WHAT: Five Years on Mars – Spirit and Opportunity, Still Going!
The twin NASA Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity touched down on Mars in January 2004, and have been roving the red planet for five memorable years now. Dr. Barbara Cohen, planetary scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, will describe how these hearty rovers are guided around the red planet by an international team of scientists and engineers.
Cohen serves as a member of a team of Mars Exploration Rovers scientists who control the movements of Spirit and Opportunity as they probe a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars. In the last five years, these robot geologists have returned a quarter-million images, driven more than 21 kilometers (13 miles), climbed a mountain, descended into craters, struggled with sand traps and aging hardware, survived dust storms, and relayed more than 36 gigabytes of data.
WHO: Dr. Barbara Cohen, Planetary Scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
WHEN: Wednesday, January 28, 2:00 p.m. CST
WHERE: National Space Science and Technology Center, Room 2096 320 Sparkman Drive, Huntsville, AL 3580
TO ATTEND: News media interested in covering the event should contact Jennifer Morcone in the Marshall Public and Employee Communications Office at 256-724-0314 no later than 8 a.m. on Wednesday, January 28.
For information about the Mars Exploration Rovers please visit:
