[新闻] [酷图] “机遇”号岩石钻洞成功 并探测是否存在液态水 ！

美国宇航局24日说，"机遇"号火星车当天在火星地表的一块坚硬岩石上钻洞成功，并开始使用各种仪器探测这块岩石是否是在有水环境下形成的。

　　宇航局喷气推进实验室科学家理查德·库克说，火星车的打钻机当天在这块名为"埃尔·卡皮顿"的岩石上钻出一个0.4厘米深的圆洞。接下来，火星车将用显微成像仪拍摄圆洞内的细节图片，此外火星车的机械臂还将把分光计等科学仪器伸到圆洞附近测定岩石内部的矿物质成分，但探测结果需几天后才能传回地面。

　　在勇气号和机遇号过去一个多月的探测中，科学家们已经越来越倾向于火星上曾经有液态水存在，但他们的判断还需要进一步证实。库克称，目前科学家们"既兴奋又紧张"，对火星车的找水使命充满了期待。

　　同一天，在火星的另外一个半球上，"勇气"号火星车向其下一个探测点"邦尼威尔"浅坑又前进了30多米，目前距离这个目标尚有100多米。科学家说，"勇气"号接下来将在途中完成一些探测任务，然后于三月中旬到达浅坑边缘进行探测。(记者 颜亮)

 
　　来源： 新华网  2004-02-26 08:01

PIA05459: Circular Signs of the Rock Abrasion Tool

This image was taken by Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's front hazard-avoidance camera, providing a circular sign of the success of the rover's first grinding of a rock. The round, shallow hole seen in this image is on a rock dubbed "McKittrick," located in the "El Capitan" area of the larger outcrop near Opportunity's landing site.
Opportunity used its rock abrasion tool to grind off a patch of rock 45.5 millimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter during the 30th martian day, or sol, of its mission (Feb. 23, 2004). The grinding exposed fresh rock for close inspection by the rover's microscopic imager and two spectrometers located on its robotic arm. The Honeybee Robotics team, which designed and operates the rock abrasion tool, determined the depth of the cut at "McKittrick" to be 4.4 millimeters (0.17 inches) deep.

PIA05445: Opportunity Slices into the Surface of Mars

The semi-circular depression on the right side of this microscopic image resulted from Opportunity's first grinding of a rock on Mars. The rock abrasion tool sliced into the surface about 4 millimeters (0.16 inches) deep and ground off a patch 45.5 millimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter on a rock called "McKittrick" during Opportunity's 30th sol on Mars, Feb. 23, 2004. The hole exposed fresh interior material of the rock for close inspection by the rover's microscopic imager and two spectrometers on the robotic arm.
Scientists and engineers got a nice bonus in that two spherical features nicknamed "blueberries" were unexpectedly cut in half within this rock. Team members had noticed the blueberries in earlier pictures on other rocks in the outcrop and had wanted to attempt to cut one in half sometime during the future of the mission. As luck would have it, two blueberries were hidden in the depths of "McKittrick." The one blueberry shown in the bottom right of this picture appears to have been scratched by the grinding wheel, which is further explained in PIA05446.

The two rectangular boxes in the lower left and upper middle parts of this image are "drop outs," where the data packets inadvertently did not make it back to Earth during the initial communications relay via the Deep Space Network antennas. The missing data packets should be resent to Earth within the next few days. Just above each of the black "drop out" rectangles is another rectangular area filled with a cluster of smaller rectangles in different shades of gray, which are image compression artifacts.

For more information about the "blueberries," please see JPL's Press Release dated February 9, 2004.

For more microscopic images of the results from Opportunity's first use of the rock abrasion tool, please see the raw images for sol 30.