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Originally Posted by Ian W.
I think Dave and everyone else working on the Mars rovers deserve a huge pat on the back for this. As far as I can tell, Spirit and Opportunity have completed their mission (proving that Mars once was covered in water), anything else now is icing on the cake. Very, very, very nice icing, that is  .
So, to NASA, congratulations on a job well done. |
Thank you! Many of the formal major objectives for the Mars Exploration Rover project have been accomplished. One of the big ones that still remains is to have the rovers really get out and DRIVE! There is a formal requirement for at least one of the rovers to demonstrate a traverse distance of at least 600 meters. This is being done to validate the rover navigation technologies and mechanisms, in anticipation of larger, longer-lived rover missions planned for the end of the decade.
We are currently about half way through a 250-meter traverse from the original landing location to Bonneville Crater at the Spirit rover site. At the Opportunity landing location in Meridiani Planum, the rover has only gone a few dozen meters in total so far. However, it is anticipated that once we drive out of the 20-meter crater that the rover currently calls "home," we will head on a traverse of several hundred meters to a large unnamed crater to the east. Following the crater visits by both of the rovers, there are extended traverse plans that could have each of the rovers driving close to 2 kilometers. So pedal-to-the-metal time may be coming soon!
-dave