PIA04830: Closed Aeroshell


Closed Aeroshell

Caption:

January 31, 2003

Suspended by an overhead crane in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) aeroshell is guided by workers as it moves to a rotation stand. Set to launch in 2003, the MER Mission will consist of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards (100 meters) each Martian day. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. The rovers will be identical to each other, but will land at different regions of Mars. The first rover has a launch window opening May 30, and the second rover a window opening June 25, 2003.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
Instrument Host
Host Type Rover
Instrument
Detector
Extra Keywords Color, Rotation, Water
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2003-10-30
Date in Caption 2003-01-31 2003-06-25
Image Credit NASA/JPL
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04830
Identifier PIA04830