Spirit (rover)

The Spirit rover, also known as Mars Exploration Rover – A (MER-A) or MER-2, is a robotic rover that was active on Mars from 2004 to 2010. Spirit was one of two rovers of NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully within the impact crater Gusev on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity (MER-B), landed on the other side of the planet. Its name was chosen through a student essay competition. The rover became stuck in a "sand trap" in late 2009 and its last communication with Earth was sent on March 22, 2010. The rover completed its planned 90-sol mission. Aided by cleaning events that resulted in higher energy production from its solar array, Spirit successfully continued to function beyond this primary mission. Spirit's active status lasted about 20 times longer than the planned mission, and covered a distance of 7.73 km (4.8 mi) until it became immobile in 2009. In Hebrew: הרובר Spirit (רוֹבֶר מִרְצֶה רוֹבֶר - א' אוֹ מִרְצֶה רוֹבֶר - 2). In Arabic: مركبة الاستكشاف المريخية أ (مركبة استكشاف المريخ - أ أو مركبة استكشاف المريخ - 2). In Chinese: 精神号火星车 (火星探测漫游者-A 或 MER-A).