On January 25, 2004 the NASA rover finally landed on the surface of the planet Mars
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, WASHINGTON – On January 25, 2004, the vehicle or NASA’s explorer robot finally landed on the surface of the planet Mars. This second rover will look for signs of water on the surface of Mars.
As reported by the BBC History page on Tuesday (25/1/2022), the rover robot named Opportunity landed at 05:05 after traveling from Earth for six months. Opportunity landed on the opposite side of where the previous rover was named Spirit three weeks earlier.
After initially sending back striking color photos of the Martian surface, the rover Spirit ran into trouble and stopped working altogether the week before. Space scientists say they are making progress in improving the rover. However it can take days or weeks to fix.
Meanwhile Opportunity landed on a smooth flat surface at the highest altitude NASA has ever attempted. The six-wheeled robot sent out images of its landing site showing an unfamiliar landscape, and for the most part devoid of features except for a striking bedrock outcrop nearby.
“This is a wonderful alien place, a world we’ve never seen before,” said NASA researcher Professor Steve Squyres.
He added that Opportunity could have landed in the crater and the bedrock that could have been the crater rim. The rock has a slab-like shape that scientists say could be created either by volcanic activity or by the action of water.
This has made distinctive imprints on Martian soil that suggest the planet may be fine-grained and multi-layered. It is also much darker in color than the ground at the Spirit’s Gusev Crater landing site, 10,600 km away.
Scientists believe the Martian soil is rich in a mineral called gray hematite. On Earth, these minerals usually form in the presence of water. Opportunity is approaching the surface of Mars at a speed of 19 thousand km/hour. The vehicle deploys a parachute to slow its descent and a capsule shield to protect its landing.
The rocket carrying the rover robot neutralizes a light gust of wind as it lands on Mars. Therefore, it lands with a force of between two and three Gs or a relatively soft landing. The rover robot is designed to withstand landings of up to 40 Gs. NASA will now spend a week disassembling and testing the six-wheeler.
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