At present within the historical past of astronomy, NASA sends its third rover to Mars.
NASA’s twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Alternative, launched in summer season 2003 and arrived by January 2004. Credit score: NASA/JPL-Caltech
- Spirit and Alternative rovers explored Mars for years past their deliberate mission.
- Alternative traveled 28 miles on Mars.
- The rovers discovered proof that Mars as soon as had water.
Following within the wheelmarks of Sojourner (NASA’s first Mars rover, which landed on Mars in 1997), Spirit launched for Mars on June 10, 2003, and Alternative launched lower than a month later, on July 7. Each would land in January 2004 and start observations that might stretch far past the deliberate 90-day mission: Spirit was energetic till 2011, and Alternative lastly closed its eyes in 2018. Over the course of the 28 miles (45 kilometers) of martian terrain that Alternative lined, the rover supplied clear geological and mineral proof of Mars’ previous standing as a water world.
