Brooke Bein

12/10/12

Science period 4

Mr. Ward

Space Probe project: Spirit Space Probe

The Spirit Probe Rover left the earth to arrive on Mars’s grounds in

June 10, 2003, the Spirit rover finally landed in January 4, 2004. The Spirit

probe weighs 408 pounds; which is the size of an average full grown male

lion. The probe itself is powered by solar panels, they get their light source

form the sun. Spirit is a six wheeled masterpiece thats uses an Alpha-Particle

X-ray Spectrometer; which it does not have a proton mode. The proton mode

has been taken away because of the recent breakthrough in the resolution

and also the sensitivity to the X-ray resolution. Spirit also uses a Microscope

Imager, a Mini Thermal Emission Spectrometer, a Panama cam, and also a

Rock Abrasion Tool for cutting away the rocks that get in the way of the

probe. It also took the first photo of Earth from the surface of Mars in early

March, 2004. The people at the The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a part

of the California Institute of Technology helps to manage the Mars

Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science.

The objectives of the spirit space probe is to search for and categorize

rocks and dirt that are around Mars and might have been in water at one

point, the geological processes that have made Mars's terrain, and to search

for material containing iron that might have been formed in water