Mission Leader, Colleagues Await Signal From Opportunity Rover

The solar-powered Opportunity rover has been in a state of hibernation since being swept up in a massive dust storm on Mars, but NASA engineers sending daily signals to the explorer robot hope that it will wake as the storm begins to clear this week.

Cornell University professors, researchers and students designed, built and outfitted Opportunity’s scientific instruments and mission accoutrements. Since Opportunity landed on Mars in 2004, the Cornell Mars Exploration Rovers Team analyzed the extensive data returned from the rovers and provided new research insights into the composition of Mars and the possibility of water on the red planet. More information is available here.

The following Cornell researchers are available for interviews:

Steven Squyres is the scientific Principal Investigator for the Mars Exploration Rover Project, which includes the Opportunity and Spirit rovers. He is an expert on robotic exploration of planetary surfaces and the history of water on Mars.

Bio: http://research.astro.cornell.edu/steven-w-squyres

Don Banfield, a senior research associate specializing in planetary sciences, monitors dust storms and atmospheric science on the red planet.

Bio: http://research.astro.cornell.edu/don-banfield

Banfield says:

"I am hopeful that Opportunity will get enough solar power to wake back up and communicate with home. The dust storm is abating, similar to storms seen in the past. There will likely be a lot of air-fall dust on everything, so that too may be hampering collecting solar power on Opportunity, but occasionally we’ve had winds or dust storms blow the solar panels clean, increasing power. Hopefully that will happen this time too.”

Mason Peck is professor of aerospace engineering and former NASA Chief Technologist.

Bio: https://www.mae.cornell.edu/people/profile.cfm?netid=mp336

Peck says:

“The Opportunity rover has proven to be extraordinarily resilient in the harsh environment of Mars. It has far outlived its original design life of 90 days and has returned vast quantities of science that have rewritten the textbooks. Every additional day it survives extends our knowledge about the solar system and our place in it.”

For interviews contact:
Jeff Tyson
Office: (607) 255-7701
Cell: (607) 793-5769
[email protected]

Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media interviews.

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