spacetoday.net: Mars rover ready for descent into crater

Posted: Fri, Jun 29, 2007, 8:02 AM ET (1202 GMT)
Victoria Crater overhead view by MRO (NASA/JPL)

Mars Exploration Rover project scientists said Thursday they're ready to send the rover Opportunity into a deep crater from which it may not be possible for it to escape. Opportunity will soon enter Victoria Crater, a large crater that the rover reached nearly a year ago, through an alcove called Duck Bay. Entering the crater will allow scientists to study rock layers in the crater wall, studying older layers the deeper into the crater it does. Project officials said that, if the rover remains healthy, it should be able to exit the crater, but that ability could be compromised should the rover lose the use of one of its six wheels, as its twin, Spirit, already has. The rovers, which has been on the surface of Mars for over three years, have operated more than 12 times as long as originally expected.