Mars Rover heads into giant crater

QUOTE

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Two months after surviving a giant dust
storm, one of NASA's robotic rovers on Mars began a risky drive Tuesday into
a crater blasted open by a meteor eons ago.

Scientists want the rover Opportunity to travel 40 feet down toward a
bright band of rocks in the Victoria Crater. They believe the rocks
represent the ancient surface of Mars and that studying them could shed
clues on the planet's early climate.
On Tuesday morning, engineers sent commands to Opportunity to begin its
journey, and the robot signaled a confirmation. It will be several hours
before scientists know how well the drive is going, and the trek itself will
take several days.

Opportunity's first task will be to "toe dip" into the crater, a move that
involves rolling its six wheels below the rim and immediately back out to
gauge its footing.

Over the next few days, engineers will check Opportunity's instruments and
command it to scale down the crater.

"We expect to have good driving," said John Callas, the rover project
manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

The long-awaited descent into the crater -- measuring a half-mile across and
about 200 to 230 feet deep -- had been on hold since July when a series of
sun-blotting dust storms raged in the southern hemisphere. At the height of
the storm, Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, went into sleep mode to
conserve energy. Spirit is exploring another area far from Opportunity.

Opportunity reached the lip of the crater last month and scouted for entry
points. The route scientists eventually chose calls for a drive down at a
15-degree incline toward the exposed layer of bright rocks.

During a July teleconference, NASA managers said the latest mission was
risky, but decided to proceed because of what could be learned.

The aging but hardy rovers have been exploring Mars for 3½ years -- far
outlasting their primary three-month mission.

www.cnn.com

END QUOTE

Glad they got that little sucker going again. Kinda hard to get up
there with the jumper cables.
Marty