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There aren't a lot of machines that operate 20 times longer than they were supposed to. There aren't a lot of scientists doing 20 times more research than they intended to. There aren't a lot of explorers covering 20 times more ground than they were supposed to be able to. But then again, there aren't a lot of things like NASA's Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, the robotic ships that landed on the Red Planet five years ago this month with an expected lifespan of 90 days, and yet have chugged along ever since — surviving paralyzing cold, blinding dust...

LOS ANGELES - NASA's aging but durable Mars rover Opportunity will make what could be a trip of no return into a deep impact crater as it tries to peer further back than ever into the Red Planet's geologic history. The descent into Victoria Crater received the go-ahead because the potential scientific returns are worth the risk that the solar-powered, six-wheel rover might not be able to climb out, NASA officials and scientists said Thursday. The vehicle has been roaming Mars for nearly 3 1/2 Earth years. Scientists and engineers want to send it in while it still appears healthy....

Those "never say die" robots on Mars-- NASA's Spirit and Opportunity--continue to chalk up science at their respective exploration sites. Looming large for the Opportunity rover at Meridiani Planum is Victoria Crater--a grand bit of territory that's roughly half a mile (800 meters) in diameter. That's about six times wider than Endurance Crater, a feature that the rover previously surveyed for several months in 2004, gathering data on rock layers there that were affected by water of long, long ago. "We are closing in ... we've got only about a kilometer to go now," said Steve Squyres, lead scientist at...

The warranty expired long ago on NASA's twin robots motoring around Mars. These two golf cart-sized vehicles were only expected to last three months. In two years, they have traveled a total of seven miles. Not impressed? Try keeping your car running in a climate where the average temperature is 67 below zero and where dust devils can reach 100 mph. "These rovers are living on borrowed time. We're so past warranty on them," says Steven Squyres of Cornell University, the Mars mission's principal researcher. "You try to push them hard every day because we're living day-to-day." The rover Spirit...

NASA Will Risk Sending One Rover Into Deep Martian Crater The Associated Press June 4, 2004 PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - NASA's Mars rover Opportunity will be sent into a big crater that could offer clues to the planet's history of water, despite the risk that the craft may not be able to get out, the space agency said Friday. The potential scientific value of exploring Endurance Crater outweighs the risk that the six-wheeled rover may not be able to drive back up its inner slope, mission officials said. The decision was made after extensive study of the impact crater as...