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Spirit (rover)

Spirit
The Mars Exploration Rover-2 (MER-2) during testing for mobility and maneuverability
Mission typeMars rover
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID2003-027A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.27827
WebsiteMars Exploration Rover
Mission duration
  • Planned: 90 sols (~92 days)
  • Actual: 2,208 sols (2,269 days),
    landing to final contact
  • Mobile: 1,892 sols (1,944 days),
    landing to final embedding
  • Total: 2,623 sols (2,695 days),
    landing to mission end
Spacecraft properties
Dry mass185 kilograms (408 lb)
PowerSolar panels: 140 W
Start of mission
Launch dateJune 10, 2003, 17:58:47 UTC[1]
RocketDelta II 7925-9.5[2][3]
Launch siteCape Canaveral SLC-17A
ContractorBoeing
End of mission
DeclaredMay 25, 2011[4]
Last contactMarch 22, 2010
Mars rover
Landing dateJanuary 4, 2004,
04:35 UTC SCET
MSD 46216 03:35 AMT
Landing siteGusev Crater
14°34′06″S 175°28′21″E / 14.5684°S 175.472636°E / -14.5684; 175.472636 (Spirit rover)[5]
Distance driven7.73 km (4.8 mi)

Spirit mission patch, featuring Marvin the Martian
NASA Mars rovers

Spirit, also known as MER-A (Mars Exploration Rover – A) or MER-2, is a Mars robotic rover, active from 2004 to 2010.[4] Spirit was operational on Mars for 2208 sols or 3.3 Martian years (2269 days; 6 years, 77 days). It was one of two rovers of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Spirit landed successfully within the impact crater Gusev on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity (MER-B), which landed on the other side of the planet. Its name was chosen through a NASA-sponsored student essay competition. The rover got stuck in a "sand trap" in late 2009 at an angle that hampered recharging of its batteries; its last communication with Earth was on March 22, 2010.

The rover completed its planned 90-sol mission (slightly less than 92.5 Earth days). Aided by cleaning events that resulted in more energy from its solar panels, Spirit went on to function effectively over twenty times longer than NASA planners expected. Spirit also logged 7.73 km (4.8 mi) of driving instead of the planned 600 m (0.4 mi),[6] allowing more extensive geological analysis of Martian rocks and planetary surface features. Initial scientific results from the first phase of the mission (the 90-sol prime mission) were published in a special issue of the journal Science.[7]

On May 1, 2009 (5 years, 3 months, 27 Earth days after landing; 21 times the planned mission duration), Spirit became stuck in soft sand.[8] This was not the first of the mission's "embedding events" and for the following eight months NASA carefully analyzed the situation, running Earth-based theoretical and practical simulations, and finally programming the rover to make extrication drives in an attempt to free itself. These efforts continued until January 26, 2010, when NASA officials announced that the rover was likely irrecoverably obstructed by its location in soft sand,[9] though it continued to perform scientific research from its current location.[10]

The rover continued in a stationary science platform role until communication with Spirit stopped on March 22, 2010 (sol 2208).[11][12] JPL continued to attempt to regain contact until May 24, 2011, when NASA announced that efforts to communicate with the unresponsive rover had ended, calling the mission complete.[13][14][15][16] A formal farewell took place at NASA headquarters shortly thereafter.

  1. ^ "Spirit". NASA's Solar System Exploration website. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  2. ^ "Launch Event Details – When did the Rovers Launch?". Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2009.
  3. ^ "Mars Exploration Rover project, NASA/JPL document NSS ISDC 2001 27/05/2001" (PDF). p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  4. ^ a b Nelson, Jon. "Mars Exploration Rover – Spirit". NASA. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  5. ^ Staff. "Mapping the Mars Rovers' Landing Sites". Esri. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
  6. ^ "NASA Spirit Rover Completes Mission on Mars" (Press release). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. May 25, 2011. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
  7. ^ "Special Issue: Spirit at Gusev Crater". Science. 305 (5685): 737–900. August 6, 2004.
  8. ^ Henry Fountain (May 26, 2009). "Crater was Shaped by Wind and Water, Mars Rover Data Shows". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Amos, Jonathan (January 26, 2010). "Nasa accepts Spirit Mars rover 'stuck for good'". BBC News. The US space agency (Nasa) has conceded defeat in its battle to free the Spirit rover from its Martian sand trap. The vehicle became stuck in soft soil back in May last year and all the efforts to extricate it have failed.
  10. ^ Brown, Dwayne; Webster, Guy (January 26, 2010). "Now a Stationary Research Platform, NASA's Mars Rover Spirit Starts a New Chapter in Red Planet Scientific Studies". NASA (Press release). Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2010. Washington – After six years of unprecedented exploration of the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit no longer will be a fully mobile robot. NASA has designated the once-roving scientific explorer a stationary science platform after efforts during the past several months to free it from a sand trap have been unsuccessful.
  11. ^ September 30 – October 5, 2010 Spirit Remains Silent at Troy Archived October 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine NASA. October 5, 2010.
  12. ^ A.J.S. Rayl Mars Exploration Rovers Update Archived March 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Planetary Society November 30, 2010
  13. ^ Webster, Guy (May 25, 2011). "NASA's Spirit Rover Completes Mission on Mars". NASA. Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  14. ^ "NASA's Spirit Rover Completes Mission on Mars". NASA/JPL.
  15. ^ "NASA Concludes Attempts to Contact Mars Rover Spirit". NASA. Archived from the original on October 11, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  16. ^ Chang, Kenneth (May 24, 2011). "NASA to Abandon Mars Spirit Rover". The New York Times.
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