Spirit robot rolls out for short drive on Mars

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2004

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US spirit robot received instructions from NASA to roll off its landing platform onto Martian soil for a brief, three meter (10-foot) excursion, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said.

The order to drive off was given around 0800 GMT Thursday, NASA officials said on their television channel.

Once off the platform, the robot paused to realign its camera and transmission antenna before proceeding on its scheduled drive, the officials said.

It was not clear when the robot would initiate its scheduled three-meter trek across the Martian landscape.

A NASA official said scientists were waiting for data from Spirit to determine how it fared in its descent off the landing platform.

The immediate objective of...