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NASA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory Deputy Principal Investigator, Dr. Ray
Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, right, shows an
animation with the first microscopic images taken by the Mars 'Spirit'
rover during a news brief Friday, Jan. 30, 2004, in Pasadena, Calif.
Spirit is expected to return to full health by Sunday, after software
problems ground its mission to a temporary halt. Ohio State University
Science Team Member Dr. Ron Li,
is at right.
(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) |
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NASA's
Mars rover Opportunity spied hints Friday of a mineral that typically
forms in water
a finding that could mean the dry and dusty Red Planet was once wetter
and more hospitable to life.
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That
is the very question Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, were sent to
answer.
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The
preliminary discovery came hours before Opportunity was to roll its six
wheels onto the martian surface for the first time. Engineers planned
to command the rover to roll the 10 feet off its lander and onto Mars
at 3:12 a.m. EST Saturday. Confirmation was expected three hours later.
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NASA
said the $820 million double-barreled mission should begin in earnest
by Sunday, once Opportunity is on the ground and Spirit, on the other
side of the planet, is cured of the software problems that have
crippled it for more than a week.
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"The
fat lady has finally gotten onto the stage, but the time of her aria
has not yet arrived," project manager Pete Theisinger said at NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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The
rovers face continuing perils, including bitter cold and rough terrain.
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NASA
scientists want Opportunity to find on the pebbly ground a mineral
called gray hematite. The iron-rich mineral typically
but not always forms in liquid water.
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Scientists
said the preliminary evidence suggests Opportunity has already spied
the mineral in the ruddy soil around it by using its mini-thermal
emissions spectrometer, an instrument that measures infrared radiation.
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Confirmation
should take a few days, while scientists check and double-check their
data, said Ray Arvidson of Washington University, the deputy main
scientist for the mission.
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A
NASA satellite called Mars Global Surveyor previously spotted hematite
at Opportunity's landing site. Scientists believe the mineral covers as
much as 20 percent of the surface at Meridiani Planum, an area hundreds
of miles across.
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As
for the ailing Spirit rover, NASA deleted 1,700 files from its flash
memory Friday and then rebooted the rover.
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"I
am pleased to report it appears to be working just fine," said Glenn
Reeves, chief engineer for the rover's flight software. He said NASA
should be able to declare Spirit "fully recovered" by Sunday.
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Cornell
University astronomer Steve Squyres, the mission's main scientist, said
very little science will have been lost because of the setback.
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NASA
previously warned that each rover would probably lose one of every
three days of work to unforeseen circumstances.
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While
on the mend, Spirit already has resumed its science work, snapping the
first-ever microscopic image taken on Mars of the surface of a rock.
Spirit should begin drilling into the rock, dubbed Adirondack, sometime
in the next four days.
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Initial
measurements reveal the rock is an olivine-rich basalt. The volcanic
rock is the most common type on the surface of Earth and does not
require water to form. That disappointed scientists.
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"It
is not the kind of smoking-gun evidence we're looking for," Arvidson
said.
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Scientists
want Opportunity to strike out for an outcropping several yards to its
left. High-resolution images have revealed the presence of fine layers
in the bedrock. The layers could have been laid down by water, wind or
the buildup of volcanic ash.
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On
the Net:
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http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov
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