Mars Exploration Rover | Britannica.com Mars Exploration Rover planet Mars Exploration Rover, either of a pair of U.S. robotic vehicles that explored the surface of Mars beginning in January 2004. The mission of each rover was to study the chemical and physical composition of the surface at various locations in order to help determine whether water had ever existed on the planet and to search for other signs that the planet might have supported some form of life. Artist’s conception of Mars Exploration Rover. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory The twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, were launched on June 10 and July 7, 2003, respectively. Spirit touched down in Gusev crater on Jan. 3, 2004. Three weeks later, on January 24, Opportunity landed in a crater on the equatorial plain called Meridiani Planum on the opposite side of the planet. Both six-wheeled 18-kg (40-pound) rovers were equipped with cameras and a suite of instruments that included a microscopic imager, a rock-grinding tool, and infrared , gamma-ray , and alpha-particle spectrometers that analyzed the rocks, soil , and dust around their landing sites.

The landing sites had been chosen because they appeared to have been affected by water in Mars’s past. Both rovers found evidence of past water; perhaps the most dramatic was the discovery by Opportunity of rocks that appeared to have been laid down at the shoreline of an ancient body of salty water. Each rover was designed for a nominal 90-day mission but functioned so well that operations were extended several times. NASA finally decided to continue operating the two landers until they failed to respond to commands from Earth. In August 2005, Spirit reached the summit of Husband Hill, 82 metres (269 feet) above the Gusev crater plain. Spirit and Opportunity continued to work even after a significant Martian dust storm in 2007 coated their solar cells . Opportunity entered Victoria crater, an impact crater roughly 800 metres (2,600 feet) in diameter and 70 metres (230 feet) deep, on Sept. 11, 2007, on the riskiest trek yet for either of the rovers. On Aug.

28, 2008, Opportunity emerged from Victoria crater and set off on a 12-km (7-mile) journey to the much larger (22 km [14 miles] in diameter) Endeavour crater. The promontory called “Cape Verde” on the rim of Victoria crater as seen by … NASA/JPL/Cornell Methane Surge Worries Scientists In May 2009 Spirit became stuck in soft, sandy soil; its wheels were unable to gain any traction. Scientists on Earth strove for months to free the rover, sending it commands to move in various directions, but without success, and in January 2010 NASA decided that Spirit would work from then on as a stationary lander. The rover had traveled more than 7.7 km (4.8 miles) in its mobile lifetime. On March 22, 2010, Spirit ceased transmitting to Earth, and NASA considered it to be dead. By that time its twin, Opportunity, had driven more than 20 km (12.4 miles).

Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Home Rover Takes on Steepest Slope Ever Tried on Mars NASA's long-lived Mars rover Opportunity is driving to an alternative hillside target after a climb on the steepest slope ever tackled by any Mars rover. Opportunity could not quite get within reach of a target researchers hoped the rover could touch earlier this month. Rovers - Exploring the Planets | National Air and Space Museum Rovers What's New Rovers Landed spacecraft can make detailed observations of a planet's surface. However, these observations are restricted to a small area. To obtain coverage over a wider area, spacecraft can carry robots that are able to rove over the surface. Crewed missions or robotic rovers provide not only mobility but also the capability to do complex tasks and make intelligent and selective observations. Lunokhod Two Soviet mobile vehicles, the Lunokhods, have landed on the Moon, one in November 1970 and the other in January, 1973. The Lunokhods were remotely controlled roving vehicles that carried television cameras and instruments to measure the physical and chemical properties of the lunar soil. Lunokhod: Moon Robot.

Apollo The six Apollo lunar landing missions demonstrated the value of manned exploration of planetary surfaces. The astronauts were able to set up scientific instruments, choose the most interesting samples for collection, and study the geology of the lunar surface. An Apollo 11 astronaut carries a small scientific instrument station to be set up away from the Lunar Module. This station and several others are still transmitting data to Earth. Apollo 15 Lunar Roving Vehicle Three Generations of Mars Rovers Since the first Mars rover Sojourner traversed the rocky plain of Ares Valles, increasingly sophisticated vehicles have explored the hills and plains of Mars. Marie Curie and full-scale models of the Mars Exploration Rover and Curiosity on display in the Museum in Washington, DC. Marie Curie Sojourner Flight Spare Marie Curie is the flight spare, or backup vehicle, for the Sojourner rover that operated on Mars in 1997. Nearly identical to Sojourner, Marie Curie was used for testing on a simulated Mars terrain at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Sojourner traveled about 100 meters (330 feet) across the Martian surface with a top speed of 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) per second.

It was the first to test a "rocker bogie" mobility system, designed to prevent rovers from tipping over in their exploration of the rocky surface of Mars. During its 83 Martian days of operation, it provided over 500 images and collected chemical data from 16 locations. Transferred from NASA/JPL-CalTech NASA's Spirit Rover Obituary - RIP, NASA's Spirit Mars Rover Obituary Jan 26, 2010 Advertisement - Continue Reading Below January 27, 2010 (Popular Mechanics Online) – The Spirit Rover, which explored the surface of Mars for over half a decade, discovering pivotal evidence of the past existence of water, was consigned to her final resting place on the north face of the Troy plateau on January 26, 2009. She was nearly 3.4 Martian years old (six Earth years). In April 2009, Spirit, which had a life-expectancy of only 90 days, rolled towards her fateful finale, already dragging a crippled right wheel towards the Gusev crater.

Suddenly, one of the rover's wheels broke through the surface and got stuck—irreversibly—in the Martian sand. Most Popular Spirit left Earth on June 10, 2003, and began an eight-month-long trip through the solar system. After bouncing to a stop on the surface of the red planet, Spirit emerged from her landing craft, sidestepped a partially deployed parachute, and placed her six wheels on Martian soil. It was January 15, 2004. From that point onward, the golf cart–size rover proved to be a dogged, tenacious explorer—often laboring for weeks at a time to traverse steep craters and continuously performing geological experiments with her robotic arm. Survival was difficult on the Martian surface, where temperatures dip below minus 90 C nightly and massive dust storms can at times engulf half the planet. Spirit suffered many close calls, the first of which occurred several days after touchdown, when scientists lost contact with the rover for 48 tense hours. Diagnostic tests confirmed that Spirit had filled up her memory banks and could not boot up her computer. A bevy of Earth-side scientists corrected the problem and Spirit began her years-long journey.

She drove over 5 miles during the course of her lifetime. To survive harsh Martian winters up to 300 million miles from the nearest team of rescuers, Spirit spent months driving toward areas of maximum sunlight. On a north-facing slope, the rover was able to collect enough light to raise her power levels to a functioning level. As the sun moved across the northern sky, the rover tracked it meticulously, absorbing energy to be used for exploration in the new year. Toward the end of her actual operational lifetime, Spirit spent an increasing amount of time resting comfortably on the Martian surface, fruitlessly soaking up the Sun's rays through dust-coated solar panels to recharge failing batteries. Her mission to search for evidence of water on Mars was complicated by the hostile environment, but Spirit persevered in the face of adversity. While racing to her first winter haven, Spirit broke her right front wheel. The injured rover was reduced to driving backwards for the rest of her lifetime, dragging the faulty wheel like an anchor. Surprisingly, the inert wheel broke the surface of the ground, digging a narrow trench behind the rover that led to one her of most famous discoveries: evidence of silica-rich soil that indicates the past existence of hot springs or steam vents on Mars' surface.

In addition to scientific discovery, Spirit contributed to our aesthetic appreciation of Mars, beaming back images conveying the sheer awe of witnessing an alien vista. In 2005, Spirit climbed Husband Hill—the height of the Statue of Liberty—and took a breathtaking panoramic picture that embodies the barren solitude of the Martian surface, a landscape never before witnessed in such detail by humankind. Amidst life-threatening challenges, Spirit always found a way to transform hardship into achievement. Despite sunlight-choking dust storms, low-power situations in deep winter and hardware glitches triggered by harsh cosmic rays, she spectacularly outlasted her design specifications, never gave up and never stopped teaching us about the Martian environment. In addition to her estranged sister rover, Opportunity (currently exploring the other side of Mars), the Spirit Rover is survived by an identical test rover on Earth and a father rover, FIDO, used for proof-of-concept experiments in the Nevada desert. Surviving relatives are joined in bereavement by the scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, many of whom consider Spirit to be a member of their family. According to her last wishes, Spirit will remain on Mars indefinitely, with her final resting place becoming a region of international historical significance.

More from Popular Mechanics: 'Amazing' Mars Rover Opportunity Begins Year 9 on Red Planet 'Amazing' Mars Rover Opportunity Begins Year 9 on Red Planet By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | January 24, 2012 07:00am ET MORE A mosaic of images showing the view northward and northeastward from "Greeley Haven," the overwintering site for NASA's Opportunity Mars rover. Opportunity took the photos with its panoramic camera in mid-January 2012. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Arizona State Univ. A NASA rover celebrates eight years on the Martian surface today (Jan. 24), and the long-lived robot is still going strong. The Opportunity rover landed on the Red Planet at 9:05 p.m. PST Jan. 24, 2004 (12:05 a.m. EST Jan. 25), three weeks after its twin, Spirit, touched down. While NASA declared Spirit dead last year, Opportunity continues to gather data in its dotage, helping scientists understand more and more about Mars' wetter, warmer past. "It is amazing.

I have to remind myself — my God, this thing is still going!" said John Callas, Opportunity's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "But more importantly, it is still very productive on the surface." NASA's twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have now spent 10 years on the surface of Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL Following the water Spirit and Opportunity were originally supposed to spend 90 days searching for signs of past water activity on Mars. The solar-powered robots found plenty of such evidence at their disparate landing sites, dramatically reshaping scientists' understanding of the Red Planet and its history. [ Mars Photos by Spirit and Opportunity ] Spirit, for example, found strong evidence of an ancient hydrothermal system. The discovery showed that at least some areas on Mars once had two key ingredients necessary to support life as we know it — liquid water and an energy source. Opportunity, for its part, recently found clues that warm water may also have flowed or percolated on the rim of Mars' huge Endeavour Crater long ago. The golf-cart-size rovers just kept chugging along, continuing to make observations years after their warranties expired.

Spirit got mired in soft sand in May 2009, after a bad wheel compromised the rover's mobility. The robot failed to maneuver into a position that would have slanted its solar panels toward the sun over the course of the 2009-2010 Martian winter, and it stopped communicating with Earth in March 2010. NASA declared Spirit dead in May 2011, identifying hypothermia as the likely cause. But Opportunity remains an active and alert planetary explorer. NASA's Opportunity Mars rover took this mosaic of images with its panoramic camera in mid-January 2012. It shows the windswept vista northward (left) to northeastward (right) from the location where Opportunity is spending its fifth Martian winter, an outcrop informally named "Greeley Haven." Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Arizona State Univ. Studying Endeavour Crater After a three-year trek, Opportunity arrived at the 14-mile-wide (22-kilometer) Endeavour Crater in August 2011.

The rover spent the next few months poking along Endeavour's rim, where it recently uncovered what researchers say is the best evidence yet for liquid water on ancient Mars. In December, Opportunity found a good spot to wait out the looming Martian winter — a rocky outcrop informally named Greeley Haven. The location allows the rover to tilt its solar panels northward at about 15 degrees, maximizing the power it can draw from the sun to stay warm, active and healthy, researchers said. Opportunity isn't sleeping the winter away. It will stay awake though relatively stationary, investigating the rocks at Greeley Haven and taking panoramic pictures of its surroundings. And, most importantly, it will beam radio signals home to Earth. Mission scientists will track those signals, using Opportunity's motion relative to Earth as a proxy for the rotation of Mars , Callas said. Scientists should thus be able to get very precise measurements of the planet's spin. They'll use that information to draw inferences about Mars' mysterious interior structure — how big the planet's core is, for example, and whether that core is liquid or solid.

'A whole new landing site' The winter solstice at Opportunity's location comes in late March; a few months after that, Callas said, solar energy should be strong enough to allow the rover to get moving again. [ Mars Explored: Landers and Rovers Since 1971 (Infographic) ] At that point, the plan is to send the robot south along Endeavour's rim, toward a place about 1.8 miles (3 km) away called Cape Tribulation. Mars-orbiting spacecraft have detected clay minerals — which form in water — at Cape Tribulation, so the team wants Opportunity to investigate the area. "It speaks a lot to the biopotential and habitability of Mars in the ancient past," Callas told SPACE.com. "We want to go there. It's on some challenging slopes, some 30-degree slopes, and we'll have to do some Martian mountaineering. So it'll be a spectacular adventure with the rover to get to these locations." Mission scientists are eager to explore large swaths of the huge crater, which offers a wealth of possible new discoveries.

"Endeavour is like a whole new landing site, and we've really only just scratched the surface so far," rover principal investigator Steve Squyres, of Cornell University, told SPACE.com in an email. Chasing down a record Despite an arthritic joint in Opportunity's robotic arm, the rover is in good health overall, Callas said. Still, the mission team isn't taking the aging robot's continued performance for granted. "Every day is like a gift," Callas said. "We just keep charging ahead as if every day is our last day, and we want to maximize the science we can do with this vehicle." While science remains the team's top priority, Callas said he'd like Opportunity to tick off one big exploration milestone as well. The Soviet Union's Lunokhod 2 robot currently holds the record for the greatest distance traveled on the surface of another world. The unmanned rover covered 23 miles (37 km) on the moon in 1973. Opportunity's odometer currently reads 21.35 miles (34.4 km). "I want to beat that record," Callas said.

"After the winter, I hope to knock that record off and claim the mantle of the longest distance traversed by another vehicle beyond the Earth." You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall . Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook . Editor's Recommendations NASA - NASA's Spirit Rover Completes Mission on Mars NASA's Spirit Rover Completes Mission on Mars 05.25.11 NASA has ended operational planning activities for the Mars rover Spirit and transitioned the Mars Exploration Rover Project to a single-rover operation focused on Spirit's still-active twin, Opportunity. This marks the completion of one of the most successful missions of interplanetary exploration ever launched. Spirit last communicated on March 22, 2010, as Martian winter approached and the rover's solar-energy supply declined. The rover operated for more than six years after landing in January 2004 for what was planned as a three-month mission. NASA checked frequently in recent months for possible reawakening of Spirit as solar energy available to the rover increased during Martian spring. A series of additional re-contact attempts ended today, designed for various possible combinations of recoverable conditions.

"Our job was to wear these rovers out exploring, to leave no unutilized capability on the surface of Mars, and for Spirit, we have done that," said Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spirit drove 4.8 miles (7.73 kilometers), more than 12 times the goal set for the mission. The drives crossed a plain to reach a distant range of hills that appeared as mere bumps on the horizon from the landing site; climbed slopes up to 30 degrees as Spirit became the first robot to summit a hill on another planet; and covered more than half a mile (nearly a kilometer) after Spirit's right-front wheel became immobile in 2006. The rover returned more than 124,000 images. It ground the surfaces off 15 rock targets and scoured 92 targets with a brush to prepare the targets for inspection with spectrometers and a microscopic imager. Team members reflect on Spirit's six-years of roving Mars.

› Download video "What's really important is not only how long Spirit worked or how far Spirit drove, but also how much exploration and scientific discovery Spirit accomplished," Callas said. One major finding came, ironically, from dragging the inoperable right-front wheel as the rover was driving backwards in 2007. That wheel plowed up bright white soil. Spirit's Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer and Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer revealed that the bright material was nearly pure silica. "Spirit's unexpected discovery of concentrated silica deposits was one of the most important findings by either rover," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for Spirit and Opportunity. "It showed that there were once hot springs or steam vents at the Spirit site, which could have provided favorable conditions for microbial life." The silica-rich soil neighbors a low plateau called Home Plate, which was Spirit's main destination after the historic climb up Husband Hill. "What Spirit showed us at Home Plate was that early Mars could be a violent place, with water and hot rock interacting to make what must have been spectacular volcanic explosions. It was a dramatically different world than the cold, dry Mars of today," said Squyres.

The trove of data from Spirit could still yield future science revelations. Years of analysis of some 2005 observations by the rover's Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer and Moessbauer Spectrometer produced a report last year that an outcrop on Husband Hill bears a high concentration of carbonate. This is evidence of a wet, non-acidic ancient environment that may have been favorable for microbial life. "What's most remarkable to me about Spirit's mission is just how extensive her accomplishments became," said Squyres. "What we initially conceived as a fairly simple geologic experiment on Mars ultimately turned into humanity's first real overland expedition across another planet. Spirit explored just as we would have, seeing a distant hill, climbing it, and showing us the vista from the summit. And she did it in a way that allowed everyone on Earth to be part of the adventure." JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rovers Opportunity and Spirit for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. For more about the rovers, see: or .

Mars Orbiter Spies Rover Landing Site Mars Orbiter Spies Rover Landing Site By Leonard David, Space.com's Space Insider Columnist | November 29, 2006 05:55pm ET MORE The bright irregularly-shaped feature in area “a” of the image is Opportunity’s parachute, now lying on the martian surface. Near the parachute is the cone-shaped “backshell” that helped protect Opportunity’s lander during its seven-month journey to Mars. Dark surface material may have been disturbed when the backshell touched down, exposing the lighter-toned materials seen next to the backshell. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona. New imagery taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been released, a sweeping gallery of red planet photos - including Endurance crater that NASA's Opportunity rover explored for ten months. The zoom lens photo album comes courtesy of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's (MRO) High Resolution Science Imaging Experiment (HiRISE).

Imagery released today shows the landing site for the Opportunity Mars rover with its parachute resting atop the Martian landscape [image], the spacecraft's heat shield at a different spot [image], and the airbag cushioned lander itself resting inside the floor of a small impact feature - later dubbed Eagle Crater [image]. The HiRISE camera takes images of 3.5-mile-wide (six-kilometer) swaths as the orbiter flies at about 7,800 mph (12,552 kilometers per hour) between 155 and 196 miles (250 to 316 kilometers) above the planet. The camera resolves geologic features as small as 40 inches (101 centimeters) across. Easy-to-find hardware That sharpshooting skill will be put to good use in weeks to come, said Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson. Upcoming targets are "all the easy-to-find hardware on Mars," McEwen noted in a press statement.

That includes the Spirit rover -- Opportunity's sister ship investigating the Columbia Hills - as well as the Viking 1 and Viking 2 landers that touched down in 1976, and the Mars Pathfinder that landed in July 1997. In October, HiRISE was able to spot the Opportunity rover shortly after the Mars machinery reached the large Victoria Crater - an exploration site that the robot is presently studying [image]. MRO imagery of Mars released today is the first of what is being billed as "a non-stop flood of incredibly detailed Mars images" that are to be taken during the spacecraft's two-year primary science mission. The orbiter is expected to revolutionize our understanding of the red planet, as well as help discern safe sites for future robotic and human missions to Mars. MRO was launched in August 2005. After a lengthy period of aerobraking around the red planet - a technique used to slow the craft down and enter a desired orbit - the spacecraft began its science mapping mission earlier this month.

NASA Enlists Mars Probe to Search for Missing Craft VIDEO: All Eyes on Mars IMAGES: Visualizations of Mars Red Planet Recon: Complete Coverage of NASA's MRO Mission to Mars All About Mars Mars Rover Anniversary: NASA's 'Spirit,' 'Opportunity' Robots Mark Nine Years On Red Planet | The Huffington Post Mars Rover Anniversary: NASA's 'Spirit,' 'Opportunity' Robots Mark Nine Years On Red Planet 01/03/2013 09:33 am ET By: Mike Wall Published: 01/03/2013 08:07 AM EST on SPACE.com As the world rang in the Near Year this this week, NASA was looking forward to a big milestone of its own — nine years and counting on the surface of Mars for an overachieving Red Planet rover mission. The golf-cart-size Spirit rover landed on Mars on Jan. 3, 2004, PST. Its twin, Opportunity, touched down at another Martian locale three weeks later, joining Spirit on a 90-day quest to search for signs of past water activity on the Red Planet.

Together, the two robots make up the Mars Exploration Rover mission, the precursor to the huge Mars rover Curiosity, which arrived at the planet last August. The two NASA robots found plenty of such evidence, helping scientists confirm that Mars — now a frigid and seemingly bone-dry place — was warmer and wetter billions of years ago . Spirit even stumbled onto an ancient hydrothermal system, where heat energy and liquid water may have created conditions capable of supporting life as we know it. Both rovers kept on chugging long after their warranties expired. Spirit finally stopped communicating with Earth in March 2010 and was declared dead a year later. Opportunity is still going strong, exploring clay deposits on the rim of Mars' Endeavour Crater. [ Latest Mars Photos From Rovers Spirit & Opportunity ] Together, the two robots have covered 26.82 miles (43.16 kilometers) to date, with Opportunity racking up the lion's share (22.02 miles, or 35.44 km). While Opportunity is showing some signs of its advanced age, such as an arthritic arm, the rover remains in good health and continues to return interesting data to its handlers back on Earth.

"Every day is a gift at this point," rover mission principal investigator Steve Squyres, of Cornell University, said last month at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. "We're just going to push the rover, and push ourselves, as hard as we can." The nine-year anniversary may bring some attention back to Opportunity, which ceded the Mars rover spotlight to its car-size cousin Curiosity last summer. The $2.5 billion Curiosity rover landed inside Mars' huge Gale Crater on Aug. 5, 2012, on a mission to determine if the area has ever been capable of supporting microbial life. The 1-ton robot — which weighs five times as much as Spirit or Opportunity — has already discovered an ancient streambed where water likely flowed continuously for thousands of years long ago. Curiosity's surface mission was originally slated to last about two Earth years, but NASA officials recently announced that they would let the robot roam as long as it was scientifically viable. If the performance of Spirit and Opportunity are any guide, Curiosity could be roving for many years to come. Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom .

We're also on Facebook and Google+ . Spirit Rover Landed on Mars 10 Years Ago Today - Universe Today Universe Today Privacy This bird's-eye view from August 2005 combines a self-portrait of the spacecraft deck and a panoramic mosaic of the Martian surface as viewed by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. The rover's solar panels are still gleaming in the sunlight, having acquired only a thin veneer of dust two years after the rover landed and commenced exploring the red planet. Spirit captured this 360-degree panorama on the summit of "Husband Hill" inside Mars' Gusev Crater. During the period from Spirit's Martian days, or sols, 583 to 586 (Aug. 24 to 27, 2005), the rover's panoramic camera acquired the hundreds of individual frames for this largest panorama ever photographed by Spirit.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Spirit Rover Landed on Mars 10 Years Ago Today Article Updated: 23 Dec , 2015 by Ken Kremer Ten Years Ago, Spirit Rover Lands on Mars This bird’s-eye view from August 2005 combines a self-portrait of the spacecraft deck and a panoramic mosaic of the Martian surface as viewed by NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. The rover’s solar panels are still gleaming in the sunlight, having acquired only a thin veneer of dust two years after the rover landed and commenced exploring the red planet. Spirit captured this 360-degree panorama on the summit of “Husband Hill” inside Mars’ Gusev Crater. During the period from Spirit’s Martian days, or sols, 583 to 586 (Aug. 24 to 27, 2005), the rover’s panoramic camera acquired the hundreds of individual frames for this largest panorama ever photographed by Spirit. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell See Spirit’s 1st and last panoramas and more imagery below[/caption] Today, Jan.

3, marks the 10th anniversary since the safe landing of NASA’s renowned Spirit rover on the plains of Mars on Jan. 3, 2004. Spirit comprises one half of NASA’s now legendary pair of Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). Opportunity , her twin sister landed, on the opposite side of the Red Planet three weeks later – on Jan. 24, 2004. The goal was to “follow the water” as a potential enabler for past Martian microbes if they ever existed. Together, the long-lived, golf cart sized robots proved that early Mars was warm and wet , billions of years ago – a key finding in the search for habitats conducive to life beyond Earth. Exactly a decade ago, the famous robot survived the scorching atmospheric heating of the 6 minute plunge through the thin Martian atmosphere, bounced some two dozen times cocooned inside cushioning airbags, and gradually rolled to a stop inside 100 mile wide Gusev Crater. It was known as the “6 minutes of Terror”.

The three petaled landing pad opened and Spirit was dramatically born in a milestone event that will be forever remembered in the annuls of history because of the groundbreaking scientific discoveries that ensued and the unbelievable longevity of the twins. Ten Years Ago, Spirit Rover Lands on Mars This mosaic image taken on Jan. 4, 2004, by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, shows a 360 degree panoramic view of the rover on the surface of Mars. Spirit operated for more than six years after landing in January 2004 for what was planned as a three-month mission. Credit: NASA/JPL Before they were launched atop Delta II rockets in the summer of 2003 from Cape Canaveral, the dynamic, solar powered robo duo were expected to last a mere three months – with a ‘warranty’ of 90 Martian days (Sols). Either dust accumulation on the life giving solar panels, an engineering issue or the extremely harsh Martian environment was expected to somehow terminate them mercilessly. In reality, both robots enormously exceeded expectations and accumulated a vast bonus time of exploration and discovery in numerous extended mission phases.

‘McMurdo’ Panorama from Spirit’s ‘Winter Haven’ This beautiful scene reveals a tremendous amount of detail in Spirit’s surroundings at a place called “Winter Haven,” where the rover spent many months parked on a north-facing slope in order to keep its solar panels pointed toward the sun for the winter. During this time, it captured several images to create this high resolution panorama. During that time, while the rover spent the daylight hours conducting as much scientific research as possible, science team members assigned informal names to rock outcrops, boulders, and patches of soil commemorating exploration sites in Antarctica and the southernmost islands of South America. Antarctic bases are places where researchers, like the rovers on Mars, hunker down for the winter in subzero temperatures. During the past Martian winter, Spirit endured temperatures lower than minus 100 degrees Celsius (minus 148 degrees Fahrenheit). Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell No one foresaw that Martian winds would occasionally clean the solar panels to give them a new lease on life or that the components would miraculously continue functioning. Spirit endured the utterly extreme Red Planet climate for more than six years until communications ceased in 2010.

Opportunity is still roving Mars today, and doing so in rather good condition! Altogether, Spirit drove 4.8 miles (7.73 kilometers),that’s about 12 times more than the original goal set for the mission. She transmitted over 128,000 images. After landing in the dusty plains, she headed for the nearby Columbia Hills some 2 miles away and ultimately became the first Martian mountaineer, when she scaled Husband Hill and found evidence for the flow of liquid water at the Hillary outcrop. Spirit acquired this mosaic on Sol 1202 (May 21, 2007), while investigating the area east of the elevated plateau known as “Home Plate” in the “Columbia Hills.” The mosaic shows an area of disturbed soil, nicknamed “Gertrude Weise” by scientists, made by Spirit’s stuck right front wheel. The trench exposed a patch of nearly pure silica, with the composition of opal. It could have come from either a hot-spring environment or an environment called a fumarole, in which acidic, volcanic steam rises through cracks.

Either way, its formation involved water, and on Earth, both of these types of settings teem with microbial life. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell The rovers were not designed to climb hills. But eventually she scaled 30 degree inclines. The rover was equipped with a rock grinder named the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) built by Honeybee Robotics. Spirit ground the surfaces off 15 rock targets and scoured 92 targets with a brush to prepare the targets for inspection with spectrometers and a microscopic imager, according to NASA. Eventually she drove back down the hill and made even greater scientific discoveries in the area known as ‘Home Plate’. Spirit survived three harsh Martian winters and only succumbed to the Antarctic-like temperatures when she unexpectedly became mired in an unseen sand trap driving beside an ancient volcanic feature named ‘Home Plate’ that prevented the solar arrays from generating life giving power to safeguard critical electronic and computer components. In 2007, Spirit made one of the key discoveries of the mission at ‘Home Plate’ when her stuck right front wheel churned up a trench of bright Martian soil that exposed a patch of nearly pure silica, which was formed in a watery hot spring or volcanic environment.

Spirit was heading towards another pair of volcanic objects named ‘von Braun’ and ‘Goddard’ and came within just a few hundred feet when she died in the sand trap. See Spirits last panorama below – created from raw images taken in Feb. 2010 by Marco Di Lorenzo and Ken Kremer. Last View from Spirit rover on Mars Spirit’s last panorama from Gusev Crater was taken during February 2010 before her death from extremely low temperatures during her 4th Martian winter. Spirit was just 500 feet from her next science target – dubbed Von Braun – at center, with Columbia Hills as backdrop. Mosaic Credit: Marco Di Lorenzo/ Kenneth Kremer/ NASA/JPL/Cornell University.

Mosaic featured on Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) on 30 May 2011 – Here’s how the rovers’ principal investigator, Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., described some of the key findings in a NASA statement, starting with what Spirit found after driving from the crater floor where it landed into the Columbia hills to the east: “In the Columbia Hills, we discovered compelling evidence of an ancient Mars that was a hot, wet, violent place, with volcanic explosions, hydrothermal activity, steam vents — nothing like Mars today. “At Opportunity’s landing site, we found evidence of an early Mars that had acidic groundwater that sometimes reached the surface and evaporated away, leaving salts behind. It was an environment with liquid water, but very different from the environment that Spirit told us about. “When Opportunity got to the rim of Endeavour Crater, we began a whole new mission. We found gypsum veins and a rich concentration of clay minerals.

The clay minerals tell us about water chemistry that was neutral, instead of acidic — more favorable for microbial life, if any ever began on Mars.” “Because of the rovers’ longevity, we essentially got four different landing sites for the price of two.” Meanwhile, NASA’s new Curiosity rover just celebrated 500 Sols on Mars and is speeding towards Mount Sharp from inside Gale Crater – which is about the same size as Gusev crater. And a pair of newly launched orbiters are streaking to the Red Planet ; NASA’s MAVEN and India’s MOM. And China’s new Yutu lunar rover and Chang’e-3 lander are napping through the lunar night until mid-January. Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Curiosity, Chang’e-3, SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, LADEE, MAVEN, Mars rover and MOM news. Ken Kremer ……………. Learn more about Curiosity, MAVEN, MOM, Mars rovers, SpaceX, Orbital Sciences Antares Jan. 8 launch, and more at Ken’s upcoming presentations Jan 6-8: “Antares/Cygnus ISS Rocket Launch from Virginia on Jan.

8” & “Space mission updates”; Rodeway Inn, Chincoteague, VA, evening Share this: By Ken Kremer - Dr. Ken Kremer is a speaker, research scientist, freelance science journalist (Princeton, NJ) and photographer whose articles, space exploration images and Mars mosaics have appeared in magazines, books, websites and calendars including Astronomy Picture of the Day, NBC, FOX, BBC, SPACE.com, Spaceflight Now, Science and the covers of Aviation Week & Space Technology, Spaceflight and the Explorers Club magazines. Ken has presented at numerous educational institutions, civic & religious organizations, museums and astronomy clubs. Ken has reported first hand from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, NASA Wallops, NASA Michoud/Stennis/Langley and on over 70 launches including 8 shuttle launches. He lectures on both Human and Robotic spaceflight - Follow Ken on Facebook and Twitter Technology Education WebQuest - Glencoe Online Missions to Mars Introduction Popularly known as "the red planet," Mars has been a source of fascination for eons. Is there life on Mars? If not, has there been life on Mars in the past? Evidence of water would provide some clues to this mystery.

Advances in technology have made it possible to find ways to study Mars. For example, we have explored with telescopes and space probes. Unstaffed spacecraft (without humans) have landed on the surface to explore and collect data. We have taken photographs of the surface of Mars and analyzed the chemical composition of its atmosphere. During 2003, Mars made its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years. Because of that, a trip to Mars took about seven months. At other times, a spacecraft could take up to ten months to reach the red planet. To take advantage of this event, both the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sent spacecraft to orbit Mars. As of January 2005, both missions were still in operation. Sometime in your lifetime, advances in technology may lead to a human mission to Mars. Why should we explore space? What might the benefits be? Top Task Your job in this WebQuest is to learn about space exploration, especially to the planet Mars. You will learn about past missions to Mars, as well as current and future missions.

You will learn about the purpose of the missions and the types of data that have been collected. You will also find out about plans for future missions. Finally, you will answer questions to demonstrate what you have learned about space exploration. Top Process Read through the following questions. Then research the Internet sites that are listed after them. As you explore each site, look for answers to the questions. Keep a record of the sites where you find answers. Questions about Missions to Mars Launched in 1964, Mariner 4 was the first robotic mission to make a successful flyby of Mars. It also returned photographs to Earth. What did the photos reveal? Not all Mars missions have succeeded. Name one mission that failed. State the mission goal and date of failure, and explain what went wrong. In 1997, the Pathfinder mission included the Sojourner rover, which explored the surface of Mars. Describe the types of data collected during the Pathfinder mission. What did the findings from the Pathfinder mission suggest about Mars? By December 2003, the ESA's Martian Express was in orbit and began returning images to Earth. Its lander, Beagle 2, did not make contact after it separated from the spacecraft.

However, the Martian Express continued to send images and other data. What is the mission for the Martian Express? On January 2, 2005, NASA celebrated the first anniversary of Mars rover Spirit's landing on Mars. Spirit's robotic twin Opportunity, which landed after Spirit, was also still on the job. Find out the latest news about the rovers. Report your findings. What types of data from the missions launched in 2003 show evidence of water on Mars? The next NASA mission to Mars is the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. What will this mission do? Is research in space worth the resources used? Take a position for or against space research. Give at least one reason to support your answers. Choose a technology originally developed for space exploration that has affected your life or the life of someone you know. Describe the technology and the effect it has had. Top Resources Look at the Web sites given here to find the information that will enable you to answer questions about space travel and missions to Mars. Satellites and Robotic Spacecraft . This site provides information about space exploration with satellites and robotic spacecraft. For a history of Mars exploration, click on A History of Unmanned Space Missions.

You will find a description of the robotic mission, Mariner 4. Explore Mars . This site has useful information about the history of explorations of Mars. In the first menu, select Robotic Missions. Then click on Past Planetary Missions to Mars. Mars Pathfinder . Visit this site to learn about the Mars Pathfinder mission with the Sojourner rover (a remote controlled robot vehicle). The spacecraft carrying the rover landed on July 4, 1997. Find out what the findings from the mission suggested about Mars. Mars Today . Go to this site for monthly updates on missions to Mars. The Top Stories area includes news stories about Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, as well as the Martian Express spacecraft. ESA: Mars Express . Learn about the Mars mission launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) on June 3, 2003. NASA: Spirit and Opportunity . Go to this site for the latest news on the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. NASA: One Year on Mars . Explore this site to follow the scientific adventures and discoveries of the Mars rovers. NASA: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter . Go to this site for information about the next NASA mission to Mars. BBC: Are the Mars missions worth it?

Visit this site to learn more about both sides of the debate on funding for missions to Mars. Space Station Science . Why do research in space? Go to this site for answers to this question.

Question: In August 2005 the robotic rover Spirit explored the surface of what?
Answer: Mars