One Long Year

One year on Mars is 687 Earth days long. One day on Mars - known as a sol - is longer than one day on Earth, so Mars only sees 669 sols in its annual trek around the sun.

Whereas that is not necessarily amazing, what truly is amazing to me is that there are two Mars Exploration Rovers that have been continually operating on the planet's surface for an entire Martian year! The rover "Spirit" observed its first anniversary on November 20. The rover "Opportunity" will celebrate its first year on Mars on December 12.

I remember the anticipation of the rover landings. I would visit NASA's web site almost daily to see the updates and to watch the animation sequence over and over. Then the day came when they finally arrived, and the tension rose, and I was on pins and needles wondering if everything would work properly and whether the rovers would survive or burn up in the atmosphere or plunge to the surface. I was glued to the screen, waiting for updates. When I was a child, I can remember sitting in front of an old black and white TV set, watching the first moon landing. Watching the Mars rover data come back filled me with that same sense of awe. It was just too cool.

Then the first pictures came back and they were amazing. Especially from Opportunity. Opportunity had rolled into a small crater, like a hole-in-one in golf, and the pictures coming back were of an alien environment, unlike anything I have seen on Earth. It was just too cool. I even have a pair of 3D glasses that I use to look at the 3D images that NASA often compiles. What would it be like to actually stand on the surface of Mars? This is probably as close as I'll ever get, but it is awesome to have access to these pictures so I can at least get a sense of what it is like there.




The rovers were only slated for 90 sols of operation. But they have worked so well that NASA keeps extending the mission. Now, if only I could buy a car that was so reliable!

Happy Anniversary, Martian rovers!