For two twin robots, a decade of exploration on Mars has brought incredible discoveries and scientific insight. But the Spirit and Opportunity rovers have also spent 10 years capturing the desolate beauty and splendor of the Red Planet.
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Rarely Seen Gems From Curiosity’s Raw Image CollectionA new exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum opening Jan. 9 highlights some of the best images from Spirit and Opportunity. The photos, chosen by the mission's scientists and engineers, depict some of the most amazing and interesting features on Mars, including tiny "blueberry" rocks, rolling sand dunes, and psychedelic mineralogy. The exhibit will also feature a full-scale model of one of the rovers sitting in the center of a Martian landscape panorama covering two walls, inviting visitors to feel like they're standing on Mars.
Just a little over 10 years ago, the first of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit, bounced down to the Martian surface. Its companion probe landed on the other side of the planet a few weeks later and together they began rolling and exploring. The rovers changed our understanding of the Red Planet, finding evidence that massive amounts of water once flowed on Mars. Initially designed to last three months, both probes chugged along for many years, with Spirit ending operations in 2010 while Opportunity is still beaming back amazing insights.
NASA has since achieved the momentous landing of Spirit and Opportunity's much larger, younger sibling, Curiosity, which has been roving on the Red Planet for more than a year. Curiosity has sent back its own artistic photos of Mars while expanding scientists' understanding of the planet's watery history and potential for once having life.
The exhibit is open until Sept. 14, 2014.
Captions provided by Smithsonian Institute
