SETI public: Fw: Spirit Lands on Mars and Sends Postcards

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----- Original Message -----
From: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2004 5:51 AM
To: ljk4_at_msn.com
Subject: Spirit Lands on Mars and Sends Postcards

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
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http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=SSui3WK40GVO-3BCLCXxIg.. http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=DkqRGq7HHjhO-3BCLCXxIg..

Guy Webster (818) 354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. January 4, 2004

JPL Newsroom (818) 354-5011

RELEASE: 2004-003

Spirit Lands on Mars and Sends Postcards

A traveling robotic geologist from NASA has landed on Mars and
returned stunning images of the area around its landing site in Gusev
Crater.

Mars Exploration Rover Spirit successfully sent a radio signal after
the spacecraft had bounced and rolled for several minutes following
its initial impact at 11:35 p.m. EST (8:35 p.m. Pacific Standard Time)
on January 3.

"This is a big night for NASA," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.
"We're back. I am very, very proud of this team, and we're on Mars."

Members of the mission's flight team at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., cheered and clapped when they learned
that NASA's Deep Space Network had received a post-landing signal from
Spirit. The cheering resumed about three hours later when the rover
transmitted its first images to Earth, relaying them through NASA's
Mars Odyssey orbiter.

"We've got many steps to go before this mission is over, but we've
retired a lot of risk with this landing," said JPL's Pete Theisinger,
project manager for the Mars Exploration Rover Project.

Deputy project manager for the rovers, JPL's Richard Cook, said,
"We're certainly looking forward to Opportunity landing three weeks
from now." Opportunity is Spirit's twin rover, headed for the opposite
side of Mars.

Dr. Charles Elachi, JPL director, said, "To achieve this mission, we
have assembled the best team of young women and men this country can
put together. Essential work was done by other NASA centers and by our
industrial and academic partners.

Spirit stopped rolling with its base petal down, though that favorable
position could change as airbags deflate, said JPL's Rob Manning,
development manager for the rover's descent through Mars' atmosphere
and landing on the surface.

NASA chose Spirit's landing site, within Gusev Crater, based on
evidence from Mars orbiters that this crater may have held a lake long
ago. A long, deep valley, apparently carved by ancient flows of
water, leads into Gusev. The crater itself is basin the size of
Connecticut created by an asteroid or comet impact early in Mars'
history. Spirit's task is to spend the next three months exploring for
clues in rocks and soil about whether the past environment at this
part of Mars was ever watery and suitable to sustain life.

Spirit traveled 487 million kilometers (302.6 million) miles to reach
Mars after its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on
June 10, 2003. Its twin, Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, was
launched July 7, 2003, and is on course for a landing on the opposite
side of Mars on Jan. 25 (Universal Time and EST; 9:05 p.m. on Jan. 24,
PST).

The flight team expects to spend more than a week directing Spirit
through a series of steps in unfolding, standing up and other
preparations necessary before the rover rolls off of its lander
platform to get its wheels onto the ground. Meanwhile, Spirit's
cameras and a mineral-identifying infrared instrument will begin
examining the surrounding terrain. That information will help
engineers and scientists decide which direction to send the rover
first.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the
Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science,
Washington. Additional information about the project is available from
JPL at:
http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=1R-tTLENFOFO-3BCLCXxIg.. http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=1FpFeR5uG89O-3BCLCXxIg..
and from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at:
http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=qwhr01ViT0BO-3BCLCXxIg.. http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=uDpKlI9B0zVO-3BCLCXxIg.. .

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• Previous message: LARRY KLAES: "SETI public: Fw: First pictures after NASA's Spirit Rover lands on Mars"

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