Spirit & Opportunity
Spirit & Opportunity worked together on opposite sides of Mars to add to the knowledge that scientists gained during Sojourner's mission. The two rovers have trekked for miles across Martian surface to explore the geology and atmosphere of Mars. Spirit & Opportunity are "twin explorers," and were built based on identical plans.
When were Spirit & Opportunity launched?
Spirit was launched on June 10, 2003 and Opportunity was launched on July 8, 2003. Spirit landed on Mars on January 3, 2004 and Opportunity landed on January 25, 2004. Their original mission was supposed to conclude after 90 days, but the rovers lasted much longer. In May 2009, Spirit became stuck in the soil at a site called "Troy," and despite efforts to free the rover NASA ended the mission on May 25, 2011. Opportunity continued to explore the planet for several more years, until a dust storm disabled its solar power panels in June 2018; the rover's final communication was received by NASA scientists on June 10, 2018.
What was the Mars Exploration Rovers Mission?
Spirit and Opportunity were launched to fulfill the "Mars Exploration Rovers Mission." This mission had four main goals:
Determine whether there was ever life on Mars by looking for evidence of past liquid water and evidence of life at those sites
Learn about the currant climate of Mars and what if might have been like in the past.
Learn about the geology of Mars by understanding how the relative roles of wind, water, volcanism, tectonics, cratering, and other processes have formed and affected the surface of Mars.
Prepare for human exploration of Mars by creating a thorough understanding of the Martian environment.
In order to accomplish these coals, the rovers were sent to parts of Mars that showed signs of being affected by water during the planet's ancient history and studied the Martian geology, environment, climate, and atmosphere.
What did we learn from Spirit & Opportunity?
Spirit and Opportunity discovered a number of important scientific findings. In 2015, Opportunity broke the record for extraterrestrial travel, but driving over a marathon-length distance. Both Opportunity and Spirit found minerals on Mars surface that typically form in warm and wet climates. Spirit also found evidence of an ancient volcano that would have heated underground water to create explosions. Opportunity found clay minerals formed in water and rocks that likely formed from deposits of calcium left by flowing water. All these findings point to the potential of past microbial life on Mars!
Scientists suspect that the rocks captured in this photograph were formed in the aftermath of a volcanic explosion or an impact. The layers seen in the rock point to alternating patterns of erosion and deposition. These periods could have been affected by the wind redistributing materials. Can you think of a similar pattern on Earth?
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell
These rocks were formed by volcanic processes and show small holes similar to volcanic rock on Earth. These holes form when gas is trapped in lava and the rock solidifies around the bubbles. These rocks indicate that eruptions once took place in this area as lava flow from volcanos interacted with other rocks on the basin floor.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell
In this image, Opportunity captured a large wind-blown ripple called "Scylla." The different colors are patches of different types and amounts of rock and dust. The area has also been affected by wind erosion that has worn down the outer layers of rock. Where can you find similar environments on Earth?
Image Credit: Nasa/JPL-Caltech/Cornell
How do these images help us learn about Mars?
Like Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity found evidence that showed that Mars once had a much wetter climate and that help scientists better understand the wind on Mars. Opportunity found evidence that a portion of Mars stayed wet for an extended period of time, and might have had conditions possible to sustain microbial life.
What do these images tell us about the terrain on Mars?
The different landscapes captured by the Mars Exploration Rovers help scientists to understand how the terrain of Mars has been affected by volcanic processes, climate change, and different weather patterns. While these images don't answer all of our questions, they hint to the different composition of rocks and minerals on Mars and how they formed and were affected over time.
Click (or touch) and drag to interact with this 3D model of the Mars Exploration Rovers. Image Credit: NASA