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Opportunity Rover Encounters Its Own Heat Shield

Posted by timothy on from the like-a-shadow-of-its-former-self dept.

blamanj writes "Mars Rover Opportunity, a few meters shy of the 2km mark on its odometer, has come across the remains of the heat shield from its landing. This map traces the path of the rover for the past 11 months. It's been averaging about 6 meters/sol. Spirit, which had to stop to dislodge a rock, is still climbing the "Columbia Hills". It's tough going, and Spirit experiences slippage of up to 80% as it climbs the hills."

5 of 269 comments (clear)

  1. heat shield by helioquake · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's not often that we get a chance to examine the integrity of the remaining heat shield in these missions. Let it take a look and see what JPL guys can learn from it for future missions, eh?

  2. How much buried? by FuturePastNow · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It will be interesting to see how much sand has been blown over the shield in almost a year. Might give more insights into Martian weather.

    --
    Give a man fire, and you warm him for the night. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life.
  3. Re:Yes. by Rob+Carr · · Score: 4, Interesting
    No. That's the exact same photo from the MERM web site.. To find the photo, you can use this page to decode the photo name. Danged if I can get the seconds to work out (the 3rd through 11th digits).
    • 1 Opportunity
    • P Pancam
    • 155450047 Number of seconds since Jan 1, 2004 at 11:58::55.816. (works out to Sol 307)
    • Data product full frame EDR
    That sort of stuff. I lost interest at that point.

    And no, I've not heard any comments on this picture yet. There are other pictures with frost, but water would be puzzling on the Martian surface at that pressure and temperature.

    I'm pretty sure they'd have mentioned a leak in the Opportunity's radiator.

    .... .. .... ..

    --
    This sig seemed like a good idea at the time....
  4. Re:What's a "sol"? by dustinbarbour · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The sun is named Sol. A "sol" is what we calls days except a sol is longer. Mars doesn't rotate as quickly as Earth thus making the days longer. Apparently the guys at JPL felt funny about making the "day" longer than the traditional 24 hours we experience here on Earth. They even began sleeping according to Martian sols.

    --
    What is your penile percentile?
  5. Oh how much I wish... by Yaztromo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I know it isn't going to happen due to the distances involved, but I'd love it if one of these rovers (or one of the rovers to follow...) were to come across Viking I and/or II. It would be interesting to see how they have withstood the test of time in the last 28 years since their landing. I imagine there is quite a bit of useful science that could be conducted, as both are known variables from nearly 30 years ago, and we have a lot of data from them about their surroundings.

    At the same time, Viking I and Viking II are two of the extraterrestrial missions I have early memories of. I was three when they landed, and continued transmitting data until I was nine. So these are old friends I wouldn't mind revisiting.

    The current missions aren't close enough to either one to make it, but maybe a future mission will give up a glimpse of these past heroes. One can hope :).

    Yaz.