Almost 2 years after landing on the Martian surface and unfurling its solar panels, the rover Spirit is now poised atop the highest point on the nearby Martian plain.

"When we started the mission, if anyone had told us that we would not only drive all the way over to the Columbia Hills, but also drive to the highest point there, I think we would not have really believed it," [team scientist William]Farrand told Space.com.

Farrand said that a lot of credit goes to the rover planners — the engineers who plot out the drives and movements of the instrument-tipped mechanical arm carried by each of the Mars rovers.

"They’ve done a fabulous job with both rovers and getting Spirit to the ‘top of the hill’ is an amazing accomplishment," Farrand added.

Amazing. Read the whole article.

(h/t Jack of Random Fate)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 03:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 144 words, total size 1 kb.