[meteorite-list] Rover Status Report: Opportunity Takes a Dip Into Victoria Crater

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-99b

Rover Status Report: Opportunity Takes a Dip Into Victoria Crater
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
September 11, 2007

Today, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity entered Victoria 
Crater for the first time. It radioed home information via a relay 
by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter, reporting its activities for the 
day. Opportunity drove far enough in -- about four meters (13 feet) 
-- to get all six wheels past the crater rim. Then it backed uphill 
for about three meters (10 feet). The driving commands for the day 
included a precaution for the rover to stop driving if its wheels 
were slipping more than 40 percent. Slippage exceeded that amount 
on the last step of the drive, so Opportunity stopped with its 
front pair of wheels still inside the crater.

"We will do a full assessment of what we learned from the drive 
today and use that information to plan Opportunity's descent into 
the crater," said John Callas, rover project manager at NASA's Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Once Opportunity begins 
its extended exploration inside the crater, the rover will 
investigate layered rocks exposed on the interior slope.


Media contact: Guy Webster/JPL
818-354-6278