Mars rover Opportunity looks over rim of crater | Houston Chronicle

[Ediacara]

Feb. 9, 2004, 3:34PM
Mars rover looks over rim of crater
Associated Press


NASA / JPL
Rover Opportunity's shot of 'a bizarre alien landscape.'

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Opportunity rover peeked over the rim of the crater in which it landed and was able to see the clamshell holder and parachute it discarded just before hitting the flat, gray surface of Mars, scientists said today.

A color photograph from Opportunity, released at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, showed the two objects distinctly, on a largely featureless surface.

"There is the hardware that we've littered the surface with," said Michael Malin, a member of the mission science team.

The rover was shielded by a clamshell-like device during its entry into the atmosphere of Mars.

More at the Houston Chronicle

[gristy]

1. What does the wind sound like on Mars?

Does Opportunity have any microphones?

[ozymandius]

2. There are recordings of the Mars wind.

It sounds much like gusty wind here. In an almost featureless landscape, the wind whirs with an overtone of white noise.

In my last job at a radio station, we received a CD called "Winds of Mars" (or something like that). It was JS Bach keyboard music played over a background of Mars' wind. The Cd was just kitsch, if you ask me. But is was fascinating to hear the modulation of wind tones behind the piano notes.