Jan 3 2004
From The Space Library
NASA succeeded in landing the first of two robotic laboratories on the planet Mars. The robotic rover Spirit was one of two mobile laboratories ~ Mars Exploration Rovers ~ that NASA had designed to collect and analyze geological samples on Mars. Analysis of the samples would help scientists determine whether the planet had previously possessed water and the ability to support life. The twin rovers, part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, would land at sites on opposite sides of the planet, where scientists believed that liquid water might have existed in the past. To conduct geological research on the planet, NASA scientists had equipped each rover with a microscopic imager, a panoramic camera, and a variety of spectrometers. NASA had scheduled Opportunity, the second rover, to land on Mars later in January. (NASA, “Spirit Lands on Mars and Sends Postcards,” news release 2004-003, 4 January 2004; NASA, “Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Summary,” http://marsrover. nasa.gov/overview/(accessed 11 January 2009).
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