January 3, 2004, Mars Exploration Rover Spirit he began to make history. It touched the red planet for the first time, kicking off one of NASA’s longest and most successful missions, and it helped simple Earthlings better understand the wonderful universe we live in.
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Spirit joined her twin Opportunity three weeks later, and together, the two rovers discovered the possibility of water on the planet as a result of rock tests. The landing site of the second rover seemed to possess the same qualities as a seabed.
The main mission was only supposed to last 90 suns, or 90 Martian days, but the rovers were so robust that they circled the planet for several years collecting data.
To give you an example of how much Spirit did, we talk at a distance. NASA only intended it to cover 600 m or 0.4 miles. Instead, he registered 7.73 km, or 4.8 miles. As a result, NASA was able to gather tons of geological information about the planet, far more than expected. This is the mission that allows humans to begin dreaming of the colonization of Mars.
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We learned so much. We learned that Mars has dust demons just as we do on Earth. We were able to better map the surface of Mars, along with a better understanding of what types of materials each section was composed of. It was a fantastic mission in every sense of the word.
Unfortunately, on May 1, 2009, Spirit he was trapped in a soft sand. It wasn’t the first time this had happened on the mission, and the rover could serve as a stationary analysis tool for a while, while NASA was trying to figure out how to get it. This never happened. On January 26, 2010, NASA announced that it would probably never move. Opportunity he continued to explore.
Only two months later, Spirit stopped transmitting to NASA. Fourteen months later, NASA announced that it was no longer attempting to contact the rover, ending its mission.