Scientist calls Spirit landing site 'a glorious place'
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: January 4, 2004

A preliminary analysis of the 60 to 80 images relayed back to Earth from the Spirit rover during its initial communications session shows the lander bounced to stop in a near-perfect location to accomplish its scientific objectives.

"What a night!" said principal investigator Steve Squyres. "Spirit has shown us her new home in Gusev crater. It's a glorious place. It is a wonderful place from a scientific perspective in several different ways. First of all, not only have we landed at Gusev crater, but we now have the first evidence suggesting where we landed. We have hit what the science team believes to be the science sweet spot of Gusev crater."

FIRST LOOK AT THE IMAGES:
   SPIRIT'S VIEW OF THE MARTIAN HORIZON
   FIRST IMAGES ON MISSION CONTROL SCREEN
   NASA CHIEF VIEWS EARLY IMAGES
   360-DEGREE OVERHEAD VIEW OF LANDING SITE
   SCIENTISTS ADMIRE FIRST VIEWS OF GUSEV CRATER
   DESCENT CAMERA IMAGE OF GUSEV CRATER

The goal of the Mars Exploration Rover project is to find out how long water may have persisted on the surface of the red planet and whether it lasted long enough for life to have evolved. Spirit landed in Gusev crater, which scientists believe once harbored a vast lake. Over the next three months, if all goes well, Spirit will creep about the heart of the crater, examining rocks and soil to determine the geologic history of the area. A second, identical lander called Opportunity will bounce down on the other side of the planet Jan. 24 to study mineral deposits that scientists suspect formed in the presence of water.

"There are a lot of things that are good about this spot," Squyres said of the Gusev landing site. "It is a place that is almost, when you look at it, it looks like it was tailor made for our vehicle. Our vehicle was built to drive, our vehicle was built to explore. We see rocks, we see enough rocks that we can do great science with them but not so many that they're going to get in our way. So we're going to be able to really motor around this place. So I'm looking forward to some good driving in the weeks and months ahead."

The first color views from Spirit's higher-resolution panoramic camera are expected late today. In the meantime, Squyres said it appears areas near the landing site have been swept clear of dust by martian winds, increasing the likelihood Spirit will be able to study pristine lakebed rocks or sediments.

"This rock population is as close to ideal as I can possibly have dreamed," he said. "There's a couple of wonderful things about it. Yeah, there's enough rocks, but this is tailor made for driving on. We're going to be really able to move around on this. The other thing is the rocks to a great extent really look swept clean, they're dust on these things but it is a much cleaner surface than we really had any right to expect or hope for. ... We're seeing a lot of exposed rock, but a very good surface for driving. It couldn't be better for what this vehicle was designed for."

Over the next several days, the priorities are to check out the operation of Spirit's scientific instruments, to collect color panoramas and to gather infrared views of the landing site to help figure out where to send the rover once it rolls off onto the surface. Roll off is not expected for another week or so, but engineers do not expect any major problems. While airbag material and a rock may block a straight-ahead roll off, the rover can be rotated in place to find a more favorable exit point. The lander ended up with only a slight 2-degree tilt.

In the meantime, "we do not know what kind of geologic material we have landed on. Don't have a clue," Squyres said. "I don't know what kind of rocks they are. We haven't seen any Pancam images yet so we've got no color, we've got no infrared. That's going to come in the days ahead. So I don't know if these are sedimentary rocks, if they're lava that's been deposited over it. But if you asked me ahead of time what's a dry lakebed on Mars going to look like, I'd have said a lot like this."

NASA science chief Ed Weiler promised to stop calling Mars the "death planet."

"I told some people I would have been happy to go to the hotel if we had heard a tone, just a middle C, saying that we had landed," he said. "Tonight, you guys and gals got a symphony. And it was the most beautiful symphony I've ever heard. I will stop calling Mars the death planet. I apologize!"

Spaceflight Now Plus
Video coverage for subscribers only:
   VIDEO: THE MOMENT MISSION CONTROL HEARS SPIRIT'S SIGNAL QT
   VIDEO: THE SUCCESSFUL LANDING DESCRIBED AT NEWS BRIEFING QT
   VIDEO: FIRST IMAGES ARE DISCUSSED AT OVERNIGHT CONFERENCE QT

   VIDEO: SATURDAY'S PRE-LANDING STATUS BRIEFING QT
   VIDEO: NASA OFFICIALS HOLD INFORMAL CHAT WITH REPORTERS QT
   VIDEO: WATCH FRIDAY'S MARS PROGRAM BRIEFING QT
   VIDEO: MARS SCIENCE IS DETAILED IN THIS NEWS CONFERENCE QT
   MORE: COMPLETE MARS EXPLORATION ROVER VIDEO REPORT
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