Mars Spirit Rover Ends Mission |
http://www.sina.com.cn 2004/04/07 14:57 Shanghai Daily |
NASA'S Spirit rover has finished its primary mission to Mars yet continues to roll along, moving toward a cluster of hills that could yield evidence of the planet's wet past. By Monday, Spirit's 90th full day on Mars, the unmanned robot and its twin, Opportunity, had accomplished nearly all of the tasks before NASA would consider their joint mission a full success. "Spirit has completed its part of the bargain and Opportunity doesn't have much left to do," said Mark Adler, manager of the US$820 million double mission. The tasks included a requirement that one of the rovers travel at least 594 meters - a mark Spirit surpassed on Saturday. Between the two of them, the rovers also had to take stereo and color panoramas of their surroundings, drive to at least eight different locations and operate simultaneously for a minimum of 30 days. Despite computer memory problems that left Spirit sidelined for 2 1/2 weeks, it's still spent more days at work than expected, Adler said. For Opportunity, it still must function for another 20 Martian days - which are nearly 40 minutes longer than Earth days - before it meets all of its targets, Adler said. (The Associated Press) |
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