along a route between "Endurance" and "Victoria" 
craters. Opportunity found evidence of a long-ago habitat of 
standing water on Mars.

On Jan. 3, Spirit passed its second anniversary inside the 
Connecticut-sized Gusev Crater. Initially, Spirit did not find 
evidence of much water, and hills that might reveal more about 
Gusev's past were still mere bumps on the horizon. By operating 
eight times as long as planned, Spirit was able to climb up those 
hills, examine a wide assortment of rocks and find mineral 
fingerprints of ancient water. 

While showing signs of wear, Spirit and Opportunity are still 
being used to their maximum remaining capabilities. On Spirit, the 
teeth of the rover's rock abrasion tool are too worn to grind the 
surface off any more rocks, but its wire-bristle brush can still 
remove loose coatings. The tool was designed to uncover three rocks, 
but it exposed interiors of 15 rocks.  On Opportunity, the steering 
motor for the front right wheel stopped working eight months ago. A 
motor at the shoulder joint of the rover's robotic arm shows 
symptoms of a broken wire in the motor winding. Opportunity can still 
maneuver with its three other steerable wheels. Its shoulder motor 
still works when given extra current, and the arm is still useable 
without that motor. 

The rovers are two of five active robotic missions at Mars, which 
include NASA's Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor and the European 
Space Agency's Mars Express orbiters. The orbiters and surface 
missions complement each other in many ways. Observations by the rovers 
provide ground-level understanding for interpreting global observations 
by the orbiters. In addition to their own science missions, the 
orbiters relay data from Mars.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a division of the 
California Institute of Technology, manages the Mars Exploration Rover, 
Odyssey and Global Surveyor projects for NASA's Science Mission 
Directorate. 

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

http://www.nasa.gov/home

For images and information about the rovers and their discoveries 
on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mars

-end-