By all accounts, the robot ship made a nearly flawless landing late Saturday, far surpassing even the most optimistic predictions of precision to hit its landing target.īut engineers were devoting much of Monday to checking one of two motors that moves the high-gain antenna. In the meantime, mission engineers are poring over data to check Spirit's operational health. That's when the rover is really born," said Mark Adler, manager of the Spirit mission. The golf cart-sized machine needs a chance to stretch, stand up and test its tools and wheels before NASA cuts its umbilical cord, a thick line that secures it to the landing platform, and turns it loose for its planned 90-day jaunt. The rover, also trying to become accustomed to a strange new world, will need at least a week before it begins roaming around Gusev Crater, a nearly 100 mile-wide pockmark just south of the Martian equator. "My cats are staying with my husband, so they get to stay on Earth time," quipped mission scientist Wendy Calvin. Some even sport watches that measure Mars time. They have blacked out their windows to prevent sunlight from coming in. Golombek and others on the rover team have adopted a Mars schedule, coordinating their waking and sleeping patterns with Martian days, which are nearly 40 minutes longer than those on Earth. "It gets you the critical information you need at the end of one Martian day and use it to plan the next day," planetary researcher Matt Golombek said. Now the rover can hail the home planet, when it comes into view, without a middleman for hours at a stretch with its lollipop-like, high-gain antenna. She's just too easy to operate at this point," said Art Thompson, a robotics expert who will help drive the rover from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.Īfter landing over the weekend, the machine had used the smallest of three antennae to relay brief messages via Martian satellites, but they can only be reached a few minutes a day, when the satellites zoom over the lander. The $400 million rover, expected to send back its first color postcards from Mars within a day, also comes equipped with an unprecedented array of scientific instruments, which could help determine whether the cold, desert world once was a warm, wet planet.Įarlier Monday, the robotic explorer, named Spirit, locked in on Earth with its most powerful antenna for the first time, a crucial technical accomplishment that allows it to beam images and data directly home. They can also view the planets outside the asteroid belt.PASADENA, California (CNN) - On its first full day on Mars, a NASA craft beamed back a three-dimensional panorama of its new home, a tantalizing hint of the capacity of the most sophisticated eyes ever to scan the red planet surface. Users can also filter objects to include comets and potential threats. He also wanted the solution to provide information on how humans continue to explore space and beyond.Įyes on Asteroids also includes Asteroid Watch, which gives viewers an overview of the five closest approaches to Earth. Jason Craig, technical producer of the Visualization Technology Applications and Development team at NASA JPL, said the app is designed to be a user-friendly offering that provides insights into NEOs. 13, 2029, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said. NASA also included details about a potential close approach between the Earth and the Apophis asteroid on Apr. The website also provides useful information about asteroid close approaches and fly-by events. Some of the missions on the website are the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer spacecraft and the Double Asteroid Redirect Test mission. Eyes on Asteroids can be accessed through any device. The website receives updates twice a day, allowing it to add a new object after discovery and orbit calculation. Individuals can also tap or click on a certain near-Earth object and learn more about them. The Eyes on Asteroids website gives users a live update on what is orbiting the Earth and what new objects the space agency has spotted. NASA has introduced a new 3D visualization tool that can give viewers real-time information about asteroids and comets that approach Earth’s orbit. NASA’s ‘Eyes on Asteroids’ App Gives Insights on Near-Earth Objects
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