VICTORIA'S SECRET

The Mars Rover Opportunity is beginning complex and dangerous science operations 242 million mi. from Earth at the massive Victoria crater, the most spectacular and potentially significant target of the entire $800-million twin-rover Mars surface exploration mission.

"We are frankly feeling a little overwhelmed by what we see so far," says Steve Squyres, rover principal investigator on his Cornell University web site.

Opportunity has been driving at the the speed of a tortoise for 5.7 mi. and almost three years to reach the 2,500-ft.-dia., 230-ft.-deep crater. Every inch has been a marvel of autonomous robotics and dedicated command and control by Pasadena, Calif.'s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), as well as 24/7 planning by a dispersed international science battle staff led by Squyres and Deputy Principal Investigator Ray Arvidson at Washington University in St. Louis. The teams have been preparing for almost two years for their arrival at Victoria.

From a position about 8 ft. from the rim, one can see 0.5 mi. to the far side of the crater, framed by rocky cliffs. The crater's rim comprises alternating promontories, recessed alcoves and rocky points towering 230 ft. above the bottom of the crater. Martian wind-carved sand dunes cover the crater floor.

For this Navcam panorama above, colorized by outside analysts, Opportunity was about 8 ft. from the lip at Duck Bay alcove.

The rover has made dozens of sampling stops over the last 21 months. At the mission's outset, no one dreamed that Opportunity could reach Victoria, imaged well south of the landing site by the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter.

"We're so proud of Opportunity, the rover that 'takes a lickin' but keeps on tickin,'" says Cindy Oda, a Mars rover mission manager at JPL. "It continues to overcome all challenges despite its aging parts and difficult terrain. We are looking forward to exciting new discoveries as Opportunity begins its new adventures exploring Victoria crater."

The trip began in earnest after several months spent in Endurance crater in mid-2004. The team could hardly believe Opportunity survived that, let alone reach Victoria, five times bigger than Endurance. Victoria was carved out much deeper by a large meteorite perhaps more than a billion years ago. Researchers believe Victoria has the potential for revealing once deeply buried rock layers as evidence of possibly abundant, perhaps life-sustaining water. Layers 200-ft. deep may be exposed, compared to 25-ft. layers at Endurance.

Victoria is 40 times larger than Eagle crater, where Opportunity made initial stunning discoveries in only 1.5-ft. layers about the permanence of Martian water, which is a key to the formation of life, if it ever existed, on Mars.