MER 2003/Athena Update Week Ending September 27, 2003

Well, we survived the latest operations readiness test. It wasn’t
easy. As I mentioned last week, this test was focused mostly on the
period we call "Impact Through Egress". This is the period of time
that begins when the lander comes to rest, and that ends when we’ve
got six wheels in the dirt. The test went amazingly well, all things
considered. Impact Through Egress is one of the most complicated
parts of the mission. The rover lands in a tightly folded-up
configuration, and over a period of several days it has to unfold,
take a look around, stand up, and find its way off the lander and
down onto the martian surface. We did all of that in this test, and
we successfully drove the rover off the lander right on schedule.

Of course, this was an easy test compared to what’s to come. At this
point we’re just trying to get all the basics down, so the test
conductors didn’t throw too many nasty surprises our way. (There
were several nasty-looking rocks right in front of the rover that we
had to find a way around, though.) Future tests promise to be
trickier. And who knows what the actual landings on Mars will bring.