Mars Exploration Rover Mission Status - December 29, 2003

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Guy Webster (818) 354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

News Release: 2003-174
December 29, 2003

Mars Exploration Rover Mission Status

NASA's Spirit rover spacecraft fired its thrusters for 3.4 seconds on
Friday, Dec. 26, to make a slight and possibly final correction in its
flight path about one week before landing on Mars.

Radio tracking of the spacecraft during the 24 hours after the
maneuver showed it to be right on course for its landing inside Mars'
Gusev Crater at 04:35 Jan. 4, 2004, Universal Time (8:35 p.m. Jan. 3,
Pacific Standard Time.) Spirit's twin, Opportunity, will reach Mars
three weeks later.

"The maneuver went flawlessly," said Dr. Mark Adler, Spirit mission
manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

This was Spirit's fourth trajectory correction maneuver since launch
on June 10. Two more are on the schedule for the flight's final three
days, if needed. Adler said, "It seems unlikely we'll have to do a
fifth trajectory correction maneuver, but we'll make the final call
Thursday morning after we have a few more days of tracking data.
Right now, it looks as though we hit the bull's-eye."

The adjustment was a quick nudge approximately perpendicular to the
spacecraft's spin axis, said JPL's Chris Potts, deputy navigation team
chief for the NASA Mars Exploration Rover project. "It moved the
arrival time later by 2 seconds and moved the landing point on the
surface northeast by about 54 kilometers" (33 miles), Potts said. The
engine firing changed the velocity of the spacecraft by only 25
millimeters per second (about one-twentieth of one mile per hour).

For both NASA rovers approaching Mars, the most daunting challenges
will be descending through Mars' atmosphere, landing on the surface,
and opening up properly from the enclosed and folded configuration in
which the rovers arrive. Most previous Mars landing attempts, by
various nations, have failed.

Each rover, if it arrives successfully, will then spend more than a
week in a careful sequence of steps before rolling off its lander
platform. The rovers' mission is to examine their landing areas for
geological evidence about past environmental conditions. In
water, which is key information for assessing whether the sites ever
could have been hospitable to life. Opportunity will land halfway
around Mars from Spirit.

As of 13:00 Universal Time (6 a.m. PST) on New Year's Day, Spirit will
have traveled 481.9 million kilometers (299.4 million miles) since
launch and have will have 5.1 million kilometers (3.2 million miles)
left to go. Opportunity will have traveled 411 million kilometers
(255 million miles) since its July 7 launch and will have 45 million
kilometers (27.9 million miles) to go, with three remaining scheduled
opportunities for trajectory correction maneuvers.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the
Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science,
Washington. Additional information about the project is available from
JPL at

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

and from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at

http://athena.cornell.edu/ .

-end-

(Ron) wrote in
om:

launch and have will have 5.1 million kilometers (3.2 million miles)
left to go. Opportunity will have traveled 411 million kilometers
(255 million miles) since its July 7 launch and will have 45 million
kilometers (27.9 million miles) to go, with three remaining scheduled
opportunities for trajectory correction maneuvers.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the
Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science,
Washington. Additional information about the project is available from
JPL at

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

and from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at

http://athena.cornell.edu/ .

-end-


In this case we can definitely say that the "Beagle Has Not Landed, but
.....". Brittannia may rule the waves, she might rule the skies, but her
finest hour is yet to arrive". (apologies to Sir Winston Churchill).

--LH

"Louis Hissink" wrote in message
33.50...
(Ron) wrote in
om:

launch and have will have 5.1 million kilometers (3.2 million miles)
left to go. Opportunity will have traveled 411 million kilometers
(255 million miles) since its July 7 launch and will have 45 million
kilometers (27.9 million miles) to go, with three remaining scheduled
opportunities for trajectory correction maneuvers.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the
Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science,
Washington. Additional information about the project is available from
JPL at

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

and from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at

http://athena.cornell.edu/ .

-end-


In this case we can definitely say that the "Beagle Has Not Landed, but
....". Brittannia may rule the waves, she might rule the skies, but her
finest hour is yet to arrive". (apologies to Sir Winston Churchill).

--LH

Oh, I think it is safe to say it has landed, it just isn't talking to anyone
for whatever reason.

In article 3FF2EEF7.6060508@socketdotnet,
Jo Schaper joschapernospam@socketdotnet wrote:


George wrote:
"Louis Hissink" wrote in message
33.50...


In this case we can definitely say that the "Beagle Has Not Landed, but
....". Brittannia may rule the waves, she might rule the skies, but her
finest hour is yet to arrive". (apologies to Sir Winston Churchill).

--LH


Oh, I think it is safe to say it has landed, it just isn't talking to
anyone
for whatever reason.

The Beagle found a Martian rabbit and it is off for a romp. *|;-)

No, no, no. That's not scifi. The beagle found a Martian
rabbit, who ate it and is now annoyed by indigestion.

/BAH

Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail.

George wrote:
"Louis Hissink" wrote in message
33.50...


In this case we can definitely say that the "Beagle Has Not Landed, but
....". Brittannia may rule the waves, she might rule the skies, but her
finest hour is yet to arrive". (apologies to Sir Winston Churchill).

--LH


Oh, I think it is safe to say it has landed, it just isn't talking to anyone
for whatever reason.

The Beagle found a Martian rabbit and it is off for a romp. *|;-)



--
Geo Communications Services -- www.geocommunications.net
Jo Schaper's Missouri World -- http://www.missouriworld.net

"Jo Schaper" joschapernospam@socketdotnet wrote in message
news:3FF2EEF7.6060508@socketdotnet...


George wrote:
"Louis Hissink" wrote in message
33.50...


In this case we can definitely say that the "Beagle Has Not Landed, but
....". Brittannia may rule the waves, she might rule the skies, but her
finest hour is yet to arrive". (apologies to Sir Winston Churchill).

--LH


Oh, I think it is safe to say it has landed, it just isn't talking to
anyone
for whatever reason.

The Beagle found a Martian rabbit and it is off for a romp. *|;-)



That's as good of an explanation as I've heard so far. :-)

Louis Hissink wrote in message . 133.50...
(Ron) wrote in
om:

In this case we can definitely say that the "Beagle Has Not Landed, but
....". Brittannia may rule the waves, she might rule the skies, but her
finest hour is yet to arrive". (apologies to Sir Winston Churchill).

--LH

How funny would it be if it was discovered that the ESA used miles and
yards instead of meters.

Andy

AMH wrote:

Louis Hissink wrote in message
. 133.50...
(Ron) wrote in
om:

In this case we can definitely say that the "Beagle Has Not Landed, but
....". Brittannia may rule the waves, she might rule the skies, but her
finest hour is yet to arrive". (apologies to Sir Winston Churchill).

--LH

How funny would it be if it was discovered that the ESA used miles and
yards instead of meters.

Andy

Or Metres for that matter. Why would they do that then. I don't think as
yet that we can conclude that the Beagle has or has not landed. It doesn't
seem to be working properly though.

"George" wrote in
:


"Louis Hissink" wrote in message
33.50...
(Ron) wrote in
om:

launch and have will have 5.1 million kilometers (3.2 million
miles) left to go. Opportunity will have traveled 411 million
kilometers (255 million miles) since its July 7 launch and will
have 45 million kilometers (27.9 million miles) to go, with three
remaining scheduled opportunities for trajectory correction
maneuvers.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages
the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space
Science, Washington. Additional information about the project is
available from JPL at

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

and from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at

http://athena.cornell.edu/ .

-end-


In this case we can definitely say that the "Beagle Has Not Landed,
but ....". Brittannia may rule the waves, she might rule the skies,
but her finest hour is yet to arrive". (apologies to Sir Winston
Churchill).

--LH

Oh, I think it is safe to say it has landed, it just isn't talking to
anyone for whatever reason.




Oh George, robots send data, humans talk, or have you a problem with this
sublety

--
LH

(AMH) wrote in
om:

Louis Hissink wrote in message
. 133.50...
(Ron) wrote in
om:

In this case we can definitely say that the "Beagle Has Not Landed,
but ....". Brittannia may rule the waves, she might rule the skies,
but her finest hour is yet to arrive". (apologies to Sir Winston
Churchill).

--LH

How funny would it be if it was discovered that the ESA used miles and
yards instead of meters.

Andy


Not funny - actually happened recently, last couple of years I believe,
some one in NASA used miles instead of KM, and Oh Oh,

--
LH