NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, were sent to Mars in search of answers about the red planet's geology and to study its history of water.
NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, were sent to Mars in search of answers about the red planet's geology and to study its history of water.
NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, were sent to Mars in search of answers about the red planet's geology and to study its history of water.
Opportunity at Meridiani Planum
Opportunity at Meridiani Planum
Opportunity at
the Meridiani Planum
The rover Opportunity landed on Meridiani Planum on January 25, 2004, and operated for almost 15 Earth years before a global Martian dust storm in June 2018 ended Opportunity's solar-powered communication. Despite being designed for a 90-sol mission, Opportunity studied the Red Planet for 5,352 sols! Meridiani Planum is a vast plain located at the equator, close to the boundary between the ancient Southern Highlands of Mars and the younger Northern Lowlands.
Meridiani Planum was chosen as a landing site because observations from orbit by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft (mission: 1996-2007) showed the surface was rich in the mineral hematite (Fe2O3), which on Earth often has its origin in aqueous processes.
Prior to Opportunity's landing, two hypotheses were put forth for the origin of the layered sequence in Meridiani Planum; one that they are lake deposits and the other that they are volcanic airfall deposits. Thus, there was the possibility that water-laid sediments could be studied by Opportunity.
During its 15 years of operation, Opportunity traveled over the plains, explored the interiors of several small craters, and the rocks on the rim of the ancient, 22 km diameter
Endeavour crater. She traveled over 45.16 km setting a new record for roving on a planetary surface.
For most of the mission, Opportunity studied the sulfate-rich aeolian sandstones, named the Burns formation, that make up the upper layers of Meridiani Planum. While most of the sandstones have textures indicating they were deposited by wind, some show evidence for formation in a shallow, lagoon-like environment.
The rocks exposed on the rim of Endeavour crater are impact breccias thrown out by the Endeavour impact and are older than the Burns fm. sandstones. These impact breccias contain evidence for aqueous-based alteration and environments that pre-date for deposition of the Burns formation
sandstones.
Spirit at the Gusev Crater
Spirit at the Gusev Crater
Spirit at the Gusev Crater
The rover Spirit, a.k.a. MER-A, landed in Gusev crater on January 4, 2004. Gusev crater is an
ancient crater that is about 160 km across. It is located just south of the boundary between
the ancient Southern Highlands and the younger Northern Lowlands of Mars.
The landing site was chosen because the southern rim of Gusev crater is breached by one of the
largest branching valley networks on Mars, Ma'adim Vallis. Gusev is thought to have contained a
large lake in ancient times that acted as a settling pool for sediment carried by the water
flowing down Ma'adim Vallis.
The great length and depth of Ma'adim Vallis indicate a large quantity of sediment likely was
transported, and the shallow depth and flat floor of Gusev crater indicated the potential for
a thick sedimentary sequence to be present. Ground truth measured by Spirit's instruments
demonstrated that the plains on the floor of Gusev are volcanic - the rocks initially studied
by Spirit are basalt.
Spirit's mobility allowed her to be commanded to drive to and climb the Columbia Hills, a series
of low hills rising above the volcanic plains and preserving an older rock record. Observations
made in the Columbia Hills region did uncover evidence for aqueous processes in these ancient
rocks, mostly acidic and sulfate-rich, but evidence for alkaline, neutral pH aqueous solutions
were also uncovered.
The last data returned by Spirit on March 24, 2010 were from sol (Mars day) 2209. She had long
since blasted past the mission success criteria of 90 sols of operations. In her journey, Spirit
traveled 7,730 m, again well in excess of the mission success criteria of 600 m.