Spirit and Opportunity… NASA’s little rovers.
Monday, October 22nd, 2007
I just had to write a post about the Mars rovers. These things are incredible. These little guys landed on Mars in January 2004, and were only supposed to last for 90 days. After 3 and a half years, they are still going strong and will continue to explore the “Red Planet” for possibly another couple of years.
Now, this might be a case where NASA understated the usefulness of these rovers, in the hopes of overdelivery… but it still is amazing that these rovers have lasted so long. They’ve been able to find evidence of “wetness on Mars that could have sustained microbial life.” In the next few years, what else could be discovered?
This press release from NASA goes into a bit more detail : NASA Extends Operations for Its Long-Lived Mars Rovers
To date, Spirit has driven 7.26 kilometers (4.51 miles) and has returned more than 102,000 images. Opportunity has driven 11.57 kilometers (7.19 miles) and has returned more than 94,000 images.
Thats pretty amazing for a pair of rovers made to last for only 90 days.
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