Looking Back Over Mars
Pictured above, the path of the
robot rover Spirit
on Mars can be traced far into the distance.
Spirit has now crossed kilometers of plains
covered with rocks and sand, approached the lip of a
crater 200-meters across,
and climbed a series of hills.
Spirit's path has been not only one of
adventure but discovery.
Landing inside vast
Gusev crater near the beginning of this year, Spirit,
along with its sister
robot Opportunity across the planet,
has uncovered key evidence for
ancient Martian water.
The recent discovery of
goethite, a
mineral only known to form on Earth in the presence of water,
bolsters the case.
Spirit and Opportunity
continue to roam the red planet in search of different and more detailed clues to the unfolding ancient past of
Mars.