News & Politics - NASA's Spirit closes in on Mars

Raonaild · 01-02-2004, 02:46 PM

Here we go again:

Quote:

Tense Times as Spirit Closes In On Mars

PASADENA, California -- Hundreds of scientists and engineers are gathering here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to take part in the touch down of Spirit -- the first of two look-alike mobile landers.

The six-wheeled, golf-cart sized robot is to reach the surface of Mars on Saturday, January 3, at about 8:35 p.m., Pacific Standard Time.

The spacecraft�s trajectory is so precise that ground controllers opted not to perform a correction maneuver called TCM A5, and may forgo a final adjustment to Spirit�s targeting into Gusev Crater.

Spirit's twin, Opportunity, is also on course and will reach Mars three weeks later.

Akin to making a "hole in one" after Spirit has flown over millions of miles, ground control team members at JPL want to make a bulls-eye landing within Gusev Crater, a 90-mile (145-kilometer) wide feature likely formed three to four billion years ago as a result of an impacting asteroid.

Gusev is considered a dry and ancient lakebed, complete with a channel system that most probably carried liquid water, or water and ice, into the crater.

Spirit in the sky

The Gusev landscape has been eyed for years by Nathalie Cabrol, a planetary scientist at NASA�s Ames Research Center. She was a key advocate for having a Mars Exploration Rover touch down at Gusev, and eagerly awaits the first "ground level" panorama from Spirit�s camera.

"Yes, this is getting very close now," Cabrol told SPACE.com . "At the present time�interestingly enough, I am not nervous at all. I guess, there is nothing we can do except pray!"

"I find myself often thinking how big Mars should be by now in Spirit's �eyes� and it is a wonderful thing to be thinking about," Cabrol said. "I would like to be there, and just see Gusev becoming bigger and bigger in the last moments before landing," she said.

Aerial show

As Spirit dives through the Martian atmosphere, a complex set of actions must occur in rapid-fire order, such as: Unfurling a critical parachute, heatshield separation, radar scans of the approaching terrain, retro-rocket firings, and the inflation of a huge set of airbags to cushion the lander from repeat bounces before coming to full-stop on Mars.

To a person standing on the surface of Mars, that aerial show would be an eye-catcher for sure.

"I wish I could be sitting on Gusev floor and see Spirit landing, bouncing and finally come to rest on this place I have been thinking about so much in the past 13 years," Cabrol said. "With God�s help, in few days from now, we will see the first images of Gusev and I feel extremely privileged. For a planetary geologist, and for the time being, this is as close as one can get to being in the field on Mars."

First signal

As Spirit hurdles toward Gusev Crater, the spacecraft will initially communicate with Earth through a series of simple tones, letting controllers on Earth know the craft has completed various phases of its entry, descent, and landing.

The Deep Space Network (DSN) antennas on Earth could hear from Spirit Saturday night, but may not receive the first signal from a healthy spacecraft until Sunday evening.

Within the first 24 hours, Spirit will have several chances to communicate with Earth both directly to the DSN and through NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter and NASA's Odyssey orbiter.

Both orbiters are now circling Mars, collecting science about the planet. They will each fly over Spirit's landing site within Gusev Crater, throughout the mission.

Growing planetary junkyard

Meanwhile, the enigmatic world appears to have claimed yet another robotic explorer. Mum�s the word from the British-built Beagle 2. It dropped onto Mars� surface more than a week ago.

Repeated attempts to contact the lander have not been successful. Beagle 2 was targeted to land on Isidis Planitia, a large flat region that overlies the boundary between the ancient highlands and the northern plains.

While the British stiff-upper-lip is clearly in full bloom, the chances that the impressive science package is alive and well seem to be fading away, day by day.

If lost to Mars, the Beagle is one more piece of hardware heaped atop a growing planetary junkyard of earlier failed U.S. and Russian Mars missions that dot the planet.

"Death Planet"

"Mars has been a most daunting destination. Some, including myself, call it the �Death Planet�," noted Edward Weiler, associate administrator for NASA�s space science programs during a recent press briefing. "Just getting to Mars is hard�but landing is even more so," he added.

NASA�s Deep Space Network has contributed search time for the missing lander. But now the DSN is increasingly busier handling the links for both Spirit, as well as the NASA Stardust mission that is closing in on Comet Wild-2 for a January 2 flyby.

The next opportunity for retrieval of a signal from Beagle 2 will be with the European Space Agency�s (ESA) Mars Express in the New Year. ESA�s Mars Express is the orbiter that deployed the Beagle 2 and is now circling the planet.

ESA ground teams recently nudged the Mars Express from an equatorial orbit into a polar orbit around Mars.

That change of orbit will allow increasingly closer looks at the Beagle 2 landing site.

If Beagle 2 did successfully make it to the surface of the red planet intact, the reduced distance, the ideal angle of overflight and the pre-tested communications link between the 'mother' craft and its 'baby' Beagle 2 will increase the probability of catching signals from the lander.
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches...te_040102.html

That's just crazy ... two-thirds of all Mars landings were unsuccessful. This is why a manned mission to Mars is so unlikely anytime soon.

Incidentally, a live webcast of the landing tomorrow will be available from here: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/features/mars/mars.html

[ 01-02-2004: Message edited Raonaild ]

Raonaild · 01-04-2004, 02:21 AM

Quote:

That's the Spirit! Mars Rover Lands Safely on Mars

PASADENA, California -- After some seven months of interplanetary travel, NASA�s Mars rover, Spirit, has rolled to a full stop on the surface of the Red Planet.

"Sit back and enjoy the landing," said one controller as Spirit slashed through Mars' atmosphere. Ground controllers received a series of tones that showed the entry, descent and landing went by the book.

Bursts of applause broke out of mission control as the spacecraft began to feel the heat from atmospheric entry. Follow-on signals from Spirit told Earth operations that the parachute was fully deployed, with radar locking onto the Martian surface as the craft raced toward the surface.

Signals received from Spirit indicated that the spacecraft was alive on the ground and bouncing, perhaps bounding across the rocky terrain for several miles.

After a lengthy wait for confirmation that Spirit had survived its plunge onto Mars came the word: "We got it" came the word from Spirit's mission control Center.

"We have a very strong signal from the rover," said Robert Manning, Entry, Landing and Descent Manager. Initial word was that the Spirit had landed in the most favorable position for later unfolding of the Rover and its eventual first traverse onto the planet's surface.

That lander position makes retracting the airbags, and the opening of lander pedals a fairly simple operation.

Initial thoughts are that a first image from the rover may well be available later tonight.
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches...ds_040103.html

I watched the NASA TV broadcast of the landing ... there were 10 pretty tense moments there when the people in the control room waited to re-establish that signal. But everyone was ecstatic when it did, and then just now when the first pictures were processed and everything looked very good.

I actually had a touch of deja vu watching that part. It reminded me of when ESA received their first images after the launch of the satellite I've been working with, and I was the one driving the computer when the first images were processed. It worked beautifully on the first try, and within minutes the lab was packed with excited ESA staff crowded around my workstation looking at the first pictures.

twinkie*princess · 01-04-2004, 03:50 PM

I guess everything was measured in the same system this time. =P haha

I'm just glad it landed and was successful. No need to crash more millions into Mars.

capesidefan · 01-04-2004, 09:21 PM

the eagle has landed

SuperDeluxe · 01-04-2004, 09:44 PM

Great news for NASA, after a bad year.

one bird is in, hopefully the next one will land good too.

mh67511 · 01-05-2004, 01:37 AM

Did they find any aliens yet?

Raonaild · 01-13-2004, 12:41 AM

The latest update on this is that they've found some indications of water:

Quote:

Mars rover gets first hints of water

The Mars rover Spirit has not even left its landing platform yet, but mission managers say some of its major scientific goals are already well on the way to being realised. Most importantly, Spirit has detected tantalising signs of minerals that could provide the long-sought evidence of Mars's watery past.

The first images taken by the craft's mini-Thermal Emission Spectrometer - an infrared instrument capable of indicating the composition of nearby soils and rocks - show evidence of carbonates and hydrated minerals. Both of these are usually, though not exclusively, produced in long-standing bodies of water.

The spectra taken by Spirit have been compared with those from a spacecraft orbiting Mars and from reference spectra taken in laboratories on Earth. "We're ecstatic about how well these match," says Phil Christensen, of Arizona State University, who designed of the instrument.

The Mars Global Surveyor orbiter had already detected carbonates using a similar TES but the concentrations in some parts of Spirit's vicinity appear to be at least twice as great. Most importantly, they are now within reach, making it possible in coming weeks to examine their nature in detail.

Possible clays

Spirit's first mini-TES images are averaged over a relatively wide field of view - so wide that virtually no individual rocks in the lander's vicinity are big enough to fill it.

But its 167 spectral channels of resolution have already made it clear that there is a variety of rock types near to the rover. The images also show distinct units of soil types as well. These will provide plenty of targets for the rover to study up close with its suite of instruments, which include a rock-grinder and microscope and a Mossbauer spectrometer.

Among the TES signatures seen so far are silicates and carbonates, and signs of some kind of hydrated minerals, "possibly clay minerals", says Christensen.

The latter would be "really exciting", says Michael Carr, an expert on the geology of Mars at Cornell University. "If we find a clay rock, that would be an absolute clincher" that this was indeed a place where bodies of liquid water existed over a long period, he told New Scientist. Water is believed to be a pre-requisite for life.

Roll off

Whatever kind of environment Spirit has landed in, it is clear that it is very different from any of the three previous Mars landing sites explored by Vikings 1 and 2 and Pathfinder.

For example, those plains all had about 20 per cent of their surfaces covered with rocks. Around Spirit, the figure is just three per cent. That is good news for being able to drive the rover easily around and study many different targets.

Over the weekend, Spirit was unfolded to its full 150 centimetre height. It will make a 120� turn and is expected to roll onto the surface late on Wednesday 14 January (PST). Its first readings on the soil should come on Thursday, and perhaps its first data on a rock late on Friday night.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994554

~*Johanna*~ · 01-13-2004, 04:48 PM

Wow. It still amazes me how far we've come in space exploration...and yet at the same time, how little we know. <---Humans, I mean. Not me personally. lol. i'm glad the mission was safe.

[img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Raonaild · 01-22-2004, 12:28 PM

Quote:

NASA: Spirit Rover Not Sending Data

PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Spirit rover stopped transmitting data from Mars for more than 24 hours, mission managers said Thursday, calling it an "extremely serious anomaly."

NASA last heard from Spirit early Wednesday, its 18th day on Mars. Since then, it has only sporadically returned random, meaningless radio noise, scientists said. Initially, the scientists believed weather problems on Earth caused the glitch. They said they now believe the rover is experiencing hardware or software problems.

"This is a serious problem. This is an extremely serious anomaly," project manager Pete Theisinger said.

Spirit is one half of a $820 million mission. Its twin, Opportunity, is scheduled to land on Mars on Saturday.

NASA last heard from Spirit as it prepared to continue its work examining its first rock, just a few yards from its lander.

Since then, Spirit has transmitted just a few beeps to Earth in response to attempts to communicate with it. It also has skipped several scheduled communications opportunities, either directly with Earth or by way of two NASA satellites in orbit around Mars.

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory worked to pinpoint the yet-unknown problem.

"It's not clear there is one cause ... that would explain the observables we're seeing," deputy project manager Richard Cook said.

Preliminary indications from the spacecraft suggest its radio is working and it continues to generate power from the sun with its solar panels, Cook said.

It was unclear if the problem was with the rover's software or hardware, Theisinger said.

NASA can fix software from Earth, beaming fixes across more than 100 million miles of space. If the problem lies with the rover's hardware, the situation would be far more grave, Theisinger said.

The six-wheeled robot had been scheduled Thursday to grind away a tiny area of the weathered face of a sharply angled rock dubbed Adirondack. Examination of the rock beneath could offer clues to Mars' geologic past. Spirit has since remained immobile, Cook said.

On Wednesday, NASA scientists said a thunderstorm near a Deep Space Network radio antenna in Canberra, Australia disrupted controllers' efforts to initiate the drilling. It has since discounted the weather as the source of the communications blackout.

Spirit landed on Mars on Jan. 3 for a three-month mission to search Gusev Crater, a rock-strewn stretch of dusty, streaked soil that scientists believe may be the bed of an ancient lake. If Mars once had surface water, it had the potential to support life.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._sc/mars_rover

SuperDeluxe · 01-22-2004, 12:51 PM

I think someone on mars didnt take to kindly of spirit..and 'shut' him off [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

JohannafromIHJ · 01-22-2004, 06:45 PM

The aliens are eating the machines we send there, I know they are. Soon they'll come here and be all "Why the hell are you sick people sending things to spy on us? PERVS!"

Raonaild · 01-24-2004, 01:29 PM

Marvin is angry [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Quote:

Spirit Relays Self-Examination Data Back to Earth

PASADENA, Calif. -- While engineers here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) try to sort out what ails the Spirit Mars rover, the robot patient is at least lending a helping hand in the diagnosis.

Shortly before noon yesterday, Spirit did on its own what it had been told not to do. Ground controllers here were surprised to receive a spurt of data from Spirit via the Mars Odyssey orbiter -- a NASA spacecraft circling the red planet.

Spirit sent 73 megabits at a rate of 128 kilobits per second. That unexpected transmission included power subsystem engineering data -- extremely helpful to software and hardware teams trying to grapple with Spirit�s onboard woes.

Last picture show

Still locked within Spirit�s memory is science data, including its "last picture show" -- such as images taken by the robot from its position near a science target -- the football-sized rock that scientists have nicknamed "Adirondack".

Preparations were underway to scientifically inspect Adirondack�s makeup, as well as use the robot�s Rock Abrasion Tool, or RAT, to probe the internal composition of the object.

Also received within the Spirit data via Mars Odyssey were several frames of "fill data". These are sets of intentionally random numbers that do not provide information.

Reboot, reboot, reboot

Despite repeated "go to bed" orders from controllers here at JPL, the Spirit rover refuses to listen to parental command. It did not go to sleep even after ground controllers sent commands twice for it to do so.

Spirit had not communicated successfully through Odyssey since the rover's communications difficulties began last Wednesday.

At a press briefing yesterday, JPL�s Peter Theisinger, rover project manager, said Spirit's flight software is not functioning normally. It appears to have rebooted the rover's computer more than 60 times in the past three days.

Spirit problem: too many chiefs?

Despite the new engineering information from Spirit relayed via the Mars Odyssey, what troubles Spirit is still unknown.

There is a growing feeling here that the robot may have been taxed too much - that is, too many "do this, do that" instructions were sent. That multi-tasking could have sparked the problem, according to sources here.

Prior to its troubles on Mars, Spirit was being put through its paces -- doing things that were not tested with as much vigor here at JPL before being launched.

Spirit does not have a huge track record of testing, a source said, for fear of damaging the robot and not meeting an unforgiving launch window.

Theisinger said that the prospects for quick restoration of Spirit is not in the cards, a situation that could be the case for many days, into weeks -- even in the best of circumstances.

"We believe, based on everything we know now, we can sustain the current state of the spacecraft from a health standpoint for an indefinite amount of time," Theisinger said. That will give troubleshooting teams time to work on the problem.

Window of Opportunity

While experts attempt to mend Spirit, sister ship Opportunity arrives at Mars tonight, landing at 12:05 a.m. EST. That robot is headed for a landing spot on the opposite side of the planet from Spirit � Meridiani Planum.

Meridiani Planum promises to offer a landscape unlike that seen by any previous lander. This smooth, flat region of Mars is within an Oklahoma-sized outcropping of gray hematite.

That mineral can form in the presence of water. Opportunity�s scientific gear is expected to resolve whether the gray hematite layer comes from sediments of a long-gone ocean, from volcanic deposits altered by hot water, or from other ancient environmental conditions.

Scientists also think that this region could offer clues as to the habitability of Mars by microbial life at some point in the planet�s past.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches...ay_040124.html

In other Mars-related news, ESA's Mars Express satellite was taking pictures this week once again confirming the presence of water on the planet: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3426539.stm

Still, as far as I'm concerned, pictures like these are all indirect measurements that can indicate, but not conclusively confirm, the presence of water. Until a direct measurement is made by some device that manages to land on the planet and take a sample that proves this, I think there will always be doubt.

SuperDeluxe · 01-26-2004, 01:23 PM

Oppurtunity lands safely, Spirit is revived!

Yay!


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