NASA
It was 20 years ago today that a Delta 2 rocket carrying the first of NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs), Spirit, launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
It took Spirit almost seven months to reach the Red Planet...with the golf cart-sized rover successfully touching down at Gusev Crater on January 3, 2004.
Spirit lasted for over 6 years on Mars. Its mission spanned 2,269 days—from landing to last radio contact after the rover became stuck in soft sand at Gusev—before NASA finally pulled the plug on this exciting endeavor.
Fortunately, Spirit's twin robot Opportunity lived on to continue the legacy of the MERs on the surface of the Red Planet. Until 2019, that is.
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