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Spirit Reaches 180 Sols
On sol 179, Spirit woke up at a new location and spent the day performing remote sensing with the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, including an overnight observation. Sol 180 marked a grand accomplishment for Spirit. The rover has survived two times the original planned mission duration of 90 sols. On this notable sol, the rover continued with remote sensing, performing miniature thermal emission spectrometer observations on disturbed soil and rover tracks. Spirit then looked at the targets "Cookie Cutter" and "Julienned" with the panoramic camera. Because of power and timing issues, Spirit was not able to complete intended microscopic imaging, Moessbauer spectrometer, and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer measurements at this site. These operations were moved into the sol 181 plan. Total odometry after sol 180 is 3414 meters (2.1 miles). Related Links Mars Rovers at JPL Mars Rovers at Cornell SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express 
Spirit Explores The Columbia Hills
Pasadena - Jul 06, 2004After a long trek across the floor of Gusev Crater, NASA's Spirit rover arrived late last month at the base of the Columbia Hills. Scientists believe that the hills are older than the surrounding plain, and holds clues to Gusev's more-distant past. In this exclusive interview with Astrobiology Magazine, Steve Squyres, principal investigator for the rover mission, discusses why the hills are important, what is known about them so far, and what remains to be puzzled out. |
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