NASA gives 18 more months to Mars Rovers

NASA, under a lot of pressure about the upcoming Space Shuttle launch has decided to give the two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity crawling around the Red Planet Mars another 18 months of life. The original plan was just to test these rovers for around three months. However, they are performing so well on the distant planet that NASA has now announced long term plans to use them.

In fact, they are getting help from the nature as a dust devil swept past the Spirit giving it a cleaning and improving the performances of the power output. NASA scientists on their part are pushing it hard to get it out of the shadow of a rocky slope dubbed Husband’s hill. The enhanced power output means good news for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The other crawler, Opportunity is on the other hand nearing a region named Etched Terrain where the scientists have a feeling that they would discover wind erosion exposed rocks. More interesting plans are in store for this particular rover as NASA expects a journey into the unknown, something completely new through Opportunity rover.

However, NASA is optimistic about the possibilities. They know that they are talking about little known territory and anything can happen within a short span. Jim Erickson, rover project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement: “With the rovers already performing well beyond their original design lifetimes, having a part wear out and disable a rover is a distinct possibility at any time”.