Nasa's Mars Rovers pass another milestone

Tue, 06/22/2010 - 11:20 — Ben Gilliland

Meanwhile the Brits ready the next generation

They were built to last just 90 days and expected to travel little more than a kilometre, so after surviving more than 2,300 days and covering over 20km, there is no doubt Nasa’s Mars Exploration Rovers have been a success.

Earlier this month, the Opportunity rover surpassed the endurance record of Nasa’s iconic Viking 1 Martian lander, which managed to stay working for an impressive six years, 166 days.

Sadly, Opportunity gained the honour on a technicality as its twin, Spirit, which landed first, became bogged down in a Martian sand trap in 2009 and ceased communicating on March 22 this year.

There is some doubt as to whether Spirit has survived the harsh Martian winter. Usually, in the run-up to winter, the rovers are moved to a position that enables them to soak up as much sunlight as possible and recharge their batteries. But, with Spirit stuck solid, the fear is that the craft has starved to death.

Despite several such setbacks, the craft have proved a colossal success having identified evidence of Martian water, pictured the first Earth-like clouds, captured the movement of dust-devils and performed the first rock-grinding experiments. The two rovers have reserved their place in the spacecraft hall of fame and, when they can finally trek no more, will leave a pair of pretty big shoes for their successors to fill.

Hoping to fill those metaphorical boots is a team from Leicester University who, along with other British universities, have played a crucial role in developing Spirit and Opportunity’s successor: ExoMars. ExoMars, set for launch in 2018, is part of the European Space Agency’s Aurora programme which, in partnership with Nasa, will form the next wave of Martian explorers. Britain is the second largest contributor to the project and the vehicle is being built by British company Astrium. The rover will have a far greater degree of autonomy than before and will be able to drill up to 2m below the surface.