NASA Engineers sent commands to Opportunity, one of the rovers that survived a Martian dust bowl, to commence its risky trip into Victoria Crater. It will still be several hours until engineers will know the success of the trip.
In an article released early Tuesday, The San Jose Mercury News reported that Opportunity will first be commanded to "toe dip" into the crater. A "toe dip" is when the rover rolls its six wheels below the rim of the crater and immediately back out to gauge its footing. "We expect to have good driving," said John Callas, the rover project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA.
This long-awaited descent into the crater has been on hold since July due to a series of sun-blotting dust storms that raged in the southern hemisphere where Opportunity and the other rover, Spirit, were exploring opposite ends of the planet. To conserve energy and risk damage, the two rovers went into sleep mode.
These two incredible machines have been exploring Mars for over 3 1/2 years--far exceeding their original, three-month mission.
There is also an extended article about this risky mission on the NASA Mars Exploration Rover Mission Website
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