Avi Blizovsky
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It's been a year since the first of the two rovers on Mars landed. The Spirit made its way when it landed on January 3, 2004, and three weeks later the Opportunity landed. The two vehicles, equipped with a suite of geological instruments, discovered direct evidence that the Red Planet was once covered in liquid water.
The original mission of these vehicles, which were planned to operate for ninety days, has been extended and they are expected to work for an additional time. "Both vehicles are in excellent condition for their age," said Jim Erickson, project manager of the robotic vehicles at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
"The twin vehicles made it through the worst weather in the Red Deadly winter, and now we look forward to the coming of spring. "The vehicles are in excellent condition to continue researching, but I can't give any guarantees on that."
The Spirit landed in an area near the equator of Mars known as the Gusev Crater. There he discovered a mineral in the Hyson rock called goethite that only forms in the presence of water. Spirit's twin, Opportunity, which landed on Mars on January 24, is exploring the meridian plane on the other side of the Martian equator - a flat area about the size of the state of Oklahoma. His discoveries were more dramatic, in particular the robot found the mineral jarosite - iron sulfide which, together with other evidence, increases the chance that Meridian was once the site of an acidic lake.
The findings from both vehicles encourage the scientists to believe that the red planet did indeed have the necessary conditions in history to be home to life. Opportunity is now traveling towards the heat shield that protected it during entry into the Martian atmosphere. Vehicle crew members hope to determine how much the atmosphere damaged the protective layer. "With any luck, the observations may help us improve our ability to land future vehicles on the surface of other planets," Erickson said.
Spirit explores the Columbia Hills inside Gusev Crater. The investigation of the phosphorus-rich rocks that may be the products of a volcanic eruption or a meteorite impact. The flow of robotic missions to Mars will continue this year with the August launch of a new Mars Reconnaissance spacecraft. The next mission to land spacecraft on the surface of Mars will almost certainly be NASA's Phoenix Laboratory in 2008. The Europeans, who expect to begin searching for underground water on Mars with the Mars Express spacecraft, plan to send a lander before the end of the decade.
For news at the BBC
Ydan Mars
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