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First Panoramic Look at Opportunity's New Home

Posted on: Sunday, 25 January 2004, 06:00 CST

The first color images from Meridiani, Opportunity's landing site in a flat, volcanic plain, suggest fine-grain soil and the first bedrock ever seen on Mars.

Astrobiology Magazine -- Shortly after 1:00 am PST on Sunday morning, Opportunity sent back a stunning series of images from its new home in Meridiani Planum.

The photos not only confirmed that the rover was safe and healthy on the martian surface, but revealed a bizarre landscape unlike any other previously seen on Mars.

The landscape appears quite flat looking out toward the horizon, but detailed images show a tortured terrain that is cracked, folded and pitted. There is a sizable craggy rock outcrop directly in front of the rover, which is likely to be an early target for the rover's first traverse.

Before the images arrived, Steve Squyres, principal investigator for the mission, spoke with a group of reporters, sharing his initial thoughts about the landing site and its scientific potential.

He first addressed the rover's location, some 20 to 25 kilometers downrange from the spot scientists initially targeted.

"The place that we thought we were heading, which was a little bit long [past the original target], was very bland looking. We've overshot that by a significant amount and I think we may be into some fairly interesting stuff, in terms of geologic variety, different kinds of materials present [that are close enough for the rover to reach]".

First "we've got to figure out exactly where we are. There may not be a whole lot of landmarks on the horizon in a place like this. It's going to be an interesting challenge to figure out where we are and then decide which direction to go, but we've got time".

"The hematite concentration actually increases toward the east [the direction in which Opportunity is believed to have traveled past the original target]. So we should be deeper into the hematite where we came down than we would have been otherwise".

"We were contemplating a TCM [trajectory correction maneuver, or course correction] that would have nudged us back to the very center of the ellipse. If you look at the hematite region, there are some areas that are more geologically varied than others. There's this hematite-bearing unit, and then there's something else beneath. And the something else beneath it pokes up in some places but not in others".

"Where we targeted the original center of the ellipse was a place where there was a lot of this poking up stuff. It looked like we were going to land a little bit long [past the desired spot], which would have taken us into a place that was much more uniform - it's just the hematite-bearing stuff without a lot of the other stuff".

"As it is, we overshot that too and are back into [yet another] region that looks like it's got more of the variety. So where we ended up and where we originally put the center of the ellipse may both be equally good".

"I'm thrilled with the landing site. The thing about the Meridiani region is it's very homogeneous over a very large area, so once you get down safe and sound, you kinda can't miss."

The lure of Meridiani Planum is a mineral called hematite, a form of iron oxide. Squyres discussed the different ways that hematite can form - many of them involve water - and how the science team plans to learn about the processes that formed the hematite in Meridiani.

"There's lots of different ways you can make hematite. One is you can have these massive deposits like you form in deep-standing liquid water bodies. Then you'd expect to see the hematite uniformly through the rock".

"Another is something hydrothermal. So suppose you got hot water percolating through rocks, through cracks, and you precipitate the hematite, and we see it in veins, in fractures running through the rock. That tells a different story".

"You can form hematite as coatings on the outside of rocks, just by a thin film of liquid water. So suppose we see a hematite-bearing rock, we RAT it, we look underneath and there's no hematite. That's a coating".

"I can't tell you that this is a place where there was ever water. You can take a magnetite-bearing lava and you can oxidize it at high temperature - you get hematite, no water involved".

"The way you tell [how the hematite formed] is by asking yourself what other minerals are present. It's those other minerals, the configuration in which you find it".

"So I don't know what we're going to see. I really don't know. This was a tantalizing place to check, and we're going to check it out. And what we see is what we see. You can't go into this expecting Mars to conform to your wishes. That's asking too much of Mars. You go there and you get what Mars gives you."

And after seeing Opportunity's first photographs, Squyres was quite happy, indeed, with what Mars has given him. He can't wait to go exploring.

About the Mars Exploration Rover Mission

NASA's twin robot geologists, the Mars Exploration Rovers, launched toward Mars on June 10 and July 7, 2003, in search of answers about the history of water on Mars. Spirit landed on January 3, and Opportunity is scheduled to land on January 24, 2004.

The Mars Exploration Rover mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the red planet.

Primary among the mission's scientific goals is to search for and characterize a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars. The spacecraft are targeted to sites on opposite sides of Mars that appear to have been affected by liquid water in the past.

This 360-degree panorama is one of the first images beamed back to Earth from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shortly after it touched down at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The image was captured by the rover's navigation camera. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

This image shows one of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's first breathtaking views of the martian landscape after its successful landing at Meridiani Planum on Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows where the rover's airbag seams left impressions in the martian soil. The drag marks were made after the rover lander and its airbags were retracted. The rover can be seen in the foreground. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell

The landing sites are at Gusev Crater, a possible former lake in a giant impact crater, and Meridiani Planum, where mineral deposits (hematite) suggest Mars had a wet past.

After the airbag-protected landing craft settle onto the surface and open, the rovers will roll out to take panoramic images.

These will give scientists the information they need to select promising geological targets that will tell part of the story of water in Mars' past. Then, the rovers will drive to those locations to perform on-site scientific investigations over the course of their 90-day mission.

These are the primary science instruments to be carried by the rovers:

-- Panoramic Camera (Pancam): for determining the mineralogy, texture, and structure of the local terrain.

-- Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES): for identifying promising rocks and soils for closer examination and for determining the processes that formed Martian rocks. The instrument will also look skyward to provide temperature profiles of the Martian atmosphere.

-- Mössbauer Spectrometer (MB): for close-up investigations of the mineralogy of iron-bearing rocks and soils.

-- Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS): for close-up analysis of the abundances of elements that make up rocks and soils.

-- Magnets: for collecting magnetic dust particles. The Mössbauer Spectrometer and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer will analyze the particles collected and help determine the ratio of magnetic particles to non-magnetic particles. They will also analyze the composition of magnetic minerals in airborne dust and rocks that have been ground by the Rock Abrasion Tool.

-- Microscopic Imager (MI): for obtaining close-up, high-resolution images of rocks and soils.

-- Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT): for removing dusty and weathered rock surfaces and exposing fresh material for examination by instruments onboard.

A goal for the rover is to drive up to 40 meters (about 44 yards) in a single day, for a total of up to one 1 kilometer (about three-quarters of a mile).

Moving from place to place, the rovers will perform on-site geological investigations. Each rover is sort of the mechanical equivalent of a geologist walking the surface of Mars. The mast-mounted cameras are mounted 1.5 meters(5 feet) high and will provide 360-degree, stereoscopic, humanlike views of the terrain.

The robotic arm will be capable of movement in much the same way as a human arm with an elbow and wrist, and will place instruments directly up against rock and soil targets of interest.

In the mechanical "fist" of the arm is a microscopic camera that will serve the same purpose as a geologist's handheld magnifying lens. The Rock Abrasion Tool serves the purpose of a geologist's rock hammer to expose the insides of rocks.

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