Discussion: Opportunity is Working Well

[Fraser]

SUMMARY: Opportunity, NASA's second Mars Exploration rover, has been in space for a few days now and everything seems to be going according to plan. The spacecraft has reduced its spin rate from 12 rotations a minute to just 2; enabling it to switch to celestial navigation using its star scanner. In fact, one of the first reference points Opportunity used was Mars - already one of the brightest objects in view. It's already over 7 million kilometres away from the Earth and on track to arrive at Mars on January 25.


Comments or questions about this story? Feel free to share your thoughts.

[Rocko]

Is this probe going to have any problems?

[Fraser]

Well, 2/3rds of all spacecraft sent to Mars have failed, so... probably. ;-)