Steve Squyres
Steve Squyres
Steven W. Squyresis the James A. Weeks Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. His research area is in planetary sciences, with a focus on large solid bodies in the solar system such as the terrestrial planets and the moons of the Jovian planets. Squyres is principal investigator of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission. He is the recipient of the 2004 Carl Sagan Memorial Award and the 2009 Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Communication in...
terms
We're not going to take any risks. It's a big crater in terms of diameter, but really shallow. It's nothing like Endurance.
busy
We'll be busy here for a long time.
switched
It is a big step. We've really switched gears.
again carefully caused checking concern fire immediate lengthy next recovering spacecraft standard takes time whatever whether
Unfortunately, recovering from something like a reset is a slow, lengthy process. You don't know what caused the problem, and the immediate concern is that whatever triggered it will do it again next time you try it. The thing you have to do is fire up each of the rover's capabilities one at a time, checking each one carefully and individually to see whether it would cause another reset or not. Standard spacecraft troubleshooting practicebut it takes time.
bit deciding downhill easier factor geology good potential vehicles
The deciding factor will be how good the geology is. I think going downhill has the potential to go a bit faster, it's easier to go downhill with these vehicles than going up.
discovery driven speed survival travel
Our speed of travel is driven as much by survival as by discovery.
ancient change earliest explosions flow glimpse happening hot impacts mars past provide raining rocks stuff violent water wonderful
They provide a wonderful glimpse into what Mars was like in the earliest part of its history, ... It was a violent place. It was a place where meteorite impacts were happening frequently. It was a place where there volcanic explosions happening frequently. Hot stuff was raining from the skies. There was water. When rocks were deposited, water would flow through those rocks and change their chemistry. This is a glimpse into the ancient past of Mars.
convinced gives vehicle
A sol like that gives you confidence. I'm really convinced now that we're able to keep the vehicle safe.
calls certainly good guy land looks promised rugged team turn
That very rugged stuff. There is a guy on our team who actually calls this the geologic promised land. I don't know if it's going to turn out to be that good or not and I don't know if we'll ever get there, but it certainly looks interesting.
climb columbia far heck hills looked touched
That's no Mt. Everest, but it's a heck of a climb for our little rover. When we first touched down at Gusev Crater on Jan. 4, 2004, the Columbia Hills looked impossibly far away.
climb columbia far heck hills looked touched
That's no Mt. Everest, but it's a heck of a climb for our little rover, ... When we first touched down at Gusev Crater on Jan. 4, 2004, the Columbia Hills looked impossibly far away.
heck mount rover
That's no Mount Everest, but for a little rover this was a heck of a climb,
heck mount rover
That's no Mount Everest, but for a little rover this is a heck of a climb.
beyond good stuff
There's a lot of good stuff beyond it.