Crippled Mars rover sends back self-portrait

LOS ANGELES - The Spirit sent a self-portrait on Thursday to Nasa scientists trying to fix a computer problem that paralysed the robotic geologist a week ago as it examined a rock on Mars.

Engineers and scientists at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena studied the first photo that Spirit has sent back to Earth since shutting itself down on January 21 for clues about what brought on the computer memory problems.

The black-and-white photo, taken by the rover's front hazard identification cameras, shows Spirit's robotic arm extended, and its Moessbauer spectrometer pressed against a pyramid-shaped rock nicknamed Adirondack.

Scientists had instructed Spirit last Wednesday to use the instruments on the robotic arm to measure the rock's mineral composition. A short time later, the rover broke down.

The Spirit team also reactivated the rover's high-gain antenna on Thursday to restore faster communications.

Mission scientists had called the repositioning of the antenna "a significant step forward" and predicted that if all goes well, Spirit could return to its scientific duties as early as next week.

Spirit and its twin, the rover Opportunity, are scheduled to spend at least three months on Mars exploring the geologic history of the planet and searching for signs that it once held enough water to support life.

On Thursday, Opportunity stood up and used its infrared cameras to look around its landing site halfway around the Red Planet from where Spirit landed in the massive Gusev Crater, believed to be an ancient lake bed.

Engineers on Thursday tilted the lander platform down in the front to ease Opportunity's drive onto the gray, powdery surface of the flat Meridiani Planum. The rover could roll off as early as Sunday, a JPL spokeswoman said.

Scientists will use infrared photos taken with Opportunity's miniature thermal imaging spectrometer (mini-TES) to plot the rover's course on the planet's surface.

The mini-TES photos are expected to reveal the composition of a nearby outcropping of bedrock that geologists believe is as ancient as the planet itself.

- REUTERS