A Mars Odyssey

One of the most fascinating and studied bodies in the solar system is Mars, or what scientists refer to as the red “terrestrial” planet. And the launching of the Phoenix Mars Lander was just a beginning for the study of the surface operations on Mars. For those who are interested, the JPL Solar System Simulator will show you where the Phoenix is located in space right now.

And of course, the twin rovers Scout and Opportunity are everyone’s favorite who has kept up with them–in every way. On August 28, 2000, a Space.com article entitled, “Twin Rovers for Mars: A Primer” by Andrew Bridges, referred to them as the “most capable rock hounds the American space agency has ever sent to another planetary body since geologist-astronaut Jack Schmitt roamed the moon on the Apollo 17 lunar mission. “ At a cost of $600 million, the article refers to the rovers as being just as mobile as they are skilled. And like the EverReady battery, they have kept on ticking way beyond the proposed final date leading the way to many future missions and discoveries.

NASA’s website “M2K”, or Roaming the Red Planet, offers a virtual tour of Mars inside the rovers. Fascinating and spell-bounding, the rovers can be turned 360 degrees as you travel the Martian landscape. Lots of information and scenery can be enjoyed, making the tour extremely realistic. Areas on the rovers such as the pair of pancam/navcam, pancam mast assembly, front hazcam, instrument deployment device, in-situ instruments, rocker bogie mobility system, rover equipment deck, and so on are just a few of the many choices to view the 360 degree rover. Or you can just sit back and drive around, or play Mars trivia.

And if connection with science-spacey-type people on somewhat of a layman’s level is needed, contact the Yahoo Group, M2K4 at < http://asia.groups.yahoo.com/group/M2K4/> and request admittance to join. But if just the subject of Mars is interesting, check out this page of many Yahoo Mars groups, http://asia.groups.yahoo.com/search?query=planet+mars

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 10th, 2007 at 3:47 pm and is filed under Mission Objectives, Space Agency News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.