Friday, September 25, 2009

Martian meteorite, up close

The two plucky rovers are still operating on the Martian surface, long after their design lifetime, and are also still doing good science.

"Spirit" is, alas, stuck in sandy soil, possibly hung up on a rock beneath it. It's doing observations in place while earthbound scientists try to figure out how to extricate it from its predicament.
http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/newsroom/free-spirit.html

"Opportunity" is still mobile, and recently found and circumnavigated a meteorite, the largest ever found on Mars. The photos are here; click on "view full size" to see detail: http://twitpic.com/hhfdi

More on Opportunity's and general mission activities:
http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/mission/status.html

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