[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Inspects Its Own Debris

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Dec 27 15:46:51 2004
Message-ID: <200412272036.MAA09368_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://space.com/missionlaunches/rover_debris_041227.html

Mars Rover Inspects Its Own Debris
By Leonard David
space.com
27 December 2004

NASA's Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover is wheeling about a field of
spacecraft litter -- the remains of heat shield hardware that protected
the robot from its plunge through the martian atmosphere last January.

Bits and pieces of flotsam scattered across Meridiani Planum --
including a spring and other junked components -- can be clearly seen in
new rover images

The heat shield was shed during Opportunity's descent and landing
sequence, falling several miles to the surface.

Space engineers are eager to study the clutter for clues as to how well
the heat shield survived its fiery entry. Scientists hope to glean
useful data about Mars' soil, given the entry shield's high-speed impact.

Free-falling

The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) survey of spent entry equipment
includes looking for any surface disturbance produced when the hardware
slammed into the terrain.

An entry shield-created crater might give an idea of the mechanical
properties of the soil on Mars, said Benton Clark, Chief Scientist of
Space Exploration Systems at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver,
Colorado.

Clark, a MER science team member, said that such a crater could help
identify and "calibrate" other small craters that the rover comes across.

The heat shield hit hard after it was intentionally dropped off while
the Opportunity rover and other landing gear were still on a parachute.

"One of the reasons the scientists are interested in inspecting the area
is that they are hoping that when the heat shield hit the ground, after
free-falling, it would create a small, fresh crater that we could
inspect," Clark told SPACE.com.

On images relayed from Opportunity, there appears to be the impact or a
bounce location to the far right of the heat shield, Clark noted.
Received on Mon 27 Dec 2004 03:36:11 PM PST