The Mars rover Opportunity reached the rim of a deep crater Wednesday after an arduous 21-month trek, marking a milestone in its exploration for clues about the Martian past.
The rover beamed black-and-white images back to Earth showing the crater interior complete with hanging rocky cliffs and rippling sand dunes on its floor.
"We made it!" said rover principal scientist Steve Squyres of Cornell University.
The road to Victoria Crater, a half-mile wide and 230-foot deep impact crater, was tough. The six-wheeled Opportunity drove through what scientists called a "wasteland." At one point, it spent five weeks stuck hub-deep in a slippery sand dune before freeing itself.
Victoria, with its exposed walls of thickly layered rocks, is a treasure trove for scientists trying to determine whether the rocks were formed in shallow lakes, which might suggest the planet once could have been hospitable to life.
"The big payoff is getting to the rock record," said deputy principal investigator Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis. ...
| • | Mars Rover Reaches Rim of Deep Crater
Associated Press, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006 Byline: Alicia Chang, AP Science Writer |
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