NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory broke into cheers again as Mars exploration rover Opportunity landed safely on Mars. The Los Angeles Times reports Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, on hand for the occasion, was presented with a broom to mark the clean sweep as he congratulated the controllers.
The first images from Opportunity were available just four hours after Opportunity's landing. The landscape at Opportunity's landing site was dark in color, much different from the Spirit landing site in Gusev Crater.
Space.com reported that Steve Squyres, Principal Investigator for the Mars Exploration Rover effort from Cornell University was hard pressed to describe what he is seeing in the first set of images.
"It looks like nothing that I’ve ever seen in my life. Holly smokes. I’ve got nothing else to say. I just want to look. I’ve got no words for this."
As Opportunity reached Mars, troubleshooting teams continue to work around-the-clock to get the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover back on line. It developed an apparent computer glitch on Wednesday.
According to the LA Times, progress has been made in troubleshooting Spirit's problem.
Contact with Spirit was reestablished overnight Friday. Spirit unexpectedly sent back data indicating that the problem lies in the craft's flash memory. Controllers are confident that the problem could be either repaired or circumvented. It may be three weeks before Spirit is traveling again.
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