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American Morning
Vision of Mars
Aired January 06, 2004 - 07:09 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, thrilled with the operation of their Mars rover, are deciding now which way it should go now when it starts to explore that planet. The rover beamed back a multidimensional picture of the area where it landed, and reporters put on 3-D glasses to get that image. Soon even more spectacular images, much like yesterday, are expected to be released.
Miles O'Brien again reporting for us this morning in California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to start off by saying, 'Wow!'
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And so would we. NASA's Spirit rover is sitting pretty in the middle of a Martian crater 100 million miles away, swiveling its eagle eye and head, looking for places to go and rocks to (UNINTELLIGIBLE), all the while checking in like a homesick child.
ART THOMPSON, MARS MISSION TEAM: Once again, in this instance, reality has far surpassed fantasy. All of the years of working and dreaming about getting this vehicle on the surface and the last seven months of practicing operations, she's just too easy to operate.
O'BRIEN: Easy as it may seem, it comes on the heels of Saturday's death-defying plunge into the Martian atmosphere, which beat the odds. Spirit arrived with parachutes, rockets and air bags blazing seven months after launch, four years after NASA's last Martian lander cratered after the agency cut too many corners. This time, they tripled the budget and built a twin rover, set to reach Mars in three weeks.
STEVE SQUYRES, "SPIRIT" CHIEF SCIENTIST: To finally see our dreams come true on another world is like nothing I can describe.
O'BRIEN: So now what? The team is combing through images like this to create a road map of where to steer Spirit once they put it in gear. They hope the cameras, along with a sensor that measures the heat radiating from rocks, will lead them to prove this is an ancient lake bed.
MATT GOLOMBEK, MARS MISSION SCIENTIST: This is like, you know, your eyes, only more so, in that you can look around this whole scene and decide what's important. You've got a whole bunch of rocks. Now which one is the really key one to go look at?
O'BRIEN (on camera): But before they make a move, they will use Spirit's scientific instruments and cameras to take a close look at the terrain and all of the rocks that are around them. Yes, there are a bunch of rocks on Mars, but not all of them are created equal.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, Pasadena, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Thanks, Miles.
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 6, 2004 - 07:09 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, thrilled with the operation of their Mars rover, are deciding now which way it should go now when it starts to explore that planet. The rover beamed back a multidimensional picture of the area where it landed, and reporters put on 3-D glasses to get that image. Soon even more spectacular images, much like yesterday, are expected to be released.
Miles O'Brien again reporting for us this morning in California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to start off by saying, 'Wow!'
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And so would we. NASA's Spirit rover is sitting pretty in the middle of a Martian crater 100 million miles away, swiveling its eagle eye and head, looking for places to go and rocks to (UNINTELLIGIBLE), all the while checking in like a homesick child.
ART THOMPSON, MARS MISSION TEAM: Once again, in this instance, reality has far surpassed fantasy. All of the years of working and dreaming about getting this vehicle on the surface and the last seven months of practicing operations, she's just too easy to operate.
O'BRIEN: Easy as it may seem, it comes on the heels of Saturday's death-defying plunge into the Martian atmosphere, which beat the odds. Spirit arrived with parachutes, rockets and air bags blazing seven months after launch, four years after NASA's last Martian lander cratered after the agency cut too many corners. This time, they tripled the budget and built a twin rover, set to reach Mars in three weeks.
STEVE SQUYRES, "SPIRIT" CHIEF SCIENTIST: To finally see our dreams come true on another world is like nothing I can describe.
O'BRIEN: So now what? The team is combing through images like this to create a road map of where to steer Spirit once they put it in gear. They hope the cameras, along with a sensor that measures the heat radiating from rocks, will lead them to prove this is an ancient lake bed.
MATT GOLOMBEK, MARS MISSION SCIENTIST: This is like, you know, your eyes, only more so, in that you can look around this whole scene and decide what's important. You've got a whole bunch of rocks. Now which one is the really key one to go look at?
O'BRIEN (on camera): But before they make a move, they will use Spirit's scientific instruments and cameras to take a close look at the terrain and all of the rocks that are around them. Yes, there are a bunch of rocks on Mars, but not all of them are created equal.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, Pasadena, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Thanks, Miles.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
