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Opportunity Rover Starts Year 10 on Mars with Remarkable Science Discoveries
Image caption: Opportunity Celebrates 9 Years and 3200 Sols on Mars snapping this view panoramic view from her current location on ‘Matijevic Hill’ at Endeavour Crater. The rover discovered phyllosilicate clay minerals and calcium sulfate veins at the bright outcrops of ‘Whitewater Lake’, at right, imaged by the Navcam camera on Sol 3197 (Jan. 20, 2013). “Copper Cliff” is the dark outcrop, at top center. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer
9 Years ago, NASA’s pair of identical twin sister rovers – christened Spirit & Opportunity- bounced to daunting airbag-cushioned landings on opposite sides of the Red Planet for what was supposed to be merely 90 day missions, or maybe a little bit longer scientists hoped.
Today, Opportunity celebrates a truly unfathomable achievement, starting Year 10 on Mars since she rolled to a bumpy stop on January 24, 2004. And she’s now at a super sweet spot for science (see our photo mosaic above) loaded with clays and veined minerals and making the most remarkable findings yet about the planets watery past - thus building upon a long string of previously unthinkable discoveries due to her totally unforeseen longevity.
“Regarding achieving nine years, I never thought we’d achieve nine months!” Principal Investigator Prof. Steve Squyres of Cornell University told Universe Today for this article commemorating Opportunity’s anniversary.(…)
Read the rest of Opportunity Rover Starts Year 10 on Mars with Remarkable Science Discoveries (1,197 words)
© Ken Kremer for Universe Today, 2013. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Curiosity Rover, Mars, Mars Rovers, Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), MER, Meridiani Planum, NASA, Opportunity Rover, Search for Life, Spirit Rover
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2013-01-27 14:46:42
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