NASA Spacecraft Closes in on Mars
Posted on: Saturday, 3 January 2004, 06:00 CST
A NASA spacecraft was closing in on Mars, carrying a six-wheeled vehicle that is to roam the Red Planet's rocky surface in search of geologic evidence that Mars was once suitable for life.
The spacecraft cradling the Spirit rover was scheduled to land Saturday night on Mars, alighting in an ancient crater just south of the planet's equator.
At the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, members of the mission braced themselves for the unmanned spacecraft's anticipated landing on Mars' ruddy surface.
"We have done everything we know to do to ensure these missions will be a success," said JPL director Charles Elachi, adding there were no guarantees. A safe landing, other members of the mission said, would depend on Mars.
"One gust of wind or one pointy rock means we could have a bad night," said Steve Squyres, the mission's main scientist.
Previously, one in three attempts to land spacecraft on Mars have failed.
"It's an incredibly difficult place to land. Some have called it the 'death planet' for good reason," said Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for space science.
NASA could hear from Spirit within 10 minutes of landing, but spotty communications could also delay confirmation and transmission of the rover's first pictures for up to 24 hours.
"It could be a long wait," Squyres said.
If NASA does not hear from it by late Sunday, "We are in serious trouble," project manager Pete Theisinger said.
The $820 million project also includes a twin rover, Opportunity, which is set to arrive on Mars on Jan. 24.
The camera- and instrument-laden rovers were designed to spend 90 days analyzing Martian rocks and soil for clues that could reveal whether the Red Planet was ever a warmer, wetter place capable of sustaining life.
Today, Mars is a dry and cold world. But ancient river channels and other water-carved features spied from orbit suggest that Mars may have had a more hospitable past.
"We see these intriguing hints Mars may have been a different place long ago," Squyres said.
The rovers were not designed to look for life. Instead, NASA built them to prospect for evidence that liquid water - a necessary ingredient for life - once persisted on the surface of the planet. A direct search for life on Mars is at least a decade away, NASA scientists said.
Together, the twin robots were launched in the most intensive scientific assault on another planetary body since the Apollo missions to the moon, said Orlando Figueroa, director of NASA's Mars exploration program.
NASA launched the 384-pound Spirit and its twin in hopes they would become the fourth and fifth U.S. spacecraft to survive landing on Mars. Twenty other spacecraft from various nations have failed.
NASA's last attempt at landing on Mars, in 1999, failed when a software glitch sent the Polar Lander crashing to the ground. Since then, the space agency has increased oversight of its missions.
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On the Net: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html
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