Houston, We Have a Walkaway

After suffering a systemwide breakdown, Spirit prevailed:

The Spirit rover has completed its primary mission to Mars, yet continues to roll along, moving towards a cluster of hills that could yield more evidence that the planet had a wet past. On Monday, Spirit's 90th full day on Mars, the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration's unmanned robot and its twin, Opportunity, had accomplished nearly all of the assigned tasks that would make their joint mission a full success.


Adversity, of course, prepares us for the better things in life. Like more adversity:

Spirit is several days into a trek towards a cluster of hills that may contain geologic evidence of a more substantially wet environment, perhaps including layered rocks formed in standing water.


Some of the twin rovers' exploits can be read here and here. Find everything you want to know at NASA's official website. By all standards, Spirit and Opportunity have been a smashing success on the Red Planet. Not bad for the smallest major agency in the federal government, is it?

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