Mars rover digs trench on Red Planet

Mars rover digs trench on Red Planet

PASADENA, the United States, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) — NASA scientists said on Tuesday that Mars rover Opportunity successfully dug an 8- centimeter trench on the Red Planet using one of its front wheels.

Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab here said the rover’s digging with its right front wheel was expected to end at 10:19 p. m. Monday US Pacific Standard Time (0519 GMT Tuesday).

The six-wheeled rover also made observations with its navigation camera to help prepare for the drive to a target of interest later this week, NASA said.

The Opportunity is expected to finish a thorough examination of the freshly exposed layers of dirt and ground inside the trench.

In doing the examination, the rover will use its microscopic imager, a spectrometer and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer to take parallel science measurements and compare with those with measurements made during pre-trench activities, NASA said.

On the other side of Mars, Opportunity’s twin rover, Spirit, covered another 21.6 meters, bringing its total travel distance to a record 108 meters.