Opportunity’s Odometer Rolls Past Twenty Miles
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In what was originally planned as a three month mission, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has traveled over twenty miles on the surface of Mars during the past seven years – over 50 times the mission’s original distance goal.
On July 17th Opportunity’s scheduled run of just over 400 feet took Opportunity past the twenty mile mark. The drive took Opportunity closer to the rim of Endeavour crater, which has been the rover’s destination since 2008. At a diameter of around fourteen miles, Endeavour’s western rim exposes outcrops that record information older than any Opportunity has examined so far. Currently, Opportunity is less than a mile away from the rim of Endeavour crater.
In a NASA press release, Alfonso Herrera, a rover mission manager at NASA’s JPL adds:
“The numbers aren’t really as important as the fact that driving so much farther than expected during this mission has put a series of exciting destinations within Opportunity’s reach,“
Part of what makes Opportunity’s journey so interesting to scientists is the rover’s “autonomous” hazard detection systems.
Herrera adds, “Autonomous hazard detection has added a significant portion of the driving distance over the past few months. It lets us squeeze 10 to 15 percent more distance into each drive.“Herrera has been a part of the MER missions since before the 2003 launch from Earth.
Despite a failing right front wheel, Opportunity has been able to continue it’s trek towards Endeavour crater using a number of techniques, such as driving backwards.
Regarding Opportunity’s minor mechanical issues, JPL’s Bill Nelson, chief of the mission’s engineering team, said:
“Opportunity has an arthritic shoulder joint on her robotic arm and is a little lame in the right front wheel, but she is otherwise doing remarkably well after seven years on Mars — more like 70 in ‘rover years.’ The elevated right front wheel current is a concern, but a combination of heating and backwards driving has kept it in check over the past 2,000-plus sols.“
Both Opportunity and Spirit, finished their initial three-month missions in April 2004. After the initial mission, both rovers operated for years during “extended” missions. March 2010 marked the final communication with the Spirit rover. Spirit had become “stuck” in the martian soil and was unable to position itself for favorable sunlight to it’s solar panels. While the exact cause of Spirit’s failure to communicate is unknown, researchers and engineers speculate the rover’s sensitive electronics did not fare well during the martian winter. If you’d like to learn more about the MER mission, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/rovers
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to record this eastward view after completing a drive on July 17, 2011, that took the rover’s total driving distance on Mars beyond 20 miles. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Source:NASA/JPL Press Release
Ray Sanders is a Sci-Fi geek, astronomer and blogger. Currently researching variable stars at Arizona State University, he writes for Universe Today, The Planetary Society blog, and his own blog, Dear Astronomer
2012-12-04 08:06:24
Source: http://www.dearastronomer.com/2011/07/20/opportunitys-odometer-rolls-past-twenty-miles/
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