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CNN Live At Daybreak

Mission to Mars

Aired January 05, 2004 - 06:55   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As we've been telling you this morning, NASA scientists are hopeful that later today they'll be looking at color pictures from the surface of Mars, all thanks to a little rover named Spirit.
For more on the mission to Mars and the hopes for discovery, we turn to NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe, who joins us from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Good morning.

Thank you for joining us.

SEAN O'KEEFE, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Good morning, Carol.

How are you doing?

COSTELLO: I'm doing great.

And you must be doing even better, because already 60 images have been sent back.

What's the most spectacular sight you've seen?

O'KEEFE: Just the sheer volume. I mean we just never anticipated this kind of a return of images this fast. And it just, it was just incredible to see the volume and the clarity, as well as the, you know, the capability that was anticipated for this just...

COSTELLO: I just want to point out to our viewers this one image that you sent to us. And you can see the rover, kind of a self- portrait, and then the barren landscape beyond.

Tell us about this picture.

O'KEEFE: Well, it's -- the capability will be within the next, you know, 10 days, we'll see the rover become mobile and actually move around the planet. Between now and then, we're going to check out all the systems, make sure everything is going exactly right. So it'll primarily be a camera capability for the next 10 days.

COSTELLO: So the rover sort of has to stretch its leg, get used to the atmosphere on Mars.

Tell us about the atmosphere on Mars.

O'KEEFE: Well, it's pretty foreboding. It's extremely cold. It's, the content of the atmosphere is a tenth of what we have here on earth and so as a consequence, there's so much we have to adapt to differently as a result of this very different kind of condition there.

COSTELLO: What are you hoping to find?

O'KEEFE: Well, the primary location is called Gusev crater, which is an area we think might have been a lake bed. And if there are deposits or sediment that would give us a demonstration of that capability or whether or not water was there, that's a precursor for life. So the follow the water principle to determine whether or not we find any evidence long ago, some number of years back, in which there may have been life forms there on Mars.

COSTELLO: So what is the likelihood that there truly are Martians?

O'KEEFE: Oh, who knows? But we're certainly going to determine that as this part of the exploration and discovery adventure. And so venturing into the unknown and not knowing what's there and now having the tools to actually go demonstrate and see if we can determine whether that theory holds is going to be an exciting opportunity.

COSTELLO: OK, once the rover gets up and moving, can you control where it goes or does it sort of just wander itself?

O'KEEFE: Oh, it's very much controlled. As a matter of fact, every day there'll be a program pattern which the scientists and engineers will feed into it in order to help it move in the direction the next day that they want to examine. And so it's going to become kind of a robotic geologist, if you will, over the course of its life and the time that it spends on the planet, really examining the sediment and the rock formations and so forth in order to demonstrate or prove this theory or not.

COSTELLO: How fast does it move?

O'KEEFE: Pretty slow. This is not a real race car, there's no doubt about that. It's going to move at a very methodical, extremely judicious and very deliberate pace in order to avoid knocking into obstacles or rocks or anything else. So it's going to be a very, very slow process as we move along with it.

COSTELLO: There's also a second probe, Opportunity.

Can you tell us about that?

O'KEEFE: Yes, in three weeks time, on January 24th and early in the morning on the 25th, we anticipate Opportunity will land at a different site on Mars, which will be just north of the equator. The Spirit is on the south end of the equator and Opportunity will land at a place called Meridiana Planum, which is also an area that we think has the prospect of water formations having been there at some point millions of years ago.

COSTELLO: Oh, it's just so fascinating. And when the Opportunity lands, will there be such celebrations in the control room at NASA?

O'KEEFE: Every single one of these new events, you can bet it'll be just as good.

COSTELLO: Tell us about this, the elation that these people are feeling and how important this mission is to them.

O'KEEFE: Well, this an extremely unusual event. I mean it happens so rarely because there are just so many risks that go into something like this. And it's a rare event when you see a success. There have been 14 attempts and only four of which have been successful in the last 30 years.

COSTELLO: Well, we are eagerly awaiting more pictures.

And Sean O'Keefe from NASA, thanks for joining us on DAYBREAK this morning.

O'KEEFE: Thank you, Carol.

Nice to be with you.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

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 - 06:55   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As we've been telling you this morning, NASA scientists are hopeful that later today they'll be looking at color pictures from the surface of Mars, all thanks to a little rover named Spirit.
For more on the mission to Mars and the hopes for discovery, we turn to NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe, who joins us from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Good morning.

Thank you for joining us.

SEAN O'KEEFE, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Good morning, Carol.

How are you doing?

COSTELLO: I'm doing great.

And you must be doing even better, because already 60 images have been sent back.

What's the most spectacular sight you've seen?

O'KEEFE: Just the sheer volume. I mean we just never anticipated this kind of a return of images this fast. And it just, it was just incredible to see the volume and the clarity, as well as the, you know, the capability that was anticipated for this just...

COSTELLO: I just want to point out to our viewers this one image that you sent to us. And you can see the rover, kind of a self- portrait, and then the barren landscape beyond.

Tell us about this picture.

O'KEEFE: Well, it's -- the capability will be within the next, you know, 10 days, we'll see the rover become mobile and actually move around the planet. Between now and then, we're going to check out all the systems, make sure everything is going exactly right. So it'll primarily be a camera capability for the next 10 days.

COSTELLO: So the rover sort of has to stretch its leg, get used to the atmosphere on Mars.

Tell us about the atmosphere on Mars.

O'KEEFE: Well, it's pretty foreboding. It's extremely cold. It's, the content of the atmosphere is a tenth of what we have here on earth and so as a consequence, there's so much we have to adapt to differently as a result of this very different kind of condition there.

COSTELLO: What are you hoping to find?

O'KEEFE: Well, the primary location is called Gusev crater, which is an area we think might have been a lake bed. And if there are deposits or sediment that would give us a demonstration of that capability or whether or not water was there, that's a precursor for life. So the follow the water principle to determine whether or not we find any evidence long ago, some number of years back, in which there may have been life forms there on Mars.

COSTELLO: So what is the likelihood that there truly are Martians?

O'KEEFE: Oh, who knows? But we're certainly going to determine that as this part of the exploration and discovery adventure. And so venturing into the unknown and not knowing what's there and now having the tools to actually go demonstrate and see if we can determine whether that theory holds is going to be an exciting opportunity.

COSTELLO: OK, once the rover gets up and moving, can you control where it goes or does it sort of just wander itself?

O'KEEFE: Oh, it's very much controlled. As a matter of fact, every day there'll be a program pattern which the scientists and engineers will feed into it in order to help it move in the direction the next day that they want to examine. And so it's going to become kind of a robotic geologist, if you will, over the course of its life and the time that it spends on the planet, really examining the sediment and the rock formations and so forth in order to demonstrate or prove this theory or not.

COSTELLO: How fast does it move?

O'KEEFE: Pretty slow. This is not a real race car, there's no doubt about that. It's going to move at a very methodical, extremely judicious and very deliberate pace in order to avoid knocking into obstacles or rocks or anything else. So it's going to be a very, very slow process as we move along with it.

COSTELLO: There's also a second probe, Opportunity.

Can you tell us about that?

O'KEEFE: Yes, in three weeks time, on January 24th and early in the morning on the 25th, we anticipate Opportunity will land at a different site on Mars, which will be just north of the equator. The Spirit is on the south end of the equator and Opportunity will land at a place called Meridiana Planum, which is also an area that we think has the prospect of water formations having been there at some point millions of years ago.

COSTELLO: Oh, it's just so fascinating. And when the Opportunity lands, will there be such celebrations in the control room at NASA?

O'KEEFE: Every single one of these new events, you can bet it'll be just as good.

COSTELLO: Tell us about this, the elation that these people are feeling and how important this mission is to them.

O'KEEFE: Well, this an extremely unusual event. I mean it happens so rarely because there are just so many risks that go into something like this. And it's a rare event when you see a success. There have been 14 attempts and only four of which have been successful in the last 30 years.

COSTELLO: Well, we are eagerly awaiting more pictures.

And Sean O'Keefe from NASA, thanks for joining us on DAYBREAK this morning.

O'KEEFE: Thank you, Carol.

Nice to be with you.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com