Spirit (MER-A) and Opportunity (MER-B) Land On Mars
January 3, 2004 was the day that the Mars rover Spirit was launched. Three weeks later, its twin Opportunity was launched on January 24, 2004. The two rovers were placed on opposite sides of Mars to begin their journeys.
Spirit
Spirit had a planned mission of 90 days; these are Mars days, not Earth days. Spirit worked twenty times longer than NASA had ever planned. Spirit was a huge
success that sent back lots of information. Over its time on Mars it traveled 4.8 miles instead of the planned .4 miles allowing for much more extensive geological analysis of Martian rocks and planetary surface features than was planned. Spirit continued to fulfill its orders until May 1, 2009 when it got stuck in some soft soil. From that day until January 26, 2010 NASA attempted to program the rover to free its self but finally gave up on Spirit. NASA continued to recieve communication from Spirit even after it was stuck until March 22, 2010. Spirit had eight basic objectives:
1. Search for and characterize a variety of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity.
2. Determine the distribution and composition of minerals, rocks, and soils surrounding the landing site.
3. Determine what geological processes shaped the terrain and influenced the chemistry.
4. Perform calibration and validation of observations made by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter instruments.
5. Search for minerals that contain iron.
6. Characterize the mineralogy and textures of rocks and soils as well as determine the processes that created them.
7. Search for geological clues to the environmental conditions that existed when water was present.
8. Assess whether those environments were conducive to life.
success that sent back lots of information. Over its time on Mars it traveled 4.8 miles instead of the planned .4 miles allowing for much more extensive geological analysis of Martian rocks and planetary surface features than was planned. Spirit continued to fulfill its orders until May 1, 2009 when it got stuck in some soft soil. From that day until January 26, 2010 NASA attempted to program the rover to free its self but finally gave up on Spirit. NASA continued to recieve communication from Spirit even after it was stuck until March 22, 2010. Spirit had eight basic objectives:
1. Search for and characterize a variety of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity.
2. Determine the distribution and composition of minerals, rocks, and soils surrounding the landing site.
3. Determine what geological processes shaped the terrain and influenced the chemistry.
4. Perform calibration and validation of observations made by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter instruments.
5. Search for minerals that contain iron.
6. Characterize the mineralogy and textures of rocks and soils as well as determine the processes that created them.
7. Search for geological clues to the environmental conditions that existed when water was present.
8. Assess whether those environments were conducive to life.
Opportunity
Opportunity also had a planned mission of 90 Mars days. But as of August 29, 2011 it has operated for 2700 Mars days. Opportunity has functioned for thirty times as long as originally planned. Opportunity's greatest accomplishments include the discovery of the first meteorite on another planet and over two years spent studying the Victoria Crater. Opportunity narrowly survived a series of dust-storms in 2007 and has reached the rim of Endeavour Crater. As of February 1, 2012 Opportunity was sitting at the rim of Endeavour Crater and still functional. Opportunity had the same eight basic objectives that Spirit had. Throughout the next two decades, NASA is planning to continue conducting missions to address whether life ever arose on Mars.