Spirit Hits 2000
Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 19, 2009 Today marks the 2,000th Martian day, or sol, of what was initially planned as a 90-sol mission on Mars for NASA's Spirit rover. Spirit's twin, Opportunity, will reach the 2,000-sol milestone on Sept. 8. Both rovers have found rocks altered by past action of water on Mars. Both show some signs of aging but remain capable of further scientific investigations. Since their landing halfway around the planet from each other in January 2004, Spirit has driven 4.8 miles and Opportunity has driven 10.7 miles. Together, they have returned more than 246,000 images. Each Martian sol lasts about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Planned Rover Test To Run A Week Or More Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 17, 2009 Mars rover team members are planning a long-duration experiment with the test rover at JPL beginning next week. This test will check whether favorable motion seen in earlier tests can be sustained to gain as much distance in the sandbox as Spirit would need to complete on Mars to escape its predicament. The team expects to drive the test rover for several hundred meters, or yards, worth of ... read more |
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