09-28-2006, 21:56 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Moderator
Join Date: 11-10-04
Location: Te Ika a Maui
Country: 
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Opportunity: just amazing
Considering these machines were designed to have a 9 month life span, the fact they're still rolling on is just amazing.
Quote:
Mars rover reaches edge of 1-km-wide crater
Updated Thu. Sep. 28 2006 2:14 PM ET
Brian Jackson, DiscoveryChannel.ca
NASA's Mars rover Opportunity has reached its gigantic destination after 21 months of travel.
It sits on the precipice of Victoria Crater, the largest such landform it has yet encountered on the Red Planet.
Victoria is five times wider than Endurance Crater, which Opportunity spent six months exploring.
A photo showing the rover's first glimpse into the crater's depths reveals bare, exposed, rocky walls surrounding a sandy bottom shaped into various dunes and ripples. Rocky peaks reaching 70 metres high mark the crater's edge.
Overjoyed at arrival
"This is a geologist's dream come true," says rover mission principal investigator Steve Squyres in a release. "Those layers of rock, if we can get to them, will tell us new stories about the environmental conditions long ago."
Thus far, the Mars rovers' prize achievement has been the confirmation that large amounts of water once existed on Mars. Now that Opportunity is rolling to greater depths, it can delve further back into the planet's geological history. That includes finding out how long water existed on the now-desert planet.
Extreme overtime
Many scientists have been surprised at the rovers' long life and usefulness. Both Opportunity and its twin Spirit landed on Mars in early 2004 and are both still rolling.
Their original lifespans were 90 days each.
Most important mission yet
Some scientists are calling Victoria the most important part of the mission. But NASA will have to work quickly to get started.
Mars will be on the opposite side of the Sun - relative to Earth - for much of October. That will make radio communication with the rovers difficult.
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