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Opportunity (rover)

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MER-B (Opportunity) is one of the two rovers of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully on Mars on January 24, 2004 at 21:05 PST (05:05 UTC on January 25). Its twin, MER-A ("Spirit"), landed on Mars three weeks earlier on January 3, 2004.

Note: Days on Mars are called Sols and last 24 hours and 37 minutes. The landing date (January 24, 2004) of MER-B is called Sol 1. When referring to MER-A, however, Sol 1 means its landing date.

Events and discoveries

First panorama

This 360-degree panorama is the first panorama beamed back to Earth from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shortly after it touched down at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The image was captured by the rover's navigation camera.

First color panorama

This color image shows the martian landscape at Meridiani Planum, where the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity successfully landed at 9:05 p.m. PST on Saturday. This is one of the first images beamed back to Earth from the rover shortly after it touched down. The image was captured by the rover's panoramic camera.

Opportunity lands in a crater

The interior of a crater surrounding the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity at Meridiani Planum on Mars can be seen in this color image from the rover's panoramic camera. This is the darkest landing site ever visited by a spacecraft on mars. The rim of the crater is approximately 10 meters (32 feet) from the rover. The crater is estimated to be 20 meters (65 feet) in diameter. Scientists are intrigued by the abundance of rock outcrops dispersed throughout the crater, as well as the crater's soil, which appears to be a mixture of coarse gray grains and fine reddish grains. NASA Scientists were so excited about landing in a crater that they called this a "hole in one."

File:MERB Sol1 Postcard-B002R1 th544.jpg

Bedrock outcroppings

This sweeping look at the unusual rock outcropping near Opportunity was captured by the rover's panoramic camera. Scientists believe the seemingly layered rocks are either volcanic ash deposits or sediments laid down by wind or water.

Geologists said that the layers -- some no thicker than a finger -- indicate the rocks likely originated either from sediments carried by water or wind, or from falling volcanic ash. "We should be able to distinguish between those two hypotheses," said Dr. Andrew Knoll of Harvard University, Cambridge, a member of the science team for Opportunity and its twin, Spirit. If the rocks are sedimentary, water is a more likely source than wind, he said.

These layered rocks measure only 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall and are thought to be either volcanic ash deposits or sediments carried by water or wind.

File:Sol3 Outcrop Color-sol004-b-B004R1 th544.jpg

Timeline

2003

  • June 25 - The first launch attempt was scheduled for 12:38:16 am EDT. With 15 seconds until launch, the attempt was scrubbed due to problems with the cork insulation on the Delta II launch vehicle's first stage. Later opportunities were foregone due to a variety of reasons including strong high-altitude winds, a battery problem, and due to a boat that ventured too close to the coastal launch site.
  • July 7 - At 11:18:15 pm EDT, MER-B (Opportunity) was launched aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The launch window lasted through July 15.


2004

  • January 16 - Opportunity adjusted its trajectory, or flight path, today for the first time in four months. Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., commanded Opportunity at 6 p.m. PST to fire thrusters in a sequence carefully calculated by the mission's navigators. The spacecraft is spinning at two rotations per minute. The maneuver began with a 20-second burn in the direction of the axis of rotation, then included two 5-second pulses perpendicular to that axis.
  • January 24 (PST) / January 25 (UTC), Sol 1 -
    • At 9:05 pm PST, MER-B began bouncing on the surface of Mars in Meridiani Planum. Unlike the Spirit landing three weeks earlier where signal was lost immediately after touchdown, Opportunity continued broadcasting strong signals to Earth even after touching down. Opportunity continued bouncing and rolling on the surface of Mars for several minutes after touchdown. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Vice President Al Gore were both present at Mission Control and congratulated mission scientists after touchdown.
    • At first, mission control was under the impression that the lander had been rolling for a long time (5 minutes), but it turns out the antenna used to communicate with Earth was pointing towards the ground, which made the signal bounce off Mars as the Earth moved, making it seem as if it had been bouncing, though it had not been.
  • January 25 (images from January 25)
    • The Opportunity releases its first black and white photograph and its first full-color Pancam image. Also released are the 3 DIMES images taken by Opportunity on its way towards the Martian ground.
    • The NASA science team is very excited that Opportunity landed in a crater and is thrilled to see an exposed bedrock outcropping. [1]
  • January 26 (Sol 2) -
    • During the second day on Mars for Opportunity, key science instruments passed health tests and the rover made important steps in communicating directly with Earth. Opportunity has tested the three scientific sensing instruments on its robotic arm that will be used for up-close examination of rocks and soil: the microscopic imager, the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer for determining what elements are present, and a Mossbauer spectrometer for identifying iron-containing minerals. "I'm pleased to report that all are in perfect health," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University principal investigator for the science instruments on the rovers.
  • January 27 (Sol 3) -
    • Opportunity deployed, pointed, and started using the high-gain antenna.
  • January 27 (images from January 27)
    • At the 12:00 EST press briefing, Squyres goes into further detail concerning the outcroppings: "The thinnest layers are a centimeter, something like that. The total height at highest point of outcrop is a foot and a half, maybe. That's good news. Less threatening to the rover because you can drive right up on to it."
    • Dr. Andrew Knoll, Mission Scientist from Harvard University, describes the possibility of water in these areas of Mars: "If [the cause of the outcropping formations] is volcanic then all bets are off for liquid water. Simply wouldn't need it. If it's sedimentary I think you need water, I doubt these are windblown. Doesn't tell you about the duration of the water though. There has to be a roll for liquid water in sculpting the surface of Mars. The question we're trying to answer is was it a short burst or persistent water. Both Gusev and Meridiani are interesting because they could be consistent with persistent water. What we see in front of us today makes no strong claims for longstanding persistence of water."
    • Squyers says that he believes the hematite "is most likely to be present in finer grained soil. In floors of craters the soil is strikingly dark. Surrounding plains somewhat lighter (though still dark relative to rest of Mars) We think that soil has hematite. What we don't understand is the relationship between the soil and this rock layer. Not a surprise to find no hematite in this layered rock unit. We'll find out soon enough." Knoll adds that "Intriguing in the hematite and this rock layer, if you back up and look at the distribution they're co-existent. The light rock unit and the hematite are found together. While there's a range of processes going on, if we can understand this bed in front of us it will be helpful in understanding this co-existent pair."
    • Mission manager Jim Erickson reported that Opportunity experienced power loss over the last Sol. He described that the current theory is that a heater in the shoulder joint of the instrument arm is unnecessarily heating it. It is hoped that a way is found to control the heating element as was originally planned. He said, "There is a set of thermostatic-controlled heaters. One of them is located physically in the shoulder joint of the instrument arm. Normally this is enabled by the ground and then a thermostat on the side of the rover determines what the air temperature is and, if it's cold enough, it turns on this heater in this arm to keep it up in temperature for operation. Normally we don't always want it on because we aren't normally always operating the arm. Right now, we are believing it is going to be on continuously whenever it's cold enough."
  • January 28 (Sol 4) -
    • Opportunity 's "stand up" procedure was initiated. The rover successfully deployed its front wheels during this Sol. A lift mechanism in the lander base jacked up the rover, allowing the front two wheels to be released from their launch stowage locations and extend into position.
  • January 29 (Sol 5) -
    • Further steps in Opportunity 's "stand up" were completed during this Sol: First, the lift mechanism was lowered, so that the rover now supports its own weight. After that the rear wheel base was bushed back to its full length.
    • It was also commanded to take the first large set of pictures with the Mini-Thermal Emission Spectrometer instrument.
  • January 29
    • NASA announced plans to name the landing site of the Mars Opportunity rover in honor of the Space Shuttle Challenger's final crew. The area in the vast flatland called Meridiani Planum, where Opportunity landed this weekend, will be called the Challenger Memorial Station. [2]
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