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Ten years ago Opportunity bounced to a stop and landed in Eagle Crater. The landing site was named Challenger Memorial
Stadium in honor of the astronauts who perished in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. Eagle Crater is a small
crater with a layered outcropping of geological features. This was a serendipitous place for a landing, some stating it as
an astronomical “hole-in-one”.
In keeping with NASA’s “follow the water” goal on Mars, the JPL website states the following:
“Understanding the history of water on Mars is important to meeting the four science goals of NASA’s long-term Mars
Exploration Program:
•
Determine whether Life ever arose on Mars
•
Characterize the Climate of Mars
•
Characterize the Geology of Mars
ICY SCIENCE | QTR 1 2014