MER-B Opportunity

Launch data: Designation  27849 / 03032A Launch date  08 Jul 2003 - 03:18:15 UT Launch site  CC, SLC17B Launch vehicle  Delta 7925H (D299) Mission  Mars Exploration Rover Heliocentric orbit Perihelion / Aphelion   A.U. Eccentricity   Inclination   deg Period   min

Spacecraft data: Prime contractor   Operator  NASA/JPL Platform   Mass at launch   kg Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimensions (m)   Solar array   Stabilization   DC power   Design lifetime

5 Dec 2002: A Mars Exploration Rover being prepared for launch.

Mission details:

• The first flight article, MER-1 "Opportunity", completed checkout later and has been assigned to the MER-B mission to be launched later on the first flight of the Delta 7925H rocket into a 1.01 x 1.53 AU x 1.04 deg solar orbit.
• NASA's second Mars Exploration Rover, MER-B (MER-1) 'Opportunity', was launched from Cape Canaveral at 0318 UTC on Jul 8, 2003. The launch vehicle is a Delta 7925H, which is similar to the standard 7925 model but with larger GEM-46 solid strapon motors previously used only on the Delta III 8930. MER-B separated from the Delta third stage at 0436 UTC and is on its way to Mars.
• The Mars Exploration Rover B (MER-B, MER-1) "Opportunity" landed on Mars successfully on Jan 25, 2004. On 0433 UTC on Jan 25, Opportunity's MER-1 cruise stage separated. The lander and the cruise stage entered the Martian atmosphere at 0448:42 UTC; the cruise stage burnt up as planned, and the lander deployed its parachute after a successful reentry at 0452-0453 UTC, followed by heatshield jetison, airbag deployment and retro rocket firing, with touchdown around 0454:33 UTC. The airbags bounced several times and began rolling at 0500 UTC, coming to rest a few minutes later. Petal opening was at 0706 UTC, turning the spacecraft right way up and revealing the rover inside. Light time to Earth at the time of landing was 11 min 4s. The Meridiani site is at about 2 S, 354 E.
• The airbag-enclosed lander came to rest inside a small (20 m diameter) crater. The rover deployed its wheels on Jan 28 and will roll onto the surface at the weekend. Its landing site has been renamed the Challenger Memorial Station; the Spirit site has been named the Columbia Memorial Station and some hills near the site are named the Apollo 1 Hills, individually Grissom, White and Chaffee hills.
  Location of the MER landings:

                      (Areocentric)        (IAU Areographic)
      Spirit          14.57S     175.47E   14.93S  184.53W 
      Opportunity      1.95S     354.47E    1.98S    5.53W
  

• Opportunity began roving on Mars at 0950 UTC on Jan 31, 2004. Opportunity has now peeped over the crater rim and seen its parachute and back shell lying on the Meridiani plains beyond.
• Jan 2010: Opportunity Rover, continues its drive south from Victoria to Endeavour craters and is approaching a small crater called Concepcion.