Background Information

June 10, 2003, a day science took another great leap into the future of astronomy. The launch of the Spirit Rover was complete, the world would now be able to see mars from its surface. Not long after, NASA launched the twin rover Opportunity headed for the opposite side of mars. Spirit made its decent to Mars and successfully landed seven months later, again followed by Opportunity January 24, 2004. Both rovers had 4 goals in mind; determine whether life ever arose on Mars, characterize the climate of Mars, characterize the geology of Mars, and prepare for possible human exploration. However, as you will see as you read on, even NASA wasn't prepared for the longevity and great exploration both rovers could provide, outlasting all life recommendations (NASA)! (view the media page for a great video on how both rovers were put in space.)

Spirit and Opportunity were sent to analyze Martian rocks which hold the key to previous water activity. They examine the terrain for minerals left behind by water processes such as precipitation and evaporation. For example, the rovers’ instruments enable them to search for iron-bearing carbonates (which indicate the presence of water during formation) in the samples they obtain. They use these samples to gather information on the distribution and composition of the Martian surface to understand the geological processes [water / wind erosion, volcanism, cratering, etc.] that shaped the land and its composition. By studying the ground on Mars, Spirit and Opportunity can find geological clues to Mars’ past as a water filled, earth-like planet and assess whether those environments were hospitable for life.

How Rovers are Built and Tools for Survival

As Pictured Above:

• Each is outfitted with a camera capable of 360-degree color views, microscopes and spectrometers - for close-up investigations of mineralogy - and rock abrasion tools that will allow them to dig into the Martian surface.
• Cost of the two rovers is about $820 million. Their names were selected through a student essay contest that drew nearly 10,000 entries.
• Remote sensing instruments will be mounted on a rover mast, including high-resolution color stereo panoramic cameras and an infrared spectrometer for determining the mineralogy of rocks and soils.
• Rover instruments include a microscopic imager, to see micron-size particles and textures; an alpha-particle/x-ray spectrometer, for measuring elemental composition; and a Mössbauer spectrometer for determining the mineralogy of iron-bearing rocks. Each rover will carry a rock abrasion tool, the equivalent of a geologist's rock hammer, to remove the weathered surfaces from rocks and analyze their interior.
• Immediately after touchdown, the rover is expected to provide a virtual tour of the landing site by sending back a high resolution 360-degree, panoramic, color and infrared image. It will then leave the petal structure behind, driving off as scientists command the vehicle to go to rock and soil targets of interest.
• Rocks and soils will be analyzed with a set of five instruments. A special tool called the "RAT," or Rock Abrasion Tool, will also be used to expose fresh rock surfaces for study.
• A total of twenty cameras aid the twin rovers in their search for the past presence of water on Mars and provide the world with stunning images. The Mars Exploration Rover Mission provides the highest resolution pictures of Mars yet.
• Building on Pathfinder's autonomy, the twin rovers are better able to steer clear of danger. This mission marks the first implementation on a flight vehicle of a new version of navigation and hazard-avoidance software, developed at Carnegie Mellon University.
• Two other embedded applications combine software and hardware performance. First, a motor controller stabilizes the motors that control elements like the rover wheels and the brushes on the rock abrasion tool (RAT). Another first-time flight component is a battery-controlled board that balances the charge on batteries, serves as a nighttime computer and controls the clock.
• The Computer in both Spirit and Opportunity runs with a 32-bit Rad 6000 microprocessor, a radiation-hardened version of the PowerPC chip used in some models of Macintosh computers, operating at a speed of 20 million instructions per second. Onboard memory includes 128 megabytes of random access memory, augmented by 256 megabytes of flash memory and smaller amounts of other non-volatile memory, which allows the system to retain data even without power.
• The rover will weigh about 300 pounds (nearly 150 kilograms) and has a range of up to about 110 yards (100 meters) per sol, or Martian day. Surface operations will last for at least 90 sols, extending to late April 2004, but could continue longer, depending on the health of the rover

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