2010 Lester W. Strock Lecture
Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet
Wednesday, March 24th at 8pm
Gannett Auditorium, Palamountain Hall
Presented by Dr. Steven Squyres
Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy, Cornell University
This lecture is free and open to the public.
Summary
In January of 2004, twin robotic explorers named Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars. Expected to last for 90 days, the two rovers have now been exploring the martian surface for more than six years. Their objective is to search for evidence of past water on Mars, and to determine if Mars ever had conditions that would have been suitable for life.
Spirit landed in Gusev Crater, a large impact crater in the southern highlands of Mars. Finding only ancient lava on the crater floor, Spirit drove a mile and a half to the base of the Columbia Hills, a mountain range near the landing site. There Spirit ascended Husband Hill, the highest summit in the range, finding strong evidence that the rocks were modified long ago by water. More recently, Spirit has found strong evidence for ancient hot springs on Mars.
Opportunity landed on Meridiani Planum, a smooth plateau near the martian equator. In the first few weeks after landing, Opportunity found compelling evidence for long-ago water on Mars. This evidence included thick deposits of sulfate salts, concretions that precipitated from liquid water, and rocks that preserve ancient ripples formed when water flowed over sand. Opportunity has driven more than ten miles across the martian surface, and has recently explored Victoria Crater, a spectacular impact crater half a mile in diameter.
To develop Spirit and Opportunity, a team of more than 4,000 highly motivated engineers and scientists overcame a host of technical challenges. The challenges were multiplied by an extraordinarily tight schedule that was driven by the motions of the planets. The talk will provide an up-to-date summary of the missions of Spirit and Opportunity, from their initial conception through their development, launch, landing, and operations on the surface of Mars.