Aule
01-10-2006, 06:09 PM
Spirit Marks One Year on Mars (One Martian Year, that is)
November 21, 2005
Spirit, the untiring robotic "wonder child" sent by NASA to explore the eerily earthlike fourth planet from the sun, has completed one martian year--that's almost two Earth years--on Mars. Designed to last only 90 martian days (sols), the six-wheeled marvel the size of a golf cart has pursued a steady course of solar-driven geologic fieldwork, bringing back some 70,000 images and a new understanding of Mars as a potential habitat.
During Spirit's martian year, the seasons have changed from summer to winter and back again. In its orbit around the Sun, Mars has returned to where it was when the rover first landed. Having survived seven times its expected lifetime and traveling over 3 miles (about 5,000 meters), Spirit is still going strong.
More (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/spirit/20051121.html)
Opportunity Celebrates One Mars Year!
December 12, 2005
Seemingly touched with a load of luck from the giddy-up, Opportunity has been galloping since she strutted off of her lander, some 670 sols ago. A mission planned for 90 days has turned into an adventure that's lasted nearly two Earth years! With over four miles on her odometer, Opportunity has returned over 58,000 images. The ground covered and the science transported back across the void of space has helped us see into our planetary neighbor's alluringly watery past.
More (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/20051212.html)
November 21, 2005
Spirit, the untiring robotic "wonder child" sent by NASA to explore the eerily earthlike fourth planet from the sun, has completed one martian year--that's almost two Earth years--on Mars. Designed to last only 90 martian days (sols), the six-wheeled marvel the size of a golf cart has pursued a steady course of solar-driven geologic fieldwork, bringing back some 70,000 images and a new understanding of Mars as a potential habitat.
During Spirit's martian year, the seasons have changed from summer to winter and back again. In its orbit around the Sun, Mars has returned to where it was when the rover first landed. Having survived seven times its expected lifetime and traveling over 3 miles (about 5,000 meters), Spirit is still going strong.
More (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/spirit/20051121.html)
Opportunity Celebrates One Mars Year!
December 12, 2005
Seemingly touched with a load of luck from the giddy-up, Opportunity has been galloping since she strutted off of her lander, some 670 sols ago. A mission planned for 90 days has turned into an adventure that's lasted nearly two Earth years! With over four miles on her odometer, Opportunity has returned over 58,000 images. The ground covered and the science transported back across the void of space has helped us see into our planetary neighbor's alluringly watery past.
More (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/20051212.html)