Mars Exploration Rover
hideNASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission is an ongoing robotic mission of exploring Mars, that began in 2003 with the sending of two rovers — MER-A Spirit and MER-B Opportunity — to explore the Martian surface and geology.
Primary among the mission's scientific objectives is to search for and characterize a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars. The mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program which includes three previous successful landers: the two Viking landers in 1976 and Pathfinder in 1997.
The total cost of building, launching, landing and operating the rovers on the surface for the initial 90 Martian-day primary mission was US$820 million. Since the rovers have continued to function for over five years after landing they have received five mission extensions with the fifth mission extension, which was granted in October 2007, being until the end of 2009. The total cost of the first four mission extensions was $104 million and the fifth mission extension is expected to cost at least $20 million. In July 2007, Martian dust storms blocked sunlight to the rovers and threatened the ability of the craft to gather energy through their solar panels, causing engineers to fear that one or both of them might be permanently disabled. However, the dust storms lifted, allowing them to resume operations.
In recognition of the vast amount of scientific information amassed by both rovers, two asteroids have been named in their honor: 37452 Spirit and 39382 Opportunity.
The mission is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which designed, built and is operating the rovers.
For more information about Mars Exploration Rover, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with mars exploration rover
NASA to Begin Attempts to Free Sand-Trapped Mars Rover
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA will begin transmitting commands to its Mars exploration rover Spirit on Monday as part of an escape plan to free the venerable robot from its Martian sand trap.
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Spirit Mars Rover: No Wheel Stall in Diagnostic Drive
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 25, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (5) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- On Sol 2095 (Tuesday, Nov. 24), Spirit performed a set of diagnostic actions related to a stall of the right-rear wheel on the previous drive, three days earlier.
LSU gets to the bottom of things -- in Antarctica
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 24, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (3) |
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Antarctica has long held secrets of the earth's history locked in its icy depths, and until recently, there has been very little information on the environments that have been sealed beneath miles of ice for millions of years. ...
Second Planned Extrication Drive is Straight Ahead Again
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 19, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (4) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Because the first extrication drive for Spirit, on Sol 2088 (Nov. 17), stopped as soon as it began due to an exceeded tilt limit, the plan for an extrication drive on Sol 2090 (Nov. 19) wil ...
NASA and Microsoft Allow Earthlings to Become Martians
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA and Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash., have collaborated to create a Web site where Internet users can have fun while advancing their knowledge of Mars.
Aircraft that can see for themselves (w/ Video)
Nov 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Australian researchers have made two important advances in the development of unmanned aircraft capable of seeing for themselves as they fly fast and low over dangerous terrain.
Discoveries in the Deep
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 12, 2009 |
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Scientists from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency have been using Pavilion Lake as a testing ground for the future human exploration of other worlds.
Engineers Will Create Planetary Rover From Retinal Implant Test Robot
Nov 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The research, led by Wolfgang Fink, will aid both people with visual impairments and scientists involved in planetary exploration.
Texas A&M prof to predict weather on Mars
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 04, 2009 |
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Is there such a thing as "weather" on Mars? There are some doubts, considering the planet's atmosphere is only 1 percent as dense as that of the Earth. Mars, however, definitely has clouds, drastically low temperatures and ...
Spacesuits with artificial intelligence may look for life on Mars
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronauts may in future be wearing spacesuits equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) and digital eyes, turning them into what the researchers call cyborg astrobiologists.
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