The Mars Exploration Rover mission was a NASA robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Spirit launched June 10, 2003 and Opportunity launched July 7, 2003, both landing on Mars at separate locations in January 2004 to explore the planet's surface and geology.
Facts
Mission TypeRobotic Mars rover mission 1 Launch DateSpirit (MER-A) launched June 10, 2003; Opportunity (MER-B) launched July 7, 2003. The earlier of the two launch dates is recorded here. OutcomeBoth rovers far outlived their planned 90 day missions: Spirit was active until March 22, 2010 and Opportunity until June 10, 2018, with NASA declaring the mission over in February 2019 after a dust storm ended contact with Opportunity. 2 Mission Type
Mission Type (category) Mission Type (category)Robotic / Uncrewed Mission 1 Connections
Operated By
Source Mars Exploration Rover (Wikipedia)
Spacecraft Of
Source Wikipedia: Opportunity (rover)
Source Wikipedia: Spirit (rover)
Targets
Sources
1. Mars Exploration Rover (Wikipedia)
Lead paragraph, first sentence
a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers
Lead paragraph
was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity
Lead paragraph, target
exploring the planet Mars
Lead paragraph, outcome
Both rovers far outlived their planned missions of 90 Martian solar days
Mars Exploration Rover article, lead section
a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars
- Mars Exploration Rover article, infobox
Mars Exploration Rover article, outcome section
NASA declared the Opportunity mission over...which also drew the 16-year long Mars Exploration Rover mission to a close
Mars Exploration Rover article, Mission timeline, Mission extensions
A press conference was held on February 13, 2019, announcing that after numerous attempts to contact Opportunity, with no response since June 2018, NASA declared the Opportunity mission over, which also drew the 16-year long Mars Exploration Rover mission to a close.
Includes: Opportunity, Mars Exploration Rover article, lead section (Opportunity)
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars.
In Group: NASA Mars Missions, Lead sentence
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars.
Operated By: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lead and article text, operator
The mission was managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which designed, built, and operated the rovers.
View the Source2. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia Foundation- Launch Date: 2003-06-10
- End Date: 2019-02-13
- Outcome: Both rovers far outlived their planned 90 day missions: Spirit was active until March 22, 2010 and Opportunity until June 10, 2018, with NASA declaring the mission over in February 2019 after a dust storm ended contact with Opportunity.
Mars (Wikipedia)
Targets: Mars, Article textQuote, Targets: Mars, Article text
In 2004, Opportunity detected the mineral jarosite.
Wikipedia: Spirit (rover)
Spacecraft Of: Spirit, Lead paragraph, mission-ofQuote, Spacecraft Of: Spirit, Lead paragraph, mission-of
Spirit, also known as MER-A (Mars Exploration Rover, A) or MER-2, is a Mars robotic rover, active from 2004 to 2010.
Wikipedia: Opportunity (rover)
Spacecraft Of: Opportunity, Lead paragraph, mission-ofQuote, Spacecraft Of: Opportunity, Lead paragraph, mission-of
Opportunity, also known as MER-B (Mars Exploration Rover, B) or MER-1, and nicknamed Oppy, is a robotic rover that was active on Mars from 2004 until 2018.
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