NASA's Spirit rover lands on Mars
On this day · 3 January 2004
Built to last 90 days, the bouncing little rover kept rolling across Gusev Crater for more than six years.
On January 3, 2004, NASA’s Spirit rover — formally Mars Exploration Rover-A — slammed into the Martian atmosphere, deployed a parachute, and fell to the surface cocooned in airbags. It bounced and tumbled before rolling to a stop inside Gusev Crater, a basin chosen because it may once have held a lake.
Spirit’s job was to read the rocks. It searched for minerals and soils that could reveal whether liquid water had ever flowed there, scrutinizing outcrops with cameras and a robotic arm. Its twin, Opportunity, landed on the far side of the planet three weeks later.
The mission was designed to last just 90 days. Spirit lasted far longer — roving, drilling into the dust, and climbing hills for six years and two months before becoming stuck in soft soil and finally falling silent. By then it had returned overwhelming evidence that ancient Mars had been wetter, and warmer, than the frozen desert we see today.
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