Welcome Earthlings

Welcome earthlings, to the Mars Rover Project. It is my purpose to create an interest and enthusiasm in the exploration of Mars, especially in the younger visitors. The world’s elementary school year olds will most likely be the first people to ever step foot on Mars, which is a goal of NASA. The Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER) and it’s incredible success, as well its ability to provide the science needed to fulfill the overall Mars Exploration goals will be the focus of the Mars Rover Project.
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and our nearest neighbor. It has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Its radius is half that of Earth and has a surface area that almost equals Earths dry land area. It can be a very cold and inhospitable planet. The temperature can be lower than -100 F in the winter and above +50 F in the summer. Mars lost its magnetosphere approximately 4 billion years ago and has a thin atmosphere that allows harmful UV radiation to bombard the surface. Mars hosts the tallest known volcano in the Solar System, Olympus Mons as well as the deepest known canyon, Valles Marineris. Find out more about Mars at WorldBook at NASA.

Mars has been a difficult planet to understand. It has challenged the minds of scientists since Michael Maestlin first recorded its occultation in October of 1590. Galileo first observed it through a telescope in 1609. It is only now, through detailed studies of the surface, that Mars is beginning to reveal its mysteries.

NASA's Mars Exploration Program today is an extensive undertaking that continues to push scientists and engineers to new levels. Interplanetary exploration is in no way an easy or routine event. It is a very expensive and dangerous undertaking. Approximately two thirds of all missions to Mars have ended in failure. However, even the failures contribute to lessons learned. Each new mission being designed and built around the lessons learned in previous missions. The goal? To find out whether Mars was ever capable of harboring life, or if life forms can exist there today.
While modern science has been able to disprove most notions of any highly developed life forms, including ruins of large structures and canals built by ancient civilizations, they have yet to disprove the absence of life. In fact, many scientists believe life could have existed on Mars in the past, and may continue to exist today. Is there life on Mars? That is the defining question for Mars Exploration today.

The Strategy

Follow the Water: Everywhere on Earth, where water is present, life not only exists, it thrives, even under extreme conditions. Scientific data suggests that water is present, not only on Earth, but on other planets in our solar system like Mars and Saturn’s moon Titan. Water is essential life. NASA has developed a "Follow the Water" strategy in the interplanetary quest for life, past or present.
“To "Follow the Water" an understanding of the current environment is needed. Searching for features that appear to be altered by past water like canyons, riverbeds, hydrothermal vents and springs as well as possible subsurface aquifers is an ongoing process. Scientific observations and experiments in the atmosphere as well as on rocks that could have only been formed in the presence of water is the mission. Understanding the geologic and climatic history will give us a much better understanding of the Martian environment (NASA).”NASA’s Mars Exploration Program will use this “Follow the Water” strategy in achieving its four primary goals: Goal 1: Determine if life ever arose on Mars. Goal 2: Characterize the climate of Mars Goal. 3: Characterize the geology of Mars. Goal 4: Prepare for the human exploration of Mars.
To find out more about NASA’s “Follow the Water” strategy, visit the Mars Exploration Program Overview.

Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission

The Mars Rover Mission became a reality in the summer of 2000, when Ed Weiller, NASA associate administrator, personally selected the Rover after two months spent scrutinizing the two competing team’s proposals, a rover and an orbiter.
Steve Squyres, Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University, was named principal investigator on Cornell’s Athena Science Team, made up largely of international members. Included on the team is Jim Bell, assistant professor of astronomy at Cornell, who would be responsible for the construction of the rovers Panoramic Camera System, which is used in the selection of primary science targets. As principle investigator, Squyres is responsible for the scientific instruments that would fly to Mars as integral parts of the twin Mars Exploration Rovers. Link to original article.
The MER mission was designed and developed to explore the surface of Mars like no other surface mission has before. NASA's twin rovers are the answer to the problem of getting field geologists to Mars. Through an array of scientific cameras and spectrometers as well as complex mechanical, computer and communications engineering, scientific data will be transmitted back from two opposing sides of the planet to Earth for study.
While robots will never be equivalent to humans in the ability to think rationally in the exploration of any frontier, the rovers will provide a way for scientists here on Earth to study water's role in the Martian environment safely, paving the way for human explorers in the future. Each rover is designed to represent the field geologist as closely as possible. They have a body to protect its vital equipment and a computer that acts as a brain to process the information that will control all of it's functions. It has heaters to provide warmth and a solar array that will keep its battery charged. It has a neck and head that provides a mount for eyes and sensors to navigate and study interesting finds. The eyes are mounted at a height of 6 ft. to provide for a realistic human perspective. The rovers have an arm to extend it's reach, and a hand, to apply mounted tools to rocks and soil on the end of the arm. It has wheels to provide mobility. It has antennas for two-way communication with orbiting satellites as well as directly with the Earth. The rover is as close to it's human counterpart that modern engineering can provide and is a testament to what humans can achieve.

Scientific Instruments

The Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) is located at the base of the Pancam mast, but uses sensors on the Pancam head and provides the ability to detect interesting science targets from a distance. The mini-tes uses the thermal radiation spectrum of Martian rocks to determine their mineral content. The Mossbauer Spectrometer (MB) is designed specifically for the study of iron bearing minerals, which are abundant on Mars. The Mossbauer is located on the IDD and is placed directly onto the soil or rock to take measurements, which take about 12 hours.
The Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) is designed to determine the elemental chemistry of rocks by measuring alpha particles emitted by radiation decay and x-rays which are a type of electromagnetic radiation. The APXS is also located on the IDD and takes about ten hours to take measurements.
The Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) is a grinder that is used to remove surface coatings that cover rocks and changes it's chemistry over time. The RAT is able to grind a hole approximately 2 inches in diameter and .2 inches deep exposing the interior of the rock, which represents it's prior history.

The Cameras

One Microscopic Imager (MI) located on the Instrument Deployment Device (IDD), at the end of the arm, that takes Hi Resolution detailed images of very small targets such as pebbles and soil. The mobility provided by the arm allows for the positioning of the MI for stereo imagery.
Two Front and Two Rear Hazard Avoidance Cameras (Hazcams) are mounted above the left and right, front and rear wheels. They have a field of view of approximately 120 degrees and provide stereo imagery of terrain 3x4 meters in front and behind the rover. The Hazcams work in tandem with onboard software to allow for autonomous avoidance of unexpected obstacles or situations.
Two Navigation Cameras (Navcam) are mounted on the Pancam head and have a 45-degree field of view and provide stereo imagery of terrain, primarily for navigation purposes. The ability of the pancam head to rotate provides for 360-degree panoramic capability.
Two Hi-Resolution CCD Panoramic Cameras (Pancams) with filter wheels provide color in the near and far infrared spectrums. The Pancams provide color stereo imagery for navigation of terrain as well as detailed imagery of geologically interesting rocks. Through its filters, scientific studies on the atmosphere can be conducted as well. The rover’s relative position can be determined by using the sun and a sundial located on the deck of each of the rovers. The sundial also has a color target for calibrating the Pancams CCDs. Examples of the filters are shown below.

Martian “True Color” is a topic of dispute among both scientists and enthusiasts alike. True Color is difficult to determine on Mars, as no one has ever been there to see it, the creators of the Pancam describe the difficulty in, “Revealing Mars' True Colors”.
For more information on the cameras and scientific instruments, visit the JPL or Athena site.
For technical data, search here.

Entry Descent and Landing (EDL)

Launch Cruise and Landing Animation (Link)

On June 10, 2003, Mars Rover Spirit was launched aboard a Delta II rocket on a one-way trip to Mars, followed by its twin, Opportunity, on July 8. The trip would take seven months to travel the 320 million miles and was followed by what may have been the trickiest part of the mission, entry, descent and landing (EDL). EDL for Spirit occurred on January 4, 2004, and January 25 for Opportunity. First, the vehicle would have to enter through a small window in space and time into the Martian atmosphere at just the right trajectory to hit the desired landing ellipse. The vehicle would then slow as it passed through the atmosphere from about 10,000 mph to about 1000 mph. The heatshield protects the rover and its instruments from the extreme heat developed during atmospheric entry. Next, the parachute deploys at an elevation of about 6 miles and withstands a load of up to 19,000 pounds, which slows the vehicle even more. It then separates from the heat shield and is lowered from the backshell on Zylon tethers. An airbag then inflates moments before retro rockets fire bringing the vehicle almost to a hover some meters above the surface. Lastly, the tether is cut and the Rovers Landers bounce and roll to a standstill on the surface of Mars. The air bags are designed to right the lander upon deflation and unfolding, providing egress ramps. For more info on Launch and EDL visit JPL’s Mission Summary page.

The Mars Exploration Rover Mission

Spirit and Opportunity are conducting their operations on opposite sides of the planet, communicating with Earth through orbiting satellites, as well as directly. The MER missions were designed to last 90 sols each. A sol is one Martian day and is 24 hours and 39 minutes long. The rovers are capable of up to 100-meter traverses a day. Meeting these design goals, as well as retaining operation of it's science instruments would equate success.
As of November 26, 2007, Spirit has been operating for 1386 Sols and has driven over 4.5 miles. Opportunity is in it's 1364 Sol of operation and has driven over 7 miles. The science the rovers have conducted has led to a better understanding of the Martian environment. Many features have been found to have been altered by water, verifying this notion for many scientists. Some even believe that Mars once had vast quantities of surface water in the form of inland seas with tidal cycles and lakes fed by flowing water in rivers streams and springs. However, not all agree with this idea and believe surface water was not as abundant as claimed and was seasonal in nature, rising to the surface in cycles. Whatever the case may be, most agree that water has played an important role in the Martian environment.
The MER mission is an incredible success, and despite the fact that the rovers are not in as good as shape as they used to be, they continue to explore the surface of Mars and conduct science at their given locations. They have weathered massive dust storms, climbed mountains and traversed perilous windswept plains. They have driven into craters and have studied geologic layers extending further into the geologic history than ever before. They continue to take breathtaking panoramic views of this alien world and transmit them back to Earth.
The MER mission also makes available for public download, all of the raw images downlinked from Mars nearly in real time. You can look at pictures of Mars today, which were taken today. However, the raw images appear as black and white tiles and need to be processed for color. You can also create panoramas as well as 3D anaglyphs. NASA provides there software free, as open source and as powerful programs. There is also a lot of other software available on the internet, much of it free, which can be used to process these raw images. Visit the Mars Desktop Explorer for more information.
The Mars Rover Project will now direct you to the separate sites that will outline their individual missions begining on Sol 1. The Spirit and Opportunity sites will use the rovers’ imagery and maps to look at their respective missions in detail. I hope you will find the sites interesting and join me in retracing the rover tracks of Spirit and Opportunity.

MER Spirit

Explore Gusev with MER Spirit.

MER Opportunity

Explore Meridiani with MER Opportunity.