The Mars rover Spirit beamed crystal-clear photos from the planet’s Gusev Crater to Earth just after 2:30 a.m. EST, the first images from the surface since the little Pathfinder rover landed seven years ago. Earlier, the jubilant mission team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory greeted signals from the Spirit rover with cheers, claps and embraces after the lander bounced and rolled to a stop on the red planet’s surface. It’s designed to spend three months journeying from rock to rock in what might be an ancient lakebed.