Amazing longevity for the Mars Rover Opportunity!
Pluto is taking most of the news reals right now and there are several other space projects in the works for the near future as well as further out. But what’s happening (or what happened) to the Mars Rover?
Well … this video (and associated article) discussed that exact topic. The article and video can be found on the Nasa site itself, or you can find just the video on YouTube, which is included below for you.
Before you jump over there, note that this isn’t one of those Hollywood, max graphics, snazzy computer generated films. This is actual photo footage from Rover, right from Mars itself. It’s in black and white using time-lapse photography so no single image sticks around for very long.
Having said that (and the latest theories about finding a perfect pyramid on Mars not-withstanding), it sure kept me glued to the computer screen. I even had to rewind a couple sections just to make sure I didn’t miss something.
And if you go to the actual Nasa site itself (see link to full article below), there are a host of other photos, articles and analysis on and about Mars.
Well worth the viewing …
Road trip! This compilation of images from hazard-avoidance cameras on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity between January 2004 and April 2015 shows the rover’s-eye-view of the Martian marathon covering 26.2 miles(42.2 kilometers) from its landing location. A map of the rover’s path is on the right.
….. The rover is working about half a football field’s length away from entering the western end of “Marathon Valley,” a notch in the raised rim of Endeavour Crater, which is about 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter. Opportunity landed on Mars in 2004 and has been studying the rim of Endeavour since 2011.
…… Marathon Valley stretches about three football fields long, aligned generally east-west. Observations of the valley using the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have detected exposures of clay minerals holding evidence about ancient wet environmental conditions. Researchers plan to use Opportunity to investigate relationships among these clay-bearing deposits.
…… the mission’s initial activities for a few days after emerging from the solar conjunction period are to examine rocks in and near a band of reddish material at the northern edge of an elongated crater called “Spirit of St. Louis.” During the driving moratorium, the rover used the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer on the end of its robotic arm to assess the chemical composition of a target in this red zone.
…… NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Project landed twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity on Mars in 2004 to begin missions planned to last three months. Both rovers far exceeded those plans. Spirit worked for six years, and Opportunity is still active. Findings about ancient wet environments on Mars have come from both rovers. The project is one element of NASA’s ongoing and future Mars missions preparing for a human mission to the planet in the 2030s. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
Last Updated: July 20, 2015
Editor: Tony Greicius
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