NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity to land on Mars

IF ALL GOES WELL, two six-wheel NASA land rovers named Spirit and Opportunity will arrive in the vicinity of Mars on January 4 and 25, 2004, respectively. Then, after successful landings and deployments, they will go to work as robotic geologists, one on

either side of the planet, to find out how much water might have been present in the past. The rover Spirit is to explore a region inside the Gusev Crater, while the rover Opportunity will examine an area known as Meridiani Planum. In addition to many different instruments, both rovers are equipped with cameras and an instrument called the rock abrasion tool to scrape materials off rock faces to expose their insides for inspection.

NASA rover Spirit was launched aboard a Boeing Delta II on June 10, 2003, while Opportunity was sent aloft on July 7. The latter, also sent aloft by a Delta II, was launched about a week late because of a number of nagging glitches, including unacceptable weather conditions. The Mars Exploration Rover (MER-A, Spirit and MER-B, Opportunity) vehicles were launched from Launch Complex 17A (MER-A) and 17-B (MER-B), Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Although Opportunity was launched late, it is still scheduled to arrive at the red planet on January 25, 2004.

-Steve Pace

Copyright Air Age Publishing Dec 2003
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