Articles

A.J.S. Rayl

Spirit -- NASA's first Mars Exploration Rover -- survived the 'six minutes of terror' entering and descending through the atmosphere to land safely -- and upright -- in Gusev Crater on the Red Planet. Just two hours after the confirmation signal of the landing, the first engineering data and images began streaming into the MER Mission Control at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where Spirit and her twin, Opportunity were built.

A.J.S. Rayl

Spirit spent a quiet, cold night in Gusev Crater, and woke up to return streams of new data, including more black and white 'postcards' from Mars.

A.J.S. Rayl

Spirit – the first of NASA's two robot geologists en route to the red Planet -- is “in “excellent” health, NASA and JPL scientists reported at a news briefing at JPL this afternoon, and the countdown to touch down on the Red Planet has begun.

Emily Lakdawalla

Spirit has successfully launched to Mars, and I was there with members of the science team to witness it.

Emily Lakdawalla

Scientists working on the European Space Agency's (ESA's) Mars Express detailed the mission's ambitious plan to study Mars from the top of its atmosphere to several kilometers beneath its surface, at a press conference in London, England last week.

Emily Lakdawalla

The Cassini spacecraft has captured its first image of its target planet, Saturn.

The Planetary Society's Mars Microphone is on board the Mars Polar Lander, and as far as we can tell, in good shape.

The Mars Microphone has successfully gone through its latest round of testing in preparation for launch on the Mars Surveyor spacecraft in January 1999.

Charlene Anderson

Two robotic rovers reached the surface of Mars in 1971 during the Soviet Mars 2 and 3 missions.