Six Years On

On January 3, 2004, NASA's rover Spirit landed on Mars to begin what was supposed to be a 90-day mission. Though Spirit has been stuck in deep sand for months, and may never get free, it is still functioning otherwise, still producing data for its science team.

The other rover, Opportunity, landed three weeks after Spirit on the other side of Mars, and it is still roaming the surface, producing data. Opportunity has, in fact, covered 11 miles since landing, and, remarkably, has come across three meteorites. So, Opportunity has not only helped revolutionize our understanding of Mars, but has also provided glimpses of elsewhere in the Solar System.