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American Morning
Excitement Within NASA
Aired January 05, 2004 - 07:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: NASA scientists expected to show the first color images taken by the Mars rover later today. After descending to the surface of the red planet on Saturday night, it gave a whole new look at its new home.
And as Miles O'Brien reports today, there is some kind of excitement within NASA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's brutally cold, horribly dry and 100 million miles from home. But for planetary scientists, there isn't a better view anywhere under the sun.
JULIE TOWNSEND, MARS MISSION ENGINEER: It's like a beautiful vacantness, you know? Like the beauty of an undisturbed landscape.
O'BRIEN: They are the Spirit team, on a roll since Saturday night. The control room erupted when the golf cart sized roving geology lab beat the odds and arrived on Mars safe and sound. Ever since, Spirit has been gearing up for its three month expedition and giving earthlings the lay of the land.
STEVE SQUYRES, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, MARS MISSION: The main thing that I'm seeing is a rock population that is dramatically different from anything that we've seen anywhere else on Mars. And that came out very much in our favor.
O'BRIEN: Scientists believe if these rocks could talk, they would tell a tale of warm, wet days millions of years ago. Was this once a lake? Spirit's tiny mobile lab could make a big splash with a definitive answer. And where there are lakes, there is life.
(on camera): Despite all the early success, the Spirit team is in no hurry to take its rover out for a test drive. It'll be at least a week before it rolls off its landing pedestal and starts heading for the hills, reading the rocks all along the way.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, Pasadena, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Thank you, Miles.
In about three weeks a second NASA lander due to arrive on the other side of Mars. NASA hopes eventually these probes will finally be able to answer that crucial question, whether or not Mars was once suitable for life.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 5, 2004 - 07:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: NASA scientists expected to show the first color images taken by the Mars rover later today. After descending to the surface of the red planet on Saturday night, it gave a whole new look at its new home.
And as Miles O'Brien reports today, there is some kind of excitement within NASA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's brutally cold, horribly dry and 100 million miles from home. But for planetary scientists, there isn't a better view anywhere under the sun.
JULIE TOWNSEND, MARS MISSION ENGINEER: It's like a beautiful vacantness, you know? Like the beauty of an undisturbed landscape.
O'BRIEN: They are the Spirit team, on a roll since Saturday night. The control room erupted when the golf cart sized roving geology lab beat the odds and arrived on Mars safe and sound. Ever since, Spirit has been gearing up for its three month expedition and giving earthlings the lay of the land.
STEVE SQUYRES, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, MARS MISSION: The main thing that I'm seeing is a rock population that is dramatically different from anything that we've seen anywhere else on Mars. And that came out very much in our favor.
O'BRIEN: Scientists believe if these rocks could talk, they would tell a tale of warm, wet days millions of years ago. Was this once a lake? Spirit's tiny mobile lab could make a big splash with a definitive answer. And where there are lakes, there is life.
(on camera): Despite all the early success, the Spirit team is in no hurry to take its rover out for a test drive. It'll be at least a week before it rolls off its landing pedestal and starts heading for the hills, reading the rocks all along the way.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, Pasadena, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Thank you, Miles.
In about three weeks a second NASA lander due to arrive on the other side of Mars. NASA hopes eventually these probes will finally be able to answer that crucial question, whether or not Mars was once suitable for life.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
