From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Thu Sep 01 2005 - 19:40:13 UTC
>From: "NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory" <info_at_jpl.nasa.gov>
>Reply-To: <info_at_jpl.nasa.gov>
>Subject: NASA's Durable Spirit Sends Intriguing New Images From Mars
>Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 12:35:46 -0700
>
>MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
>JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
>CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
>NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
>PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
>http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
>
>Guy Webster (818) 354-6278/5011
>Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
>
>Dolores Beasley (202) 358-1753
>NASA Headquarters, Washington
>
>News Release: 2005-141 September 1, 2005
>
>NASA's Durable Spirit Sends Intriguing New Images From Mars
>
>Working atop a range of Martian hills, NASA's Spirit rover is rewarding
>researchers with
>tempting scenes filled with evidence of past planet environments.
>
>"When the images came down and we could see horizon all the way around,
>that was every
>bit as exhilarating as getting to the top of any mountain I've climbed on
>Earth," said Chris
>Leger, a rover planner at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,
>Calif.
>
>The summit sits 82 meters (269 feet) above the edge of the surrounding
>plains. It is 106
>meters (348 feet) higher than the site where Spirit landed nearly 20 months
>ago. Spirit and
>twin rover, Opportunity, successfully completed their three-month prime
>missions in April
>2004. They have inspected dozens of rocks and soil targets since then,
>continuing their
>pursuit of geological evidence about formerly wet conditions on Mars.
>
>"Spirit has climbed to the hilltop and looked over the other side, but NASA
>did not do this
>just to say we can do it. The Mars rovers are addressing fundamental
>questions about
>Martian history and planetary environments," said NASA's Mars Exploration
>Program
>Director Doug McCuistion.
>
>The crest of "Husband Hill" offers Spirit's views of possible routes into a
>basin to the south
>with apparently layered outcrops. Shortly after Spirit landed, it observed
>a cluster of seven
>hills about 3 kilometers (2 miles) east of its landing site. NASA proposed
>naming the range
>"Columbia Hills" in tribute to the last crew of Space Shuttle Columbia. The
>tallest of the
>hills commemorates Rick Husband, Columbia's commander.
>
>Volcanic rocks covering the plain Spirit crossed on its way to the hills
>bore evidence of
>only slight alteration by water. When Spirit reached the base of the hills
>five months after
>landing, it immediately began finding rocks with wetter histories.
>
>"This climb was motivated by science," said Steve Squyres of Cornell
>University, Ithaca,
>N.Y. Squyres is principal investigator for the rovers' science instruments.
>"Every time
>Spirit has gained altitude, we've found different rock types. Also, we're
>doing what any
>field geologist would do in an area like this: climbing to a good vantage
>point for plotting a
>route."
>
>Researchers are viewing possible routes south to apparently layered ledges
>and to a feature
>dubbed "home plate," which might be a plateau of older rock or a filled-in
>crater.
>
>The landing site and the Columbia Hills are within Gusev Crater, a bowl
>about 150
>kilometers (95 miles) in diameter. The crater was selected as the landing
>site for the Spirit
>rover because the shape of the terrain suggests the crater once held a
>lake. Volcanic
>deposits appear to have covered any sign of ancient lakebed geology out on
>the plain, but
>scientists say the hills expose older layers that have been lifted and
>tipped by a meteorite
>impact or other event.
>
>"We're finding abundant evidence for alteration of rocks in a water
>environment," said Ray
>Arvidson of Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. Arvidson is deputy
>principal
>investigator for the rovers' science instruments. "What we want to do is
>figure out which
>layers were on top of which other layers. To do that it has been helpful to
>keep climbing
>for good views of how the layers are tilted to varying degrees.
>Understanding the sequence
>of layers is equivalent to having a deep drill core from drilling beneath
>the plains."
>
>Both Spirit and Opportunity have been extremely successful. Their solar
>panels are
>generating plenty of energy thanks to repeated dust-cleaning events. Spirit
>has driven
>4,827 meters (3.00 miles), and Opportunity 5,737 meters (3.56 miles).
>
>JPL manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Science Mission
>Directorate.
>For images and information about the rovers and their discoveries on the
>Web, visit:
>http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mer_main.html or
>http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov .
>
>For information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit:
>http://www.nasa.gov/home .
>
>
>-end-
>
>
>
>
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