Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit

Figure 2 The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit s Mossbauer spectrometer. The hydroxyl containing mineral goethite (FeOOH) has been identified with this spectrometer in the Columbia Hills of Mars. This finding produced strong evidence for past water activity in the area that Spirit has been exploring. (Reproduced from web page with permission G Klingelhofer)...

This launch of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in June 2003 propelled the robot to its successful touchdown on Mars in January 2004. 

This image of the Martian rock "Humphrey" shows a hole made by a grinding tool carried on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, which landed on Mars on January 4, 2004. The grinding process revealed the inner structure of the rock and produced a sample that could be tested for chemical composition. (NASA/JPL/Photo Researchers, Inc.)... 

In May and June of 2003, the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, were launched from Kennedy Space Center. They successfully landed and were deployed in January of 2004 (Figure 32.10). Their exploration missimis began in Fehraaiy of 2004 and for more than 5 years they have been exploring a variety of geological features on the surface of Mars. 

Since landing on Mars in 2004, the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have operated with increasing levels of autonomy. An early enhancement provided autonomous routing around obstacles another automated the process of calculating how far the rover s arm should reach out to touch a particular rock. 

C. Van Cromphaut, V.G. de Resende, E. De Grave, R.E. Vandenberghe, Temperature dependence of the hyperfine parameters of the iron bearing phases in the Mossbauer spectra collected by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. Hyp. Interact. 190, 143-148 (2009)... 

An example for the search of water on Mars is given in Fig. 3.13. It shows a spectrum obtained with the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit s Moessbauer spectrometer. ... 

Fig. 3.13 This spectrum, taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit s Moessbauer spectrometer, shows the presence of an iron-bearing mineral called goethite in a rock called Clovis in the Columbia HUls of Mars. Goethite contains water in the form of hydroxyl as a part of its structure. By identifying this mineral, the examination of Clovis produced strong evidence for past water activity in the area that Spirit is exploring. Image Credit NASA/JPL/University of Mainz...

Morris, R.V. et al. 2008. Iron mineralogy and aqueous alteration from Husband Hill through Home Plate at Gusev Crater, Mars Results from the Mossbauer instrument on the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113, E12S42,... 

The Mars Pathfinder rover carried an Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), and the two Mars Exploration Rovers (MER - Spirit and Opportunity) carried Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometers (also called APXS, but in this case more precise versions of the Pathfinder instrument, though without the ability to monitor protons for light element analyses). These instruments contained radioactive curium sources (Fig. 13.16) whose decay produced a-particles, which irradiated target rocks and soils. The resulting characteristic X-rays provided measurements of major and minor element abundances. The MER rovers also carried Mossbauer spectrometers, which yielded information on iron oxidation state. 

Spirit Mars Exploration Rover on Mars. (NASA/JPL-Galtech/Cornell University/Photo Researchers, Inc.)... 

Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) Spirit and Opportunity landed on opposite sides of Mars in 2004. Both vehicles were intended to engage in geologic, hydrologic, and biologic assessment activities to examine rocks and soils for evidence of past water activity, as well as assess whether the environments that prevailed when water was present were conducive to life. 

There are several examples of NASA space missions powered by Uthinm-ion batteries. Among these were the two prominent Mars Exploration Rover (MER) programs, pertaining to rovers lannched in the summer of 2003 to survey the surface of Mars, nicknamed Spirit and Opportunity [37, 38]. Both rovers... 

Currently, Yardney is in continuous production of secondary lithium-ion batteries, primary and secondary silver-zinc batteries and primary reserve silver-zinc batteries used on various Department of Defense applications. The primary battery applications include the Navy s Trident IID5 Fleet Ballistic Missile program, the Minuteman III ICBM, and primary power for the MK 21 re-entry vehicle. In 2012, the Trident II missile has achieved 143 successful test launches since 1989—a record unmatched by any other large ballistic missile or space launch vehicle. The most prominent Li-ion batteries made by Yardney have powered the Mars Explorer Rover missions (Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity), the USAF B-2 Bomber and Global Hawk aircraft, and the US Navy Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS). One of the future applications for Yardney s Li-ion batteries is NASA s Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). 

Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, could deposit Earth bacteria on the Martian surface, which fortuitously could find an environment in which to colonise. One possible false alarm for Martian life exploration is that evidence is found on the Martian surface of life on Earth. Extreme measures have been taken with the NASA spacecraft to use exposure to the UV radiation from the Sun to sterilise the spacecraft, rotating the various surfaces to face a prolonged exposure, but none of this could guarantee a sterile spacecraft. 

Evaporites on Mars and Europa. The NASA s robotic explorers, Spirit and Opportunity, landed on at Mars and examined their landing sites for past environmental conditions. Kinds of minerals in a hot-spring environment and dried-up lake beds were photographed suggesting future use of ESR to date these evaporate with a portable ESR on the rover. Sulfate mineral precipitation, epsonite, MgS04 with 7 hydration water molecules in frozen ice, was studied by sampling the icy environment, especially icy fault on the surface of Europa, a satellite of Jupiter.61... 

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