Opportunity to climb out of crater
Posted: Thu, Aug 28, 2008, 8:04 AM ET (1204 GMT)
NASA's Mars rover Opportunity will soon exit a crater it has been exploring for nearly a year, in part as a precaution as the rover ages. Opportunity has spent nearly a year inside Victoria Crater, examining exposed rock layers within the crater that has provided scientists with insights to the planet's history. The rover will exit the crater at the same place it entered and return to the plains around it, studying rocks in the region. Part of the reason for having Opportunity leave the crater is a electrical current spike recently detected in one of the rover's six wheels; a similar spike in Spirit came just before the affected wheel was disabled. Project officials said Opportunity could probably not leave the crater on just five wheels. Spirit, meanwhile, has survived another Martian winter although it will not begin to move again for a few months, when solar energy reaches sufficient levels.
NASA's Mars rover Opportunity will soon exit a crater it has been exploring for nearly a year, in part as a precaution as the rover ages. Opportunity has spent nearly a year inside Victoria Crater, examining exposed rock layers within the crater that has provided scientists with insights to the planet's history. The rover will exit the crater at the same place it entered and return to the plains around it, studying rocks in the region. Part of the reason for having Opportunity leave the crater is a electrical current spike recently detected in one of the rover's six wheels; a similar spike in Spirit came just before the affected wheel was disabled. Project officials said Opportunity could probably not leave the crater on just five wheels. Spirit, meanwhile, has survived another Martian winter although it will not begin to move again for a few months, when solar energy reaches sufficient levels.| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, August 26
Russia’s Starlink Rival “Rassvet” Is Falling—One Satellite Gone, Two More May Be Next
United24 Media — 7:13 am ET (1113 GMT) Zelenskyy Gives Musk State Honor as Ukraine Lobbies for Starlink
Bloomberg News — 7:12 am ET (1112 GMT) Genie Space Edge Processor Achieves Space Heritage with Successful U.S. Space Force Mission
PR Newswire — 7:11 am ET (1111 GMT) China and Russia are nipping at America’s heels in the new space race
Washington Post — 7:11 am ET (1111 GMT) 6,500 Earth Observation Satellites Will Be Launched by 2035 as Next Defense Frontier
Military.com — 7:11 am ET (1111 GMT) |
