Fact Sheet
Winning Touchdown
In a weekend filled with college bowl games and NFL playoffs, the biggest touchdown came on another planet: Mars. Spirit, the first of two NASA rovers, landed in Gusev Crater late Saturday, and transmitted this overhead view of itself the next day. The rover has deployed its wing-like solar panels to convert sunlight to electricity. Several deflated airbags, which protected the rover as it bounced to a halt on Mars, are visible beneath its protective shell. Spirit will come to life over the next few days, and will begin its traverse across the landscape in about a week. Gusev Crater may have contained a lake several billion years ago, and the rover will look for evidence of that ancient water. [Credit: NASA/JPL]
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