The solar powered rovers Spirit and Opportunity might be getting homesick after landing on Mars in January of 2004, but NASA has no intention of bringing them back home any time soon. The two rovers, having “proven their value with major discoveries about ancient watery environments on Mars that might have harbored life,” according to NASA, have had their stay extended by 18 more months. Dr. Ghassem Asrar, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, announced today that NASA will be “extending their mission through September 2006 to take advantage of having such capable resources still healthy and in excellent position to continue their adventures.” CBS News reports:
The solar-powered, six-wheeled robots, called Opportunity and Spirit, landed on opposite sides of Mars in January 2004. Their main geological mission lasted three months at a cost of $820 million, with two $15-million extensions.
NASA now must make long-term plans for the vehicles, said Jim Erickson, rover project manager at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
Normally, projects are reviewed every six months, but the September 2006 extension skips this administrative step.
Opportunity broke Spirit’s record for total distance travelled on Mars by roving 4.8 kilometres, eight times its original goal.
Opportunity also set a new martian record of driving 220 metres in a single day. It is now within a few hundred metres of a region known as Etched Terrain, where scientists hope to find rocks eroded by wind.
