The manager of NASA’s Mars missions said Thursday they have extended the working lives of Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity until September and they could be extended even further. Initially the missions were slated to last 90 days each, but with two healthy rovers returning regular information, the Mars rover project has been approved for a total of 250 days. That would prolong their missions until September 13.
April 8th, 2004
NASA Extends Mars Rovers’ Mission
NASA has approved an extended mission for the Mars Exploration Rovers, handing them up to five months of overtime assignments, as they finish their three-month prime mission.
The first of the two, Spirit, met the success criteria set for its prime mission. Spirit gained check marks in the final two boxes on April 3 and 5, when it exceeded 600 meters (1,969 feet) of total drive distance and completed 90 martian operational days after landing.
April 7th, 2004
Walt Disney World Resort Salutes Success of Mars Exploration collectSPACE
With the gleaming curves of Mission: SPACE as a backdrop, Walt Disney World President Al Weiss welcomed NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe and aspiring astronaut Sofi Collis, 10
April 6th, 2004
NASA’s Mars Success Honored At Disney World Day Of Discovery
NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe joins NASA scientists, mission managers and a Mars rover today to help Disney’s Epcot, at the Walt Disney World Resort, celebrate the success of the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The Administrator’s now famous quote, “We’re back. . . and we’re on Mars” is being added to a permanent collection of space-related quotations on the fa
April 5th, 2004
A lighthearted look at roaming the Red Plant
Twin robot geologists Spirit and Opportunity are hard at work making important scientific discoveries on Mars. But that doesn’t mean NASA — and the world — can’t have a little fun with the mission:
April 2nd, 2004
Water Evidence from Mars’ Spirit Astrobiology Magazine
This approximate true-color image (right) taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rock dubbed “Mazatzal” before the rover drilled into it with its rock abrasion tool. The rock “has clearly been altered by interaction with fluids,’ said Hap McSween, science team member from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
April 2nd, 2004
Mars Rover Finds More Signs of Past Water
NASA’s Spirit rover uncovered more evidence that there was once water on Mars, although not in the quantities its twin Opportunity found traces of halfway around the planet last month, the space agency said Thursday.
April 2nd, 2004
Opportunity Update: Biting into ‘Bounce’
Opportunity’s rock abrasion tool ground into “Bounce” for just over two hours, producing a 6.44-millimeter (0.25 inch) hole that will allow the rover’s spectrometer’s to analyze the rock’s chemical composition.
April 2nd, 2004
Spirit Finds Multi-Layer Hints of Past Water at Mars’ Gusev Site
Clues from a wind-scalloped volcanic rock on Mars investigated by NASA’s Spirit rover suggest repeated possible exposures to water inside Gusev Crater, scientists said Thursday.
Gusev is halfway around the planet from the Meridiani region where Spirit’s twin, Opportunity, recently found evidence that water used to flow across the surface.