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Spirit Lands and Returns Detailed First Images
Spirit is thought to have landed in the eastern portion of the
landing ellipse within Gusev Crater.
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NASA TV Portal
Pasadena (AFP) Jan 03, 2004
NASA's Spirit rover sent its first images of Mars to jubilant
scientists here early Sunday after surviving a jarring landing on
the red planet, an achievement so stunning it left mission managers
almost speechless.
The black and white photographs, showing part of the robot resting
in front of a large boulder in the middle of a rock-strewn plain,
were projected on screens in the mission control room at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory here.
Just prior to receiving the images, NASA announced that the robot
was in "safe mode" after completing several post-landing tasks --
deflating air cushions that buffered its landing, opening the cone
that housed it and deploying solar panels to protect it from frigid
Martian temperatures.
Scientists literally jumped for joy when they heard a signal
relayed by the Mars Global Surveyor satellite indicating that
Spirit had survived its landing on Mars.
The space probe plunged through the fiery Martian atmosphere for
six minutes, then bounced along the planet's rocky surface, with an
approximate landing time of 8:35 pm Saturday (0435 GMT
Sunday).
About 20 minutes later mission control erupted in cheers, hugs and
tears when a signal from the craft indicated it was still
functioning.
With that, NASA accomplished the most difficult part of its Martian
adventure, landing the first of two twin robots on the red planet
for the most ambitious scientific exploration of Earth's neighbor
ever undertaken.
"We're on Mars. It's an absolutely incredible accomplishment," said
NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe, who poured champagne for the
leaders of the mission team at the start of a press
conference.
"We never get it right when we practice this, but this went to
perfection," said MARS program chief engineer Rob Manning.
"Everything happened right when we expected it to happen."
The landing procedure began at around 7:22 pm (322 GMT Sunday) when
the probe successfully rotated its thermal shield forward to
protect it from the heat of the Martian atmosphere.
Before taking the plunge, Spirit separated from the cruising stage
rocket that carried it for seven months and over 300 million miles
(500 million kilometers) from Earth.
Less than two minutes before landing, the engine opened its
parachute and, 20 seconds later, the probe jettisoned the spent
lead edge of its heat shield, exposing the rover's protective cone,
encased in uninflated air cushions.
Six seconds before hitting the surface, the cushions inflated, and
rockets on the upper shell of the shield fired to stabilize the
engine. At about 15 meters (49 feet) from the surface, the tether
to the parachute was cut.
The robot then fell freely, bouncing a dozen times on the surface
before coming to rest up to a kilometer away.
At a press conference afterwards mission managers seemed almost in
disbelief that the landing had unfolded as envisioned.
"I feel speechless tonight. It was six minutes from hell but we
said the right prayer and we rose to heaven," Ed Weiler, NASA's
associate administrator for space science, said of the atmospheric
descent.
"It does not get better than this. I think we should all go and buy
some lottery tickets."
This latest and most sophisticated effort to unlock the secrets of
the red planet is beginning just days after the planned December 25
arrival of the ill-fated European robot Beagle 2, which has not
been heard from since that date.
NASA had cautioned repeatedly about the difficulty of the mission
and the risk of failure. Of 30 attempted Mars missions over the
past 40 years, just 12 succeeded, Weiler said earlier this
year.
A second NASA rover, Opportunity, is scheduled to land on Mars on
January 25, on the opposite side of the planet.
The Mars mission, at a record cost of 820 million dollars, will
involve some 250 NASA specialists and researchers who over three
months will micro-manage the six-wheeled rovers, weighing 180
kilograms (400 pounds) each, roughly the size of a subcompact
car.
Powered by solar energy, the robots will be able to move 40 meters
(125 feet) each Martian day, more than during the entirety of
NASA's 1997 Pathfinder mission, with its 10-kilogram (22-pound)
mini-robot Sojourner.