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Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Reaching for the Stars Since 1936
Exploring on opposite sides of the planet, the robotic geologists equipped with cameras, a microscopic imager and other tools far outlast their life expectancy, journeying more than 25 miles (43 kilometers) combined, and discover signs of a once wet Mars. Opportunity, still roving today, also finds strong evidence that conditions on the Red Planet could have been suitable for sustaining microbial life.
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MAY 28, 2002First Detection of Frozen Water Beneath the Surface of MarsMars Odyssey

Launched in 2001, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter detects copious hydrogen just beneath much of the Martian surface, which scientists interpret as enough frozen water to fill Lake Michigan twice. The hydrogen abundance is mapped with Odyssey's Gamma Ray Spectrometer suite of instruments. This finding leads to a follow-up mission, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, which in 2008 confirms and analyzes frozen water scooped from beneath a few inches of soil. Odyssey goes on to set longevity records: In December 2010, it becomes the longest-active Mars mission and continues to set a new record every day since.

APRIL 4, 2002First Measurements of Earth’s Shifting WaterGRACE

The twin satellites of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission, precisely measure the effects of shifting water on Earth’s gravity field, and map the transfer of water within and among land masses, oceans and ice sheets. A partnership between NASA and the German Aerospace Center, GRACE measures Earth’s gravity field by tracking the separation between the two satellites with an accuracy of less than a few tenths of the width of a human hair. The mission improves scientists’ understanding of how oceans circulate, how water is stored on land and how glaciers change. Grace also lays the groundwork for NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, which maps the moon’s gravitational field.
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FEBRUARY 11, 2000First Topographic Map of Earth From SpaceShuttle Radar Topography

During an 11-day journey aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission sweeps Earth's surface with a specialized radar to capture the first detailed topographic maps of the planet from space. The digital images are later refined and combined to create the first-ever digital elevation map of Earth.
All Mars Resources - NASA Science
The smooth,…Curiosity’s Hazcams Capture a Day on Mars During ConjunctionWhile stationary for two weeks during Mars solar conjunction in November 2023, NASA’s Curiosity rover used its front and rear…First Controlled Flight of Mars Helicopter PrototypeThis image shows a test flight of a full-scale prototype of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.Cored Samples Aboard Perseverance at Sol 1,000Shown here is an annotated representation of the 13 sample tubes containing rock-core samples that are being carried aboard NASA’s…Perseverance’s 360-Degree View From ‘Airey Hill’This 360-degree mosaic from the “Airey Hill” location inside Jezero Crater was generated using 993 individual images taken by the…Previous12345…290NextMore Mars GalleriesPerseverance Raw ImagesSee the latest images the Perseverance rover sends back from Jezero Crater. Vote for your favorite to become "Image of the Week."View GalleryCuriosity Raw ImagesView the latest images taken by the Curiosity rover from Gale Crater.View GalleryMars Resources PackagesExplore this page for a curated collection of Martian resources, including activities that can be done at home, as well as videos, animations, printable graphics, and online interactives.Read MoreReturn to topThe National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery.About NASA's MissionJoin UsHomeNews & EventsMultimediaNASA+MissionsHumans in SpaceEarth & ClimateThe Solar SystemThe UniverseScienceAeronauticsTechnologyLearning ResourcesAbout NASANASA en EspañolFollow NASAMore NASA Social AccountsNASA NewslettersSitemapFor MediaPrivacy PolicyFOIANo FEAR ActOffice of the IGBudget & Annual ReportsAgency Financial ReportsContact NASAAccessibilityPage Last Updated:yesterdayPage Editor:SMD Content EditorsResponsible NASA Official for Science:Dana Bolles
Mars Exploration Rovers: Spirit and Opportunity - NASA Science
Spirit landed at Gusev Crater, a possible former lake in a giant impact crater. Opportunity landed at Meridiani Planum, a place where mineral deposits suggested that Mars had a wet history.This image mosaic taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rover's landing site, the Columbia Memorial Station, at Gusev Crater, Mars. This spectacular view may encapsulate Spirit's entire journey, from lander to its possible final destination toward the east hills. On its way, the rover will travel 250 meters (820 feet) northeast to a large crater approximately 200 meters (660 feet) across, the ridge of which can be seen to the left of this image. To the right are the east hills, about 3 kilometers (2 miles) away from the lander. The picture was taken on the 16th martian day, or sol, of the mission (Jan. 18/19, 2004). A portion of Spirit's solar panels appear in the foreground. Data from the panoramic camera's green, blue and infrared filters were combined to create this approximate true color image.NASA/JPL-Caltech/CornellThis image shows the middle section of an approximate true-color panorama, dubbed "Lion King," showing "Eagle Crater" and the surrounding plains of Meridiani Planum. It was obtained by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera on sols 58 and 60 using infrared (750-nanometer), green (530-nanometer) and blue (430-nanometer) filters. The full panorama comprises 558 images and more than 75 megabytes of data, the largest panorama captured by either of the Mars Exploration Rovers in 2004. It depicts a story of exploration including the Opportunity rover's lander, a thorough examination of the outcrop behind, a study of the soils at the near-side of the lander, a successful exit from Eagle Crater, and finally the rover's next desination, the large crater dubbed "Endurance."
Team Assessing SHERLOC Instrument on NASA’s Perseverance Rover
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NASA Scientists Gear Up for Solar Storms at Mars - NASA
When MAVEN detects a big solar flare, the orbiter’s team lets the Curiosity team know so they can watch for changes in RAD’s data. The two missions can even assemble a time series measuring changes down to the half-second as particles arrive at the Martian atmosphere, interact with it, and eventually strike the surface.
The MAVEN mission also leads an early warning system that lets other Mars spacecraft teams know when radiation levels begin to rise. The heads-up enables missions to turn off instruments that could be vulnerable to solar flares, which can interfere with electronics and radio communication.
Lost Water
Beyond helping to keep astronauts and spacecraft safe, studying solar maximum could also lend insight into why Mars changed from being a warm, wet Earth-like world billions of years ago to the freezing desert it is today.
The planet is at a point in its orbit when it’s closest to the Sun, which heats up the atmosphere. That can cause billowing dust storms to blanket the surface. Sometimes the storms merge, becoming global.
While there’s little water left on Mars — mostly ice under the surface and at the poles — some still circulates as vapor in the atmosphere. Scientists wonder whether global dust storms help to eject this water vapor, lofting it high above the planet, where the atmosphere gets stripped away during solar storms. One theory is that this process, repeated enough times over eons, might explain how Mars went from having lakes and rivers to virtually no water today.
If a global dust storm were to occur at the same time as a solar storm, it would provide an opportunity to test that theory. Scientists are especially excited because this particular solar maximum is occurring at the start of the dustiest season on Mars, but they also know that a global dust storm is a rare occurrence.
More About the Missions
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the MAVEN mission. Lockheed Martin Space built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. JPL provides navigation and Deep Space Network support. The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder is responsible for managing science operations and public outreach and communications. 
Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California.
Learning Space With NASA at Home – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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The Mars Rovers: Spirit and Opportunity | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids
The Mars Rovers: Spirit and Opportunity | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids

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The Mars Rovers: Spirit and Opportunity

The Short Answer:
What are the Spirit and Opportunity rovers?

	Spirit and Opportunity are twin rovers that were made to learn more about the planet Mars.
	

After the success of the Sojourner rover, NASA wanted to send more rovers to learn about Mars. So, in 2003, they sent two rovers to the Red Planet. The rovers were named Spirit and Opportunity. Together, they were part of the Mars Exploration Rover mission.
Spirit and Opportunity were made as twins. They both carried all of the same scientific instruments. And each was about the size of a golf cart.

On Earth, where there is water, there is life. Spirit and Opportunity were sent to Mars to find more clues about the history of water there, and to see if the Red Planet could ever have supported life. To do this, scientists sent the two rovers to two different landing sites. The rovers landed on opposite sides of the planet. 

The landing sites of all four Mars rovers on a map of Mars. Credit: National Geographic Society, MOLA Science Team, MSS, JPL, NASA
Spirit landed in a region called Gusev Crater. Scientists wanted to explore the crater because they thought it could have held water long ago. From pictures taken by satellites, scientists thought it looked like several large rivers flowed into Gusev Crater.
Opportunity landed on the other side of Mars in an area called Meridiani Planum. This region was nice because it was a flat, safe spot for the rover to land. Also, studies with a satellite around Mars showed that it might contain a mineral called grey hematite. On Earth, grey hematite is often found in the presence of water. 

Opportunity found grey hematite in sphere-like grains in Meridiani Planum. Scientists called these grains “blueberries.” On Earth, hematite forms near water.
Mars Science Laboratory: Curiosity Rover - NASA Science
Curiosity set out to answer the question: Did Mars ever have the right environmental conditions to support small life forms called microbes? Early in its mission, Curiosity's scientific tools found chemical and mineral evidence of past habitable environments on Mars. It continues to explore the rock record from a time when Mars could have been home to microbial life.TypeRoverLaunch / LandingNov. 26, 2011 / Aug. 6, 2012TargetMarsObjectiveDetermine if Mars was ever able to support microbial lifeUnable to render the provided sourceMeet CuriosityUnable to render the provided sourceA 3D model of the Mars Curiosity Rover.NASA Visualization Technology Applications and Development (VTAD)SizeAbout the size of a small SUV — 10 feet long, 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall), not including the arm.Arm reachAbout 7 feet (2.2 meters)Mass/weight1,982 lbs (899 kilograms) on Earth gravity; 743 lbs in Mars gravity (899 kilograms)FeaturesGeology lab, rocker-bogie suspension, rock-vaporizing laser and lots of camerasFeatured VideoLanding Site: Gale CraterCuriosity explores Gale Crater and acquires rock, soil, and air samples for onboard analysis. The car-size rover is about as tall as a basketball player and uses a 7 foot-long arm to place tools close to rocks selected for study. Curiosity's large size allows it to carry an advanced kit of 10 science instruments. It has tools including 17 cameras, a laser to vaporize and study small pinpoint spots of rocks at a distance, and a drill to collect powdered rock samples. It hunts for special rocks that formed in water and/or have signs of organics.The Curiosity rover has taught us a lot about the history of Mars and its potential to support life. Take a tour of its landing site, Gale Crater.
Learning Space With NASA at Home – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Calling future space explorers! NASA-JPL designs, builds, tests and operates robotic spacecraft that explore the solar system. Join us on our adventure from home, where you can learn where the Sun gets its energy, program a Mars rover game, and build an origami Starshade. Plus explore more at the links below!
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All Mars Resources - NASA Science
This view was captured at Gediz Vallis channel, a feature that formed…Animation of Mars Helicopter Flight TestThis animation shows a simulation of the response of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to the system identification, or “Sys-ID,” process.…Mars Report: The Most Extreme Flights of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars HelicopterNASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter pushed aerodynamic limits during the final months of its mission, setting new records for speed, distance,…The Legacy of Ingenuity: The Frontier of Extraterrestrial FlightFrom the challenges of building NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to its first Red Planet flight and well beyond, see some…Celebrating Spirit & Opportunity’s 20th Anniversary Landing on MarsUsing footage filmed at JPL when Spirit touched down on Jan. 3, 2004, as well an animation depicting the rover's…Perseverance Rover Zooms in on Ancient Mars RiverAfter 1,000 Martian days of exploration, NASA’s Perseverance rover is studying rocks that show several eras in the history of…Meet the Mars Samples: Lefroy Bay (Sample 23)Meet the 23rd Martian sample collected by NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover – "Lefroy Bay," a sample taken from a region of…How Perseverance’s PIXL Gets Close to a Rock TargetThis time-lapse video, which has been sped up by 24 times, uses an engineering model of one of the instruments…Water Enters Jezero Crater Billions of Years Ago (Artist’s Concept)This animated artist’s concept depicts water breaking through the rim of Mars’ Jezero Crater, which NASA’s Perseverance rover is now…The Day the Solar Wind Disappeared from MarsIn December 2022, NASA’s Mars-orbiting MAVEN mission observed the dramatic and unexpected “disappearance” of the solar wind, a stream of…Meet the Mars Samples: Pelican Point (Sample 22)Meet the 22nd Martian sample collected by NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover – "Pelican Point," the first sample taken from an area…Previous12345…38NextMore Mars GalleriesPerseverance Raw ImagesSee the latest images the Perseverance rover sends back from Jezero Crater. Vote for your favorite to become "Image of the Week."
Discovery Alert: Webb Maps and Finds Traces of Water in an Ultra-hot Gas Giant's Atmosphere - NASA Science
Given how much cooler the planet is at the terminator, there is likely something hindering winds from efficiently redistributing heat to the night side. But what is affecting the winds is still a mystery.‘‘The brightness map of WASP-18 b shows a lack of east-west winds that is best matched by models with atmospheric drag. One possible explanation is that this planet has a strong magnetic field, which would be an exciting discovery!’’ said co-author Ryan Challener, of the University of Michigan.One interpretation of the eclipse map is that magnetic effects force the winds to blow from the planet’s equator up over the North pole and down over the South pole, instead of East-West, as we would otherwise expect.Researchers recorded temperature changes at different elevations of the gas giant planet’s layers of atmosphere. They saw temperatures increase with elevation, varying by hundreds of degrees.The spectrum of the planet’s atmosphere clearly shows multiple small but precisely measured water features, present despite the extreme temperatures of almost 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,700 C). It’s so hot that it would tear most water molecules apart, so still seeing its presence speaks to Webb’s extraordinary sensitivity to detect remaining water. The amounts recorded in WASP-18 b’s atmosphere indicate water vapor is present at various elevations.The team obtained the thermal emission spectrum of WASP-18 b by measuring the amount of light it emits over NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRISS SOSS 0.85-2.8 um wavelength range, capturing 65% of the total energy emitted by the planet. WASP-18 b is so hot on the day side of this tidally-locked planet (the same side always faces its star, as the Moon to Earth) that water vapor molecules would break apart.
What Powers a Spacecraft? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids
Solar energy has also been used to power spacecraft on Mars. NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, and Mars’ Phoenix lander all used power from solar panels and so does the InSight lander.
Spacecraft traveling far away from the Sun have very large solar panels to get the electricity they need. For example, NASA's Juno spacecraft uses solar power all the way out at Jupiter, where it orbits the planet. Each of Juno’s three solar arrays is 30 feet (9 meters) long!

NASA's Juno spacecraft is powered by very large solar arrays. It began orbiting Jupiter in 2016. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

However, solar power doesn’t work for all spacecraft. One reason is that as spacecraft travel farther from the Sun, solar power becomes less efficient. Solar-powered explorers may also be limited by a planet's weather and seasons, and harsh radiation (a type of energy). And they might not be able to explore dark, dusty environments, such as caves on the Moon.

Mars is a dusty, windy place. When dust covers solar panels, they can’t make as much energy for the spacecraft. Use the slider to see the Spirit rover’s solar panels covered in dust (left) and what they looked like after winds cleaned them off (right). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell

When solar power won’t work, spacecraft have to get their power another way. So, scientists developed other ways that these spacecraft can get power. One way is to simply use batteries that can store power for a spacecraft to use later.

Energy from batteries
Sometimes, missions are designed to last a short amount of time. For example, the Huygens probe that landed on Saturn’s large moon Titan was only meant to work for a few hours. So a battery provided enough power for the lander to do its job.
Spacecraft batteries are designed to be tough. They need to work in extreme environments in space and on the surfaces of other worlds. The batteries also need to be recharged many times. Over time, NASA scientists have invented ways to improve these batteries.