Show Date: January 4, 2005

DEEP WAVES AND WANDERING ROBOTS
Pam Eastlick for the Marianas Variety

Greetings and welcome to The Deep column and the deepest radio show on Earth. The Deep is the science talk radio program that takes you from the depths of the ocean to the farthest reaches of the universe. This week on The Deep hosted by Jim Sullivan and aired at 6:00 each Wednesday evening on K-57, we’ll continue to discuss the consequences of the Indian Ocean tsunamis and talk about the amazing robots on Mars and their upcoming anniversaries.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Today is the one-year anniversary of a banner day in space exploration. On 4 January 2004, the robot explorer named Spirit touched down in Gusev Crater for a 90-day adventure on the planet Mars. Three weeks later its sister ship Opportunity set down on the Meridani plains on the opposite side of the red planet to begin explorations there. And what a trip it’s been! Both robots have far exceeded their 90-day missions and are still going strong a year later and still sending back exciting news about Mars.
The rover Spirit has had quite an adventurous life since touching down a year ago. It landed in Gusev Crater, a flat plain that scientist thought might have once been filled with water in the distant past. Spirit did find evidence for water and examined several interesting rocks on its journey.
And journey it has. Spirit was turned for the Columbia Hills last April and has driven about two and a half miles since landing. In June, it reached the Columbia Hills and began to climb. It is now 150 feet above the flat bottom of Gusev Crater and is still doing excellent science.

Spirit has had its problems. The right front wheel stuck and the rover has been driving with it off the ground. This isn’t a problem since both rovers have six wheels. Last month, a potato-sized rock got stuck in the right rear wheel and the rover drivers were finally able to dislodge it a few days after Christmas.
Both rovers depend on solar power for their energy and mission specialists watched their available power drop slowly as Martian dust accumulated on the solar panels, but as reported in this column a couple of weeks ago, both rovers have experienced mysterious increases in their available power. This is probably caused by the rovers being ‘cleaned’ by the frequent Martian dust devils.

One of the primary reasons to send the rovers to Mars was to see if there was any evidence that there were large amounts of liquid water on Mars’ surface in the past. The signature of the mineral hematite had been seen by satellites that orbit Mars in Meridani so Opportunity was sent there.

Opportunity landed in a small crater and spent a couple of months exploring it. Then it drove out of that crater and to the rim of a much larger one called Endurance. Endurance Crater is about 450 feet wide and 70 feet deep, a pretty big hole in the ground. Opportunity drove into this large pit and spent the next six months exploring its eroded walls. Last month, Opportunity climbed out of Endurance Crater and is now headed toward its heat shield to see what a fresh impact crater looks like. Opportunity has driven a little over a mile in its year on Mars. These little robots are showing us the future. Join us on The Deep this week and learn more about them.

HELPING THE HELPLESS
We are all saddened by the appalling loss of life from the tsunamis that struck the Indian Ocean the day after Christmas. We’ll talk a little more about these tsunamis and what you can do to help the victims who survive. Although many of the tsunami victims may never want to see the ocean again, there is a remarkable new therapy for the traumatized survivors of earthquakes that involves submersion into Mother Ocean. Learn more about it this week on The Deep with Jim Sullivan.

Join Jim Sullivan on The Deep every Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. on K-57 for a fascinating look at science from the depths of the ocean to the farthest reaches of space. This week we’ll explore the vastly different faces of Mother Ocean and wandering robots. Don’t miss it!