![]() By analyzing its layers upon layers of rock with Opportunity's scientific payload, researchers hope to find clues about what the environment was like on the planet billions of years ago and how it has changed over time.īut first, said Squyres, the rover team needs to find a safe way into the crater - and a safe way out. Victoria Crater, at about a half-mile wide and 200 feet deep, offers an unprecedented look back into Martian history. The MRO just arrived on the scene for a five-year mission and is surveying the planet from 275 kilometers (171 miles) above its surface, giving the rover team a spectacular aerial perspective. ![]() 6), as NASA held a press conference to unveil the latest images, the world got to see even more of what he was talking about.Īt the Washington, D.C., briefing at NASA headquarters, the space agency's administrator Michael Griffin introduced Squyres, the principal investigator for the space agency's Mars Exploration Rover mission and Cornell's Goldwin Smith Professor of Planetary Science and Jim Bell, Cornell associate professor of astronomy and lead scientist for the rover's panoramic camera (pancam).Īnd Squyres and Bell introduced the breathtaking views.Īlso at the briefing were Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration program, and Alfred McEwen, Arizona State University astronomer and principal investigator for the imaging instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). That was Cornell's Steve Squyres' question, posted in his blog last week after the Mars rover Opportunity rolled up to the edge of Victoria Crater on Sept. ![]()
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