Mars Exploration Rover

 either of a pair of U.S. robotic vehicles that explored the surface of Mars beginning in January 2004. The mission of each rover was to study the chemical and physical composition of the surface at various locations in order to help determine whether water had ever existed on the planet and to search for other signs that the planet might have supported some form of life.

      The twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, were launched on June 10 and July 7, 2003, respectively. Spirit touched down in Gusev crater on Jan. 3, 2004. Three weeks later, on January 24, Opportunity landed in a crater on the equatorial plain called Meridiani Planum on the opposite side of the planet. Both six-wheeled 18-kg (40-pound) rovers were equipped with cameras and a suite of instruments that included a microscopic imager, a rock-grinding tool, and infrared (infrared radiation), gamma-ray (gamma ray), and alpha-particle (alpha particle) spectrometers that analyzed the rocks, soil, and dust around their landing sites.

      The landing sites had been chosen because they appeared to have been affected by water in Mars's past. Both rovers found evidence of past water; perhaps the most dramatic was the discovery by Opportunity of rocks that appeared to have been laid down at the shoreline of an ancient body of salty water.

 Each rover was designed for a nominal 90-day mission but functioned so well that operations were extended several times. NASA finally decided to continue operating the two landers until they failed to respond to commands from Earth. In August 2005, Spirit reached the summit of Husband Hill, 82 metres (269 feet) above the Gusev crater plain. Spirit and Opportunity continued to work even after a significant Martian dust storm in 2007 coated their solar cells (solar cell). Opportunity entered Victoria crater, an impact crater roughly 800 metres (2,600 feet) in diameter and 70 metres (230 feet) deep, on Sept. 11, 2007, on the riskiest trek yet for either of the rovers. On Aug. 28, 2008, Opportunity emerged from Victoria crater and set off on a 12-km (7-mile) journey to the much larger (22 km [14 miles] in diameter) Endeavour crater. By 2008, Spirit had traveled more than 7.5 km (4.7 miles) and Opportunity more than 11.8 km (7.3 miles).

Dave Dooling, Jr.

 

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