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Opportunity Heads Toward Victoria
Pasadena CA (SPX) Apr 20, 2006 Controllers have placed the Opportunity rover in a restricted mission-planning mode this week due to the downlink coming too late in the Earth day to allow planning of a drive for the next Martian day, or sol. Nevertheless, the team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory built three drives for the week and sent Opportunity a total drove 83.2 meters (273 feet). The general direction of the drive is southeast to avoid a large dune field due south. As of sol 788, Opportunity was estimated to be 1,557 meters (just under one mile) from Victoria Crater - its next destination. On the way to Victoria, Opportunity is encountering a terrain that consists of large sand ripples and patches of flat-lying rock outcrops, as shown in this image. Whenever possible, rover planners are trying to keep Opportunity on the pavement for best mobility. The false-color mosaic was assembled using images acquired by the panoramic camera on Opportunity's 784th sol (April 8). The camera used its 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer and 432-nanometer filters. The view shows a portion of the outcrop named Bosque, including rover wheel tracks, fractured and finely-layered outcrop rocks and smaller, dark cobbles littered across the surface. Related Links Mars Rovers at JPL Mars Rovers at Cornell
New Mineral History Shows That Young Mars May Have Supported Life
Providence RI (SPX) Apr 21, 2006Mars started out relatively wet and temperate, underwent a major climate shift, and evolved into a cold, dry place strewn with acidic rock - less than ideal conditions for supporting life. |
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