MARS MISSION NASA prepares for rover to roll
The Spirit rover took its first picture in more than a week.
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- The Opportunity rover could roll off its lander and onto Mars as early as Sunday, giving NASA scientists more chances for exploration just days before the rover's convalescent twin, Spirit, could resume its own work.
Opportunity unfolded its front wheels and locked them into position, leaving just a few more tasks before it's ready to travel the final 10 feet onto the surface of Mars, mission members said Wednesday during a news conference at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration still wants to adjust the forward tilt of Opportunity's lander, pitching it down 5 degrees to smooth the six-wheeled robot's path. Engineers hoped to complete that work in time for a late Sunday roll-off, said rover activity lead scientist Rick Welch.
Regaining Spirit
Meanwhile, engineers worked to regain full control of Spirit, which has been sidelined for a week on the other side of the planet with crippling software problems.
"We are working to get complete control of the vehicle but still aren't quite there yet," said Jennifer Trosper, a mission manager.
Spirit began using its high-gain antenna again late Wednesday, which should speed the transmission of data to Earth needed to debug the rover's problems.
It also took its first picture in more than a week, mission manager Mark Adler said.
The picture shows Spirit's arm, poised as it had been in front of a rock scientists had dubbed Adirondack.
"Everything's right where we left it," Adler said.
To fix Spirit, engineers planned to either selectively pluck files from its flash memory or, if that fails, simply wipe it clean.
Depending on the outcome, Spirit could return to its science work early next week, Trosper said. It could resume taking engineering pictures before then, after a weeklong pause.
Taking pictures
While parked 6,600 miles away, Opportunity has been busy snapping its own surroundings, taking more than 500 pictures with its panoramic camera.
On Wednesday, NASA released the first color photographs taken by Opportunity of fine layering in a rock outcropping roughly 10 yards from the parked rover. New black-and-white images show the formation in even higher resolution.
The outcropping rims a portion of the small crater where Opportunity landed.
Scientists said patches visible in the layers appear to contain pebbles and other small stones that could indicate the rock formed in water. Drifting volcanic ash or wind-borne sediments also could have built up the thin layers.
NASA sent the twin rovers on the $820 million mission to Mars to probe for geologic evidence of the past presence of water on what is now a largely dry, dusty planet.
NASA said it will name Opportunity's landing site in honor of the seven astronauts killed aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1986.
It previously named Spirit's landing site in memory of the Columbia shuttle crew killed a year ago.