14-Jan-2004
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Spirit Ready to Drive onto Mars Surface
Full Press Release
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Ready to Roll
This image shows the view from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit after it successfully completed a 115 degree turn to face northwest, the direction it will roll off the lander. The image was taken by the rover's front hazard avoidance camera.
Image credit: NASA/JPL
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Ready to Roll-2
This image shows the view from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit after it successfully completed a 115 degree turn to face northwest, the direction it will roll off the lander. The image was taken by the rover's navigation camera.
Image credit: NASA/JPL
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95-degree Position on Mars
This image from the hazard avoidance camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rover in its near-final turned position on the lander at Gusev Crater. At this point, the rover has turned 95 degrees, with 115 degrees being its goal position. This picture looks remarkably similar to the image taken during a "dress rehearsal" at the JPL In-Situ Laboratory, or "testbed," prior to the maneuver on Mars.
Image credit: NASA/JPL
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95-degree Position at JPL Testbed
This image shows a test rover in a near-final turned position on the lander in the JPL In-Situ Instruments Laboratory, or "testbed." This is where engineers tested the rover's three-point turn before completing the manuever with the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on Mars. At this point, the test rover has turned 95 degrees, with 115 degrees being its goal position. This picture looks remarkably similar to the image taken by the rover's hazard avoidance camera while in the same position on Mars.
Image credit: NASA/JPL
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Location of Spirit's Homeland
This image shows where Earth would set on the martian horizon from the perspective of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit if it were facing northwest atop its lander at Gusev Crater. Earth cannot be seen in this image, but engineers have mapped its location. This image mosaic was taken by the hazard-avoidance camera onboard Spirit.
Image credit: NASA/JPL
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Panoramic View of Lander During Turn
This 360-degree panoramic mosaic image composed of data from the hazard avoidance camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a view of the lander from under the rover deck. The images were taken as the rover turned from its landing position 95 degrees toward the northwest side of the lander.
Image credit: NASA/JPL
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Roll-Off Dress Rehearsal at JPL
This image shows a test rover as it attempts a complete 115-degree turn on the lander in the JPL In-Situ Instruments Laboratory, or "testbed." This is where engineers tested the rover's three-point turn before completing the manuever with the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit at Gusev Crater on Mars. At this point, the test rover has turned 95 degrees, with 115 degrees being its goal position.
Image credit: NASA/JPL
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What Makes Up a Martian Sky?
A view of the sky as observed by the mini-thermal emission spectrometer onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. This instrument detects the different wavelengths of infrared light emitted by an object, in this case the sky, producing a graph called a spectrum that reveals the presence of specific chemicals. This spectrum, taken on Sol 7 in the early afternoon (night of January 9/10, 2004), contains the signatures of carbon dioxide (15 microns), atmospheric dust (9 microns) and water vapor (6 microns). Scientists also expect to see water ice clouds in the martian atmosphere, but did not observe them at the time of this observation. The thermal brightness of carbon dioxide allows the atmospheric temperature as a function of height to be determined. Carbon dioxide makes up 95 percent of the martian atmosphere.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University
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The Unpredictable Weather on Mars
This graph shows the temperature above the the surface of Mars at three different points in time: Sol 5, late afternoon; Sol 6, mid-morning; and Sol 7, early afternoon (Sol 5 occurred on the night of January 7/8, 2004). These temperature profiles were derived from data taken by the mini-thermal emission spectrometer onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. By measuring the brightness of the carbon dioxide gas that makes up the martian atmosphere, scientists can deduce the surface temperature above Mars between 20 meters (65 feet) and 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). The observations show large changes in atmospheric temperature both as a function of time of day, and as a function of height near the surface.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University
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