On Monday, the US National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) celebrated the first anniversary of its rover
Spirit's landing on Mars.
Both Spirit and another NASA rover
Opportunity, which landed on Mars on January 24 last year,
had successfully completed their three-month primary missions in
April. They continued working on the red planet well past their
expected lifespans.
"Little did we know a year ago that we'd be
celebrating a year of roving on Mars. The success of both rovers is
tribute to the hundreds of talented men and women who put their
knowledge and labor into this team effort," NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) Director Charles Elachi told a press briefing.
After the worst of the Martian winter, the rovers
are in "amazingly good" shape, and both are strong enough to
continue exploring, said JPL scientists.
Spirit is exploring the Columbia Hills
within the Gusev Crater after discovering a new type of rock in
December, while Opportunity is driving toward the heat shield that
protected it during descent through the Martian atmosphere.
Scientists hope to determine how deeply the
atmospheric friction burnt the protective layer. These findings may
help improve the ability to deliver future vehicles to Mars or
other planets.
NASA's next Mars mission, the Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter, is due to launch in August, said the JPL, which has
managed the Mars Exploration Rover project since 2000.
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(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2005)
