Opportunity and Spirit Mars Rovers

Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity are 6-wheeled, remotely operated explorers on the planet Mars. Learn more about Mars exploration and how the Spirit and Opportunity rovers are doing. 

Related Topics: Curiosity Mars Rover Mission, ExoMars, India Mars Orbiter Mission, Mars, Maven Mars Mission

Latest Updates

Mars Rovers Celebrate 10 Years on Red Planet

NASA Rover Mission Marks 8 Pioneering Years on Mars

By Mike Wall published

Spirit and Opportunity have made ground-breaking discoveries on the Red Planet.

This view from the front hazard-avoidance camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover's arm's shadow falling near a bright mineral vein informally named "Homestake."

NASA Rover Finds Convincing Evidence of Water on Ancient Mars

By Mike Wall published

The Opportunity rover made its find on the rim of Endeavour Crater.

Apollo 17 mission commander Eugene A. Cernan makes a short checkout of the Lunar Roving Vehicle during the early part of the first Apollo 17 extravehicular activity at the Taurus-Littrow landing site in 1972.

Driving on the Moon: Photos of NASA's Lunar Cars

By Space.com Staff published

NASA put the first cars on the moon and has plans for even newer lunar models.

Astronaut James B. Irwin, lunar module pilot, during the Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA) on August 1, 1971, at the Hadley-Apennine landing site. The first Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) on the moon, stands to the right.

Driving on the Moon: The 40-Year Legacy of NASA's First Lunar Car

By Denise Chow published

The first lunar rover used during the Apollo 15 mission has a long and lasting legacy.

Mars Explored: Landers and Rovers Since 1971 (Infographic)

By Karl Tate published

Locations on Mars that have been visited by robots from Earth.

NASA's twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been on the surface of Mars for more than seven years.

Remembering Spirit: Q & A With Mars Rover Chief Steve Squyres

By Mike Wall published

Mars rover principal investigator Steve Squyres recalls Spirit's highs and looks toward the future.

NASA's twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been on the surface of Mars for more than seven years.

NASA Gives Up On Stuck Mars Rover Spirit

By Natalie Wolchover published

NASA will cease its efforts to contact Spirit, a Mars rover that explored Mars from 2004 to 2010 before going silent.

NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity

The Next Mars Rover: Q&A With Mars Science Laboratory Manager Pete Theisinger

By Mike Wall published

A Q&A with Pete Theisinger, mananger of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which will drop a car-sized rover onto the Red Planet in August 2012.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recorded this view of a crater informally named "Freedom 7." The image combines two frames that Opportunity took with its navigation camera on May 2, 2011.

Mars Crater Named After Historic Freedom 7 Spacecraft

By Tom Chao published

Just after the anniversary of Alan Shepard's flight, scientists named a crater in his honor

NASA's twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been on the surface of Mars for more than seven years.

Are You There, Spirit? NASA's Stuck Mars Rover Passes a Year in Silence

By Mike Wall published

It's now been a full year since NASA's Mars rover Spirit last communicated with Earth, and the odds that the robot will ever wake up aren't looking so good.

The 600-million-year-old stromatolite fossils in Morocco are remarkably well-preserved. Testing the ExoMars drill in this area could help us identify signs of life on Mars. Click image for larger view.

Want to Test Mars Robot Tools? Go to Morocco

By Leslie Mullen published

Analog trials like this will help prepare scientists and their gear for real missions to the Red Planet.

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity rests at the southeast rim of Santa Maria crater. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped this photo on March 1, 2011.

New Mars Photo Shows NASA Rover Parked Near Crater's Rim

By Space.com Staff published

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity rover has been photographed by a probe orbiting the Red Planet. The new photo shows Opportunity near the Martian crater.

NASA's rover Opportunity will spend the seventh anniversary of its Mars landing at a crater called Santa Maria, which has a diameter about the length of a football field.

As Mars Slips Behind the Sun, NASA Rover Goes Solo

By Space.com Staff published

Starting next week, NASA's Mars rover Opportunity will get a temporary respite from its bossy operators here on Earth. But the rover won't be able to slack off.

Mars Rovers Celebrate 10 Years on Red Planet

Spirit Rover Remains Silent as Mars Mission Begins 8th Year

By Mike Wall published

NASA's mired Spirit rover remains in a nine-month slumber as it begins the eighth year of its Mars mission, but its twin, Opportunity, keeps chugging along.

Mars Rovers Celebrate 10 Years on Red Planet

NASA Trying Again to Awaken Silent Spirit Rover on Mars

By Denise Chow published

With spring on Mars in full swing, NASA is taking advantage of the Martian season's ever-longer periods of daylight to try to reawaken its stuck rover, Spirit, after months of silence.

Mars Rovers Celebrate 10 Years on Red Planet

Martian Odyssey: Rovers Set to Celebrate 7 Years on Red Planet

By Mike Wall published

As folks here on Earth prepare to mark the passage of another year, two robots a world away are creeping up on a big milestone of their own: seven years on the surface of Mars.

Making Mars a Familiar Place: Q and A With Mars Rover Manager John Callas

By Mike Wall published

A Q & A with John Callas, Mars Exploration Rover project manager, about the achievements and legacy of NASA's twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which dropped onto the Red Planet in January 2004.

Mars Rover to Celebrate New Year's Eve at Big Crater

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity has its plans for New Year's Eve all sorted out — poking around a football-field-size crater called Santa Maria.

New Mars Movies Give Rover's-Eye View of Red Planet

By Space.com Staff published

Two new movie clips transport regular Earthbound folks to the Martian surface, giving them a rover's-eye view of a bluish Martian sunset and a partial solar eclipse.

Santa Maria crater, about 295 feet (95 meters) wide, dominates the scene in this 360-degree view from NASA's Mars rover Opportunity, taken on Dec. 16, 2010. Opportunity will likely stay at Santa Maria until early February 2011, then resume its trek toward

Mars Rover Makes Detour, With Help From Above

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity is chugging toward some interesting mineral deposits on the rim of a fresh crater, guided by a sharp set of eyes from above.