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MER, Spirit and Opportunity (Mars)

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Synonyms

Mars exploration rovers

Definition

Mars Exploration Rover (MER) is a NASA mission composed of two identical robot geologists, SPIRIT and OPPORTUNITY, which were launched separately in June and July 2003, respectively. After their successful landing on the surface of Mars in January 2004, in areas near the equator, they started exploring their landing sites, searching for clues of past water activity on Mars. Both Mars Exploration Rovers were designed to last 90 sol (a Martian day = 1.027491 Earth days). SPIRIT has been operating for 6 years 2 months and 25 days; it drove 7.73 km. OPPORTUNITY is still functioning more than 11 years after landing and with an odometry of more 42 km.

Overview

The MER mission is part of the Mars exploration program that NASA has conducted regularly to decipher the history of this planet, to find whether life ever existed there, and to prepare a future human visit.

After the previous missions, both in orbit (Mars Global Surveyor [MGS], Mars Odyssey)...

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References and Further Reading

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Géophysique Planétaire & Plasmas Spatiaux, Institut de Recherche Astrophysique et Planétologique, 9 Avenue du colonel Roche, B.P. 44346, 31028, Toulouse, France

    Claude D’Uston

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  1. Claude D’Uston
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Correspondence to Claude D’Uston .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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D’Uston, C. (2014). MER, Spirit and Opportunity (Mars). In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1879-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1879-3

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    MER, Spirit, and Opportunity (Mars)
    Published:
    31 March 2023

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1879-4

  2. Original

    MER, Spirit and Opportunity (Mars)
    Published:
    07 May 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1879-3

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