An artist's concept portrays a NASA Mars Exploration Rover on the surface of
Mars. Two rovers have been built for 2003 launches and January 2004 arrival at
two sites on Mars. Each rover has the mobility and toolkit to function as a
robotic geologist.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell University
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell University
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.
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.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL
NASA's Spirit Rover Completes Mission on
Mars
Artist concept of Mars Exploration Rover.
› Full image and caption
› Interactive feature
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
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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