The exploration of Mars entered a new phase as Spirit, the first
of US twin rovers, landed on the Red Planet later Saturday.
The rover can work as a robotic field geologist and can see
sharper images, explore farther and examine rocks better than
anything that's ever landed on Mars, scientists at the US space
agency NASA said.
Spirit, as big as a mini-car, is equipped with a suite of
scientific instruments that will be used to read the geologic
record at the landing site, to investigate what role water played
there, and to determine how suitable the conditions would have been
for life.
It has a panoramic camera at human-eye height, and a miniature
thermal emission spectrometer with infrared vision that can help
scientists identify the most interesting rocks.
The six-wheeled rover can watch for hazards and maneuver around
them and has a deck of solar panels, about the size of a kitchen
table, for power. It can drive to the selected rock and extends an
arm with tools on the end.
A microscopic imager, like a geologist's hand lens, can give a
close-up view of the rock's texture. Two spectrometers can identify
the composition of the rock and the fourth tool, which substitutes
for a geologist's hammer, can expose the fresh interior of a rock
by scraping away the weathered surface layer.
Spirit will stop at Gusev Crater, a bowl bigger than the US
state of Connecticut that appears to have held a lake long ago.
Scientists will use the robot's instruments to seek and analyze
geological evidence about past environmental conditions in the
crater.
If sedimentary rocks lie on the surface, they may yield telltale
clues to whether the crater ever did hold a wet environment that
might have been suitable for sustaining life, scientists said.
(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2004)