Mars Rover Opportunity Lands Tonight!

[dlavery]

All - thank you for your comments and well-wishes. They are most appreciated!

Literally three minutes before the descent images were received, Steve Squyres was telling me "Dave, I know you really want to drive this thing and get some odometry on it. But based on what I can see of the outcrop in this crater, this is the mother-lode. We can do the entire science mission here, and we don't have to drive anywhere. We will do the long distance tranverses at Gusev - but Opportunity will be a local mission."

Then the descent images came in, and we saw the big 150-meter diameter crater just 400-500 meters away. 30 seconds later, Steve came over to say "forget everything I just said!"

Originally Posted by Wetzel

"Science leader Steve Squyres says Opportunity has scored a 300-million-mile hole in one!"

Ha! Just wait until you see the stuff we are going to release tomorrow! We know what is outside the crater in which we rest, from the descent imagery. But we have also figuered out where we are in the larger context, and what lies just beyond the edges of the descent images that were released today (you can see the final descent image here - the shot includes the shadow of the descent parachute just to the left of the large crater at the edge of the frame).

RAT-able rocks are right in front of us, less than ten meters away! But 100, and then 1000, meters beyond that is even more spectacular stuff!

You know, sometimes it is really cool to be a geek!

-dave