Pasadena, Jan 13: Nasa's Spirit rover has been on Mars for more than a week but still hasn't landed. Instead, the six-wheeled vehicle sits parked 40 centimeters above the dirt and rocks of a planet it traveled more than 480 million kilometers to explore. Its wheels have yet to touch down on the surface.
The sequence of maneuvers needed to get the rover to roll into action has taken longer and proved more complex than expected. And the air bags that cushioned the rover's landing on mars have been obstructing the vehicle's path, despite repeated efforts to pull them back.
As a result, the rover will probably not set its wheels down on the Martian soil until tomorrow or Thursday, at least 12 days after its arrival on mars. That is a week longer than Nasa anticipated at launch.
Scientists yesterday released the first 360-degree, color panorama of the terrain the rover should roll onto this week.
The panorama, assembled from 225 separate images, shows a landscape that is pancake flat in some directions and rolling in others. The topography appears dominated by mounds of material cast off when asteroids or comets pummeled the Martian surface in the distant past, punching out craters.
``The whole panorama is there before us. It's a great opening for the next stage in our mission, which is getting off the Lander and out into this field,'' said Michael Malin, a member of the mission science team.
But the delays have caused much teeth-gnashing among mission members. Bureau Report