Spirit Rover Takes First Steps on Mars Soil
Twelve days after it bounced to a landing on the barren plain of Gusev Crater, NASA’s Spirit rover has rolled off its lander onto the red Martian soil to begin its search for signs of water -- and life -- on the now-frozen planet.
Cheers erupted and champagne flowed in mission control at Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory when engineers received word around 2 a.m. Thursday that the roll-off was a success, setting the stage for the most sophisticated geological exploration of Mars ever.
“We have six wheels in the dirt. Mars is now our sandbox and we are ready to play and learn,” said JPL director Charles Elachi.
The team sent the command for Spirit to leave the lander at 12:21 a.m., then waited for a tense 100 minutes before learning the results.
It took the craft only 78 seconds to travel the 10 feet from the lander onto the surface, but it then had to locate the sun, take pictures of its surroundings and wait for a passing Mars orbiter before it could phone home with confirmation of its success.
“This is the most significant milestone in the history of the project,” said mission principal investigator Steve Squyres of Cornell University.
Virtually all of the craft’s high-risk maneuvers are complete, leaving geologists free to concentrate on exploration.
The roll-off had been scheduled for Monday but was delayed because a collapsed air bag from the Jan. 3 landing was partially blocking the planned exit ramp. To avoid the bag, engineers executed a 120-degree pivot of the rover on the lander so it could use a different ramp.
Spirit took one last look at the lander, transmitting to Earth a picture of the now-empty and useless platform.
Engineers spent the rest of the mission day purging software from the rover and performing other housekeeping tasks to prepare for Spirit’s 90-day tour of the Martian surface.
They will continue that process today and begin preparing the craft’s instruments to look at the soil in the immediate area of the lander.
The rover will spend at least three days in its present location, about 2 1/2 feet from the lander, using its microscope to make images of the soil and allowing engineers on Earth to practice with the other instruments.
Spirit will then start its excursion, moving at about 1 1/2 inches per second.
Its first major destination will be a 200-yard-wide crater about 800 feet to the northeast.
Along the way, the rover will visit two large rocks, about 15 feet away, that the team has named Adirondack and Sashimi.
If there is time, Spirit will also visit a large depression dubbed Sleepy Hollow.
Once Spirit has visited the crater, which will allow it to look into the interior of the planet, it will head east toward a complex of hills about 2 miles away.
The rover is unlikely to get there because its planned range is about 600 yards, but the team hopes that getting closer to the hills will provide valuable information about their origin.
Spirit’s twin, Opportunity, is scheduled to land on the opposite side of Mars in Meridiani Planum, a dark gray plain, on Jan. 24.
