The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is heading south on a long and flat expanse of desert. There are few rocks in the region, low dunes, and uninterrupted views of the horizon. Because of the lack of obstacles, Opportunity is covering record distances (sometimes over 150 meters a day).
Opportunity continues to study the first meteor discovered on another planet. NASA released a color image of the metallic body sitting in martian sands. The pitted meteorite is composed of iron and nickel, just like metallic meteorites that land on the Earth. Yet to be determined is how rare the object is, whether or not the rate of meteor falls on Mars is different from the Earth, the history of impact and erosion on the meteorite, and how long the meteorite might have been sitting there, waiting for Opportunity to stumble across it.
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recently got a look at the discarded hardware from its initial descent to the surface of the Red Planet. It drove up to and examined the heat shield and other debris. Engineers are eager to study the data to learn more about the descent and landing.
It should not be too surprising that meteorites are not just rocks that have fallen from space to a final resting place on the surface of the Earth. Meteoroids fall on bodies throughout our solar system. Opportunity, the rover currently at work on Mars, recently came across a metallic-looking rock lying in the desert sands of Meridiani Planum. Steve Squires, primary science investigator for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission, recently confirmed to various publications that the rock is a meteorite. It has an iron-nickel composition.
Although not a native martian object, the meteorite could reveal something about the martian atmosphere at the time it fell to Mars. Opportunity will spend some time with the meteorite to gather further data.
Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is heading south after spending the better part of its mission inside “Endurance Crater” on Meridiani Planum. Within the crater, Opportunity observed bedrock and discovered strong evidence for past surface water over an extended period of geologic time (and perhaps more than once in Martian history.) The rover also looked up out of the crater and spotted clouds, a rare sight in images from the surface of Mars.
The scientific data obtained was analyzed in depth over the past few months and the results were recently published in a special issue of Science Magazine. The top background image is of the clouds, the bottom background image is of “Burn’s Cliff” within the crater, and the foreground image is from Opportunity’s look back after climbing out of the crater.
Both Opportunity and its sibling rover Spirit have survived long after their initial 3-month mission, nearing a year at work on the Red Planet. Because of this success, the mission team is planning riskier trips across more rugged terrain. Opportunity will next travel south across Meridiani Planum to a more rugged region.
Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is climbing into the Columbia Hills and up the slope of “Husband Hill”. Spirit has also discovered possible evidence for water in the region during the distant past, though the water was likely not as extensive as it was on Meridiani Planum. The Columbia Hills and surrounding terrain all sit within Gusev Crater.
If you have a pair of red/cyan glasses you will enjoy the 3-D anaglyph on the left. You can obtain a free pair of these glasses (just pay for shipping) with a written request to the address provided on the Mars Unearthed website (where many more anaglyphs are available for your enjoyment.)
Dr. Laurence Soderblom from the U.S. Geological Survey provided yesterday an update on the Mars Exploration Rovers to faculty and students at the University of Arizona. Both rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are working well and could survive for another Martian year (about two Earth years).
Opportunity is still inside Endurance Crater and may attempt to exit the crater in the next few days. If successful, Opportunity may then travel to an even deeper and larger crater approximately five kilometers away.
Spirit has made its way up the Columbia Hills, studying rocks along its path. Scientists will then send Spirit to a nearby peak and then have it travel along the spine of the hills on its way to an apparent sedimentary basin.
The evidence for surface water in the distance Martian past continues to build, as well as evidence for alternating periods of wet and dry climates.
A few months ago, scientists announced preliminary data indicating the presence of methane gas in the atmosphere of Mars. The same team has now announced that this methane appears to be coming from three specific regions on the planet that also have a higher concentration of water vapor than the planetary atmospheric average.
On Monday, Dr. Vittorio Formisano, principal investigator for the Mars Express Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS), presented the new data at the International Mars Conference being held in Ischia, Italy. The presence of methane and water vapor together could point to present geothermic activity, life forms, or both on Mars.
The PFS instrument has also detected other gases and the analysis of this data is being peer reviewed. It is tempting to jump to conclusions, but although the scientists are openly suggesting the possibility of present life on Mars, they emphasis that much more data and analysis are required and that future missions to Mars may be necessary to find out for sure.
The rover Spirit took a panoramic picture of its destination, the Columbia Hills.
NASA recently decided to extend its successful Mars Exploration Rover mission by an additional five months. Since all the primary science objectives were reached during the first three months of the mission, scientists are allowing the rovers Opportunity and Spirit to take more risks, meaning they will travel farther for longer periods of times.
Opportunity is heading to Endurance Crater, a much larger crater than the one it initial bounced into upon landing on Mars. Scientists hope there will be further evidence of water in the bedrock exposed by Endurance Crater that will help them determine just how far the ancient body of water extended and for how long it lasted. Enthusiasts of course hope one of the rovers will eventually come across a fossil embedded in a rock wall, but that might be reaching a bit.
In the above picture, the ridge of Endurance Crater can be seen just at the horizon in the upper right. It may be a month or more before Opportunity reached this target; there are plenty of lesser attractions along the way. Meanwhile, Spirit is heading for the hills; that is the Columbia Hills.