Spirit

Key facts

Mission & specifications

Mission

Spirit was one of NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers, the plucky robot geologists that were meant to last 90 days and instead changed our picture of Mars over years. Launched on 10 June 2003, Spirit bounced down in airbags inside Gusev crater on 4 January 2004, a basin that looked from orbit as though it might once have held a lake. The plains turned out to be volcanic, so Spirit set off on a long trek to the Columbia Hills, becoming the first rover to climb a hill on another planet when it summited Husband Hill in 2005. Its most important discoveries came almost by accident: dragging a wheel that had jammed and stopped turning, Spirit scraped a bright trench of nearly pure silica from the soil — a mineral that, on Earth, forms in hot springs or volcanic steam vents, hinting that ancient Gusev had been warm and wet. In 2009 the rover became mired in soft, slippery sand at a spot named Troy, and could not free itself. It kept working as a stationary platform through the following winter, but as power dwindled its last communication came on 22 March 2010. Spirit had driven about 7.7 kilometres and operated for more than six years — over twenty-four times its planned life.

1. 2003Launch toward MarsLaunch

   The first of the twin Mars Exploration Rovers sets out for Gusev crater.

2. 2004Airbag landing in Gusev craterLanding

   Bounces down on a 90-sol mission that will stretch to more than six years.

3. 2005First rover to climb a hillMilestone

   Summits Husband Hill in the Columbia Hills after a long uphill trek.

4. 2007Evidence of ancient hot springsMilestone

   A jammed wheel scrapes up nearly pure silica — a sign Gusev was once warm and wet.

5. 2009Stuck in soft sandMilestone

   The rover becomes mired at a site named Troy and cannot free itself.

6. 2010Last signalMission end

   After ~7.7 km and over six years, Spirit falls silent in the Martian winter.

Images

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