None of the engineers who worked on the Mars Exploration Rovers predicted that both would still be operating in 2009 – twenty times longer than the prime mission plan. The rovers have made discoveries about the wet and stormy climate on Mars. They have relayed high-quality images, driven over 21 kilometers, climbed a mountain, descended into craters, and surveyed sandstorms.
Occasional cleaning of dust from the rovers’ solar panels by strong winds has provided unanticipated aid to the vehicles’ condition. With the rovers’ energy rising for spring and summer, the team plans to drive into Goddard Crater. “Goddard doesn’t look like an impact crater. We suspect it might be a volcanic explosion crater, and that’s something we haven’t seen before,” said Steve Squyres of Cornell University. The second rover’s destination is Endeavour Crater. It is approximately 22 kilometers in diameter and 12 kilometers from another impact crater, Victoria, where the rover spent most of the past two years. “Once it seemed like a crazy idea to go to Endeavour, but now we’re doing it,” said Frank Hartman, a JPL rover driver. High-resolution images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which reached Mars in 2006, are helping the team plot routes around potential sand traps that were not previously discernible from orbit.