NASA Extends Mars Mission by Five Months
Apr. 9–WASHINGTON — NASA’s wildly popular mission on Mars was extended by five months Thursday as the space agency committed an additional $15 million to keep two robotic geologists rolling as long as possible.
The rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, landed on opposite sides of the Red Planet in January and have wowed scientists and space fans with detailed panoramic images and the compelling evidence that Mars once had a pond or even a salty sea.
The water evidence is key to determining whether Mars once was warm and wet enough to support some sort of life, though that question won’t be answered definitively until a later mission returns to Earth with samples.
With the rovers operating well, NASA wants to get as much information as possible. Extending their $820 million missions could mean that the rovers’ exploration of the planet could be doubled for less than a 2 percent additional investment.
Spirit, which was the first to land on Mars, on Jan. 3, has completed its initial mission at Gusev Crater, believed to be the site of an ancient crater lake. Opportunity, which landed at Meridiani Planum on Jan. 24, will complete its initial checklist later this month.
“Everything we get from the rovers after that is a bonus,” said Firouz Naderi, manager of Mars exploration at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “Even though the extended mission is approved to September and the rovers could last even longer, they also might stop in their tracks next week or next month.”
If they remain healthy, though, NASA scientists hope to learn more about the water story at Gusev Crater by having Spirit explore nearby geological features. They also want both rovers to conduct more atmospheric studies to learn more about Mars’ seasons.
The extra time also would help engineers test the rovers’ mobility and the long-term performance of their solar panels as they are exposed to more and more dust.
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