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 | This true color image, released January 19, 2004 and taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, shows 'Adirondack,' the rover's first target rock. Spirit traversed the sandy martian terrain at Gusev Crater to arrive in front of the football-sized rock on January 18, just three days after it successfully rolled off the lander. The rock was selected as Spirit's first target because its dust-free, flat surface is ideally suited for grinding. Clean surfaces also are better for examining a rock's top coating. Scientists named the angular rock after the Adirondack mountain range in New York. The word Adirondack is Native American and is interpreted by some to mean 'They of the great rocks.' click to open  |  | This image mosaic taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit released by NASA January 21, 2004 shows the rover Spirit's landing site, the Columbia Memorial Station at Gusev Crater, Mars. This spectacular view may encapsulate Spirit's entire journey, from rover Spirit to its possible final destination toward the east hills. NASA scientists said on Thursday that they had lost contact with the rover Spirit on Mars and were unsure what had caused the problem. click to open |  | 2004 Mars Exploration Rover landing: The Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, is shown in this undated artist's drawing released by NASA . The rock-inspecting rover hurtled toward Mars for a perilous landing on January 3, 2004 on what NASA hopes will become a historic mission to answer the age-old question of whether life existed on the red planet. The robotic explorer's arrival on Mars would be the climax of a weekend of interplanetary discovery after a U.S. spacecraft on January 2, 2004 gathered particles from a comet in a first that could give scientists clues about how Earth began. click to open |  | 2004 Mars Exploration Rover landing: An image from NASA television shows a panoramic polar projection image of the Mars Exploration Rover spacecraft taken from the surface of Mars after it landed successfully January 3, 2004, at bottom of screen, and top image shows spacecraft and Mars surface in background. The mission is controlled by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The rover will explore the surface of the planet. click to open |  | 2004 Mars Exploration Rover landing: An image from NASA television shows control room worker pointing to the screen as a panoramic polar projection image of the Mars Exploration Rover spacecraft taken from the surface of Mars after it landed successfully January 3, 2004. The mission is controlled by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The rover will explore the surface of the planet. click to open |  | 2004 Mars Exploration Rover landing: Principal Investigator Steve Squyres, center, reacts as NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, left, looks on at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the get a signal from the Mars Rover Spirit after it landed, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004, in Pasadena, Calif. The NASA rover plunged through the atmosphere of Mars and bounced down upon its rocky surface Saturday night, beginning a mission to roam the Red Planet in search of evidence that it was once suitable for life. click to open |  | 2004 Mars Exploration Rover landing: Entry Descent and Landing Chief Engineer Wayne Lee recacts in the control room at NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as they get a signal from the Mars Rover Spirit after it landed, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004, in Pasadena, Calif. The NASA rover plunged through the atmosphere of Mars and bounced down upon its rocky surface Saturday night, beginning a mission to roam the Red Planet in search of evidence that it was once suitable for life. click to open |  | 2004 Mars Exploration Rover landing: Flight Director George Chen works on his computers in the Mars Mission Control Room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004. A NASA probe is poised to make a ``bull's-eye'' landing in a Martian crater Saturday, said project leaders hopeful the spacecraft will safely deliver an unmanned rover and buck a trend of failed missions to the Red Planet. The spacecraft was expected to reach Mars late Saturday with the Spirit rover, the first of two identical six-wheeled robots that will roam the planet's rocky surface if all goes as planned. click to open |  | 2004 Mars Exploration Rover landing: Mars mission controllers, Stan Thompson, foreground, and Bill Currie, prepare for the long evening ahead in the Mars Mission Control Room, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. A NASA probe was poised to make a 'bull's-eye' landing in a Martian crater Saturday, said project leaders hopeful the spacecraft will safely deliver an unmanned rover and buck a trend of failed missions to the Red Planet. click to open |  | 2004 Mars Exploration Rover landing: The Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, is shown in this undated artist's drawing released by NASA . The rock-inspecting rover hurtled toward Mars for a perilous landing on January 3, 2004 on what NASA hopes will become a historic mission to answer the age-old question of whether life existed on the red planet. The robotic explorer's arrival on Mars would be the climax of a weekend of interplanetary discovery after a U.S. spacecraft on January 2, 2004 gathered particles from a comet in a first that could give scientists clues about how Earth began. click to open |
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