spirit

NASA's JPL has reported that our beloved robot rovers Spirit and Opportunity are alive and moving after having emerged relatively unscathed from the Martian dust storms. The photograph shows the trail marks from Opportunity's 13m advance towards the Victoria Crater. Spirit meanwhile has driven about 0.5m towards its target, a rock. The solar panels from both robots are generating about 300Wh (watt-hours) of energy per day.

Having emerged from the precarious dust storm, Spirit now becomes the second-longest spacecraft to survive on the Martian surface after Viking I. Spirit has been running faithfully for about 1290 sols (Martian days) while it was only designed to last for 90sols. Viking I is the longest lasting Martian lander with a lifespan of 2245 sols.