Missions in Space - Mars Rovers
Launch - Spirit (10 June 2003), Opportunity (7 July 2003)
The Mars Exploration Rover mission is part of NASA's long-term robotic exploration of the red planet. The primary task of the twin robot geologists, Spirit and Opportunity, which arrived on the Martian surface in January 2004, is to search for and characterise a wide range of rocks and soils that may hold clues to past water activity on Mars and possibly even life.
Artist's impression of the arrival of the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers
© NASA
The spacecraft were sent to areas on opposite sides of Mars that appeared to have been affected by liquid water in the past - Opportunity to the Gusev Crater, a possible former lake in a giant impact crater, and Spirit to Meridiani Planum, where mineral deposits suggest Mars had a wet past. Following their airbag-protected landing the rovers rolled out onto the dusty Martian surface using solar power and were expected to spend around 90 days driving to promising geological targets in the neighbourhood and collecting data using a suite of scientific instruments, including drills, imagers and spectrometers.
Panoramic images taken by the Spirit (top) and Opportunity (lower) Mars rovers
© NASA
To the surprise of NASA scientists, both rovers survived their first martian winter and have continued their travels and investigations well into 2006 - two years after first arriving. As of April 2006, Spirit has travelled 6.87 km (4.27 miles) and Opportunity 7.34 km (4.56 miles). On those travels, they have obtained many wonderful images of the surface of Mars - two of which are shown above.
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