03-March-2005, 02:59 PM
|
 |
Vulcan Administrator
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Greenbelt, MD
Posts: 24,460
|
|
March 2 press release on rovers
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsr...20050302a.html
Quote:
|
Opportunity set a one-day distance record for martian driving, 177.5 meters (582 feet), on Feb. 19. That was the first day of a three-day plan transmitted to the rover as a combined set of weekend instructions. During the preceding week, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory had sent Opportunity and Spirit an upgrade of the rovers' software, onboard intelligence the rovers use for carrying out day-to-day commands.
|
Quote:
As Spirit struggled up the slope approaching the ridgeline, the rover's wheels churned up soil that grabbed scientists' attention. "This was an absolutely serendipitous discovery," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the rovers' science instruments. "We said, 'My gosh, that soil looks very bright. Before we go away, we should at least take a taste."
The bright patch of disturbed soil, dubbed "Paso Robles," has the highest salt concentration of any rock or soil ever examined on Mars. Combined information gained from inspecting it with Spirit's three spectrometers and panoramic camera suggests its main ingredient is an iron sulfate salt with water molecules bound into the mineral. The soil patch is also rich in phosphorus, but not otherwise like a high-phosphorus rock, called "Wishstone," that Spirit examined in December. "We're still trying to work out what this means, but clearly, with this much salt around, water had a hand here," Squyres said.
|
__________________
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
|
Linear Mode
