Spirit, the first of twin US rovers, landed safely on Mars on
Saturday night, embarking on a three-month journey to explore the
Red Planet for clues of water and life.
The rover, tucked inside a lander which was wrapped by
cocoon-like airbags, was expected to hit the center of Gusev Crater
in Mars, bouncing as high as a four-story building for several
minutes before coming to a halt on the Martian surface.
Shortly after the scheduled landing at 11:35 p.m. EST (0435 GMT
Sunday), NASA mission controllers said that the rover has signaled
back to Earth, indicating it has settled down successfully.
"NASA's Deep Space Network has received a signal confirming that
Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is alive after rolling to a stop on
the surface of Mars," NASA said in a statement.?
(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2004)