[Space] NASA - Mars Exploration Rover MER-B "Opportunity" - Update Thread

[GioFX]

0535 GMT (12:35 a.m. EST)

Engineers confirm that the spacecraft is resting on its side. But the lander is designed to right itself during the petal opening sequence.

Also, they believe that Opportunity wasn't really rolling all of that time. The fluctuating indication taken to mean rolling was really an artifact of the communications path with the craft on its side.

[GioFX]

I prossimi eventi:

- 10:30 pm PST (07:30 Roma) - Briefing

- 12:45 am PST (09:45 Roma) - Commento

- 02:00 am PST (11:00 Roma) - Briefing

[GioFX]

Opportunity Probe Lands On Mars

Pasadena (AFP) Jan 24, 2004

Opportunity, the second of two US probes sent to explore the surface of Mars, has landed safely on the planet, the US space agency NASA said late Saturday.
The agency said the probe had successfully made contact with controllers on Earth after landing at 9:05 pm (0505 GMT Sunday) in an area of the planet known as the Meridiani Planum.

The Meridium Planum is a zone of grey hematite, an iron oxide. Scientists plan to use the robot's instruments to determine whether the grey hematite layer comes from sediments of a former ocean, from volcanic deposits altered by hot water or from other ancient environmental conditions.

Meanwhile, National Aeronautics and Space Administration flight controllers worked to restore Spirit, the first of the two rovers sent to Mars, to full operation.

Spirit, which functioned flawlessly after its January 3 landing in Gusev Crater on the other side of the planet, has been plagued with communications problems since Wednesday.

As Opportunity raced toward Mars, Charles Elachi, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory here, told reporters he was sure Spirit could be restored to full function.

"This is not unusual what happened," he said. "We have done that on Galileo. I am completely confident without any hesitation that I think we will get that rover back to full operation."

Galileo is the US space probe that explored the planet Jupiter.

[GioFX]

Opportunity Lands on Mars

By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 12:21 am ET
25 January 2004

PASADENA, Calif. -- Mars has received a one-two exploration punch as the second Rover -- Opportunity -- achieved a successful landing tonight on the red planet.

Engineers and scientists broke out in cheers and tears here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), mission control for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) program.

Opportunity landed in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. The spacecraft's exact whereabouts are not precisely known, but appears to have touched down within a pre-determined ellipse within Meridiani Planum.


Near-Perfect

Opportunity looks to have completed a near-perfect entry, descent, and landing.

Initial data suggested that the spacecraft hit Mars' surface at a relatively slow velocity -- some two to three times the force of gravity. The airbag system is designed to sustain a 40 g's collision with Mars.

Indications are that after coming to a stop, Opportunity was "side-petal" down. That means it will have to right itself on the red planet, then deflate its airbags.

The spacecraft slammed into the top of Mars' atmosphere at about 12,000 miles per hour (5.4 kilometers per second). That event was followed by a series of death-defying entry, descent and landing events.

Taking all of six minutes to plummet to the martian landscape, Opportunity bounced across Mars wrapped in its cocoon of airbags before coming to a complete stop.

"We're on Mars everybody. We're getting a strong signal," said Rob Manning, JPL's Entry, Descent and Landing manager.


Perfect maneuvering

Opportunity landed on Mars at 12:05 a.m. Sunday EST or 9:05 p.m. Saturday PST.Early today, mission managers chose not to use an option for making a final tweak to Opportunity's flight path. Previously, as the spacecraft closed in on the planet, the third and fifth out of five scheduled maneuvers were skipped as unnecessary.

Getting to the exact entry point using only three maneuvers since Opportunity's launch was heralded early this morning by JPL's Louis D'Amario, navigation team chief for the Mars rovers.


Hematite-rich territory

The rover's main task is to explore the Meridiani Planum landing site and determine whether that region could have had a past environment that was watery and possibly suitable for sustaining life.

Opportunity is on the lookout for a gray hematite. Meridiani Planum has been found by orbiting spacecraft sensors to be rich in gray hematite. This type of iron oxide usually forms in association with liquid water.

Here at JPL, as Opportunity reached Mars, troubleshooting teams are working around-the-clock to get the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover back on line. It landed three weeks ago, but subsequently ran into an apparent computer glitch that halted its science gathering duties.

[GioFX]

0706 GMT (2:06 a.m. EST)

Initial indications are Opportunity landed about 24 kilometers from the target.

[GioFX]

0717 GMT (2:17 a.m. EST)

The airbag retraction and petal opening should have happened by now. However, officials cannot yet confirm those critical events have occurred.

[Jo3]

Originariamente inviato da GioFX



0516 GMT (12:16 a.m. EST)

The roll continues -- more than 10 minutes after the impact.

[Schummacherr]

Bene anche l'altro è arrivato..

Che tipo di problemi ci sono però?

[GioFX]

SONO ARRIVATE LE PRIME FOTO!

[GioFX]

0857 GMT (3:57 a.m. EST)

Mission Control is celebrating after the acquisition of data from Opportunity via Mars Odyssey orbiter.

"Cheer!" flight director Chris Lewicki jokingly instructed his team.

The fact that telemetry has been received indicates that the rover has performed its critical deployment activities following landing. Opportunity's exact status has yet to be confirmed, however. That is still to come.


0859 GMT (3:59 a.m. EST

About 20 megabits of data is being relayed via Odyssey.


0905 GMT (4:05 a.m. EST)

The control room is jam-packed with engineers, scientists and managers, all awaiting to hear Opportunity's status.

"You are privileged to be in one of the most exciting rooms on Earth at the moment," says flight director Chris Lewicki.

If all goes well, this data to be received will begin with engineering health information about the rover and be followed by images from various cameras on Opportunity.


0909 GMT (4:09 a.m. EST)

Data is now flowing into the control room.


0911 GMT (4:11 a.m. EST)

Telemetry shows good current from the power-generating solar arrays, confirming the panels are deployed!


0912 GMT (4:12 a.m. EST)

The first images of Opportunity have arrived on planet Earth!


0914 GMT (4:14 a.m. EST)

The initial images received were taken by rear-facing hazard avoidance cameras on Opportunity.

[GioFX]

0915 GMT (4:15 a.m. EST)

Images are now flooding in from various rover cameras showing Meridiani Planum -- a place never seen before from the surface.


0916 GMT (4:16 a.m. EST)

The forward driveway off the lander shows a clear path for the rover, unlike Spirit which had a puffed up airbag blocking that route.


0917 GMT (4:17 a.m. EST)

"Welcome to Meridiani! I hope you enjoy your stay!" flight director Chris Lewicki proudly says.


0918 GMT (4:18 a.m. EST)

Opportunity's images show a wildly amazing landscape -- vastly different from the previous Spirit, Pathfinder or Viking landing site.

[GioFX]

0923 GMT (4:23 a.m. EST)

Rover lead scientist Steve Squyres says the Meridiani landing site looks like nothing he's ever seen before. There are strange, different features across the area immediately next to the lander.

"I got no words for this!" he says.

[GioFX]

La prima immagine:

[GioFX]

Eccezionale il paesaggio, è del tutto nuovo!

[Schummacherr]

Originariamente inviato da GioFX
Eccezionale il paesaggio, è del tutto nuovo!

già...aspettiamo che pubblichino quelle a colori..

(Gio mi ridaresti uno dei link da cui prendi le info?..perchè li ho persi D )

[GioFX]

Originariamente inviato da Schummacherr
già...aspettiamo che pubblichino quelle a colori..

(Gio mi ridaresti uno dei link da cui prendi le info?..perchè li ho persi D )

NASA TV... c'è la conferenza in corso adesso:

http://www.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram


poi:

- Spaceflightnow.com

- Space.com

- Spacedaily.com

- NASA - Mars Exploration Rover Mission

[GioFX]

[GioFX]

Opportunity rover successfully lands

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: January 25, 2004

With California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Vice President Al Gore looking on, NASA's Opportunity lander slammed into the martian atmosphere and bounced to an airbag-cushioned touchdown early Sunday, joining the crippled-but-recovering Spirit rover on the surface of the red planet.

"We are two for two!" said project manager Pete Theisinger. "Twenty four hours ago, closer to 36 maybe, I sat up on this stage and told you we had a serious problem with Spirit and we had Opportunity a day away from the riskiest part of its venture. And here we are tonight with Spirit, we think, on a path to recovery and we've successfully landed Opportunity on Mars. This is clearly an E ticket, that's for sure."

Opportunity's nail-biting, six-minute descent came off like clockwork, a virtual replay of Spirit's flawless entry, descent and landing Jan. 3 at Gusev Crater, a broad impact basin that once harbored a vast lake. But Opportunity bounced down on an altogether different type of place, a smooth, hematite-strewn plain on the other side of the planet that may hold geologic clues about how long water might have persisted on the surface in the distant past.

As data came in during Opportunity's descent, flight controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., burst into cheers and applause as engineers Wayne Lee and Rob Manning, the entry, descent and landing manager, called out key milestones. Because Mars currently is more than 100 million miles away, the drama playing out in mission control was 11 minutes behind the actual events on Mars.

But it was dramatic nonetheless.

"What a night! I mean, as the old saying goes, it's far better to be lucky than good," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. "But you know, the harder we work, the luckier we seem to get. This team is absolutely phenomenal. No one dared dream we'd be able to pull off batting a thousand. ... This team is the best in the world, no doubt about it."

Opportunity slammed into the upper atmosphere of Mars at midnight, plunging toward the ground at 12,000 mph. Forty-two seconds later, at an altitude of 26.5 miles, atmospheric friction generated peak heating followed seconds later by maximum deceleration, a force equal to 6.3 times Earth's gravity at sea level.

Then, just before 12:04 a.m., the lander deployed its braking parachute.

"At this time, the parachute should have deployed," Lee said, monitoring data on a computer screen. "We are awaiting confirmation that has occurred. At this time, the vehicle should be going subsonic. Current altitude 25,000 feet..."

"Accel one tone," Manning said, referring to the reception of simple diagnostic tones being radioed from Opportunity.

"The heat shield should be..." Lee began.

"Parachute deploy!" Manning interrupted, prompting a round of cheers and applause.

Lee: We have positive indication of parachute deploy.

Manning: The parachute deploy event semaphore has been detected.

Lee: Currently at an altitude of 18,000 feet, at this time, the radar should be active. We expect the radar will lock up onto the ground...

Polly Estabrook: Heat shield, heat shield Manning: Heat shield separation detected.

Lee: We have confirmation from the spacecraft that the flight software has attempted to jettison the heat shield. That is expected. Current altitude 15,000 feet, current velocity 185 miles per hour.

Manning: The lander separation event has been detected.

Lee: The radar should lock on the ground approximately 15 seconds from now. Current altitude 11,000 feet, current velocity 180 miles per hour. Currently decelerating at zero-point-four Gs. Current altitude 9,352 feet. Velocity 175 miles per hour. At this time, we are passing 8,000 feet in altitude, we expect the radar should have locked up onto the ground by now. We expect the airbags will inflate approximately 20 seconds from now. Current altitude 5,000 feet, 168 miles per hour... 4,000 feet.

Unknown: There we go.

Manning: Radar solution matrix 21.

Unknown: Yeah, yeah! (excited cheers)

Lee: 3,000 feet. Uh, the radar has locked up on the ground, we have our retro rocket firing solution. Retro rocket ignition on my mark... Mark! At this time, the retro rocket...

Manning: Has fired. (wild applause and cheers break out)

Lee: We have confirmation the retro rockets have ignited. We are now awaiting confirmation of positive signals bouncing on the ground. At this time, we are five minutes 55 seconds after entry, we should be bouncing on the ground.

It was 12:05 a.m. EST.

Unknown: Whoo! (exhaling)

Unknown: Yeah, whoo Manning: We're getting a bouncing signal.

Several in unison: Yeah!" (more wild applause)

Lee: We're seeing, we're getting bouncing signals from the spacecraft, we're obviously alive on Mars. However, this bouncing will take place for another 10 minutes...

Manning: We've lost lock. Hold on...

Lee: We have a momentary loss of signal as the spacecraft is bouncing on the surface, it is difficult to maintain lock. We need to reacquire the signal to have a positive confirmation of a safe landing. Uh, as the spacecraft is bouncing on the surface of Mars, rolling around, the antennas are pointed at many different orientations.

Estabrook: We're seeing it on the LPC (left polarization channel)We see it on the LPC Manning: We're seeing it on the LPC (more applause and cheers). Very strong in LCP.

Lee: We have a very strong signal in the left-hand polarization channel, indicating we've had a safe (lander?)

Manning: (Garble) a signal on the RPC as well. Both, both channels.

Unknown: Beautiful

Manning: We're on Mars, everybody.

A few moments later, Manning and Richard Cook, a senior rover manager, embraced and Lee held up a broom, indicating a clean sweep for NASA's two rover landings. A few minutes after that, Schwarzenegger and Gore walked through the flight control consoles, shaking hands with the entry team and offering their own congratulations.

Opportunity, which landed 15 miles downrange from the center of its 46-mile-long landing ellipse, had its hands full. First, it had to deflate and pull in its no-longer-needed airbags before righting itself and opening the protective petals that have been folded around the rover since launch. Once exposed to the martian environment, Opportunity's flight computer was programmed to unfold its solar arrays and to deploy the mast supporting the rover's panoramic camera.

If the "critical deploy" activities go smoothly, it's possible the first black-and-white navigation camera images could start showing up in mission control between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. EST or so. But that may be an overly optimistic schedule.

Here's the immediate timeline of major events. These milestones will be off a bit because Opportunity ended up resting on one of the lander's side petals:


EST............EVENT

01:26:25 a.m...Deploy primary solar array
01:26:43 a.m...Deploy secondary solar array
01:38:01 a.m...Begin deployment of
pancam mast assembly
02:25:59 a.m...Earth sets
03:17:17 a.m...Last normal critical deploy
completion time
03:38:46 a.m...Mars Odyssey rises
03:55:03 a.m...Mars Odyssey sets
03:57:42 a.m...Rover shutdown
04:05:00 a.m...Playback of Mars Odyssey
data (possible pictures)
05:04:04 a.m...Sunset

At the post-landing news conference, O'Keefe pulled out a bottle of champagne and proposed a toast "to the Mars Exploration Rover team, the best in the world!" When he toasted the team after Spirit's landing Jan. 3, some reporters wondered if the celebration might have been a bit premature. Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for space flight, has repeatedly told reporters the time for champagne would be at the end of the mission, not the beginning. As O'Keefe poured his toast early today, Weiler barely smiled. But he warmed up a bit when he got his chance to say a few words.

"I wouldn't be in character if I didn't remind everybody, this is just one more critical milestone," Weiler said. "As we learned with Spirit, things do go bad. We've got a lot of critical deployments (coming). ... There's a long road to go yet, but this was one heck of a critical milestone."

[Schummacherr]

Grazie dei link,ora mi guardo la conferenza

[GioFX]

1007 GMT (5:07 a.m. EST)

Controllers have determined the lander base's is fairly level. The pitch is up about five degrees, not unexpected since the lander came to rest on its side and had to right itself to open the petals. There is a 1.8-degree roll to the right.

The heading is about 26 degrees or north-northeast.