Press Releases

	This is a partial view of Spirit's 'Everest' panorama. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Full image and caption

Five years after landing on Mars in January 2004, the twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are still studying the Red Planet. They were originally planned as three-month missions. Catch up with the rovers via the following multimedia products:

--Two lectures, one from the rovers' principal investigator and the other from the team's project manager, will be held on Thurs., Jan. 15 and 16 at 7 p.m. both nights. The Thursday night lecture will be streamed on http://www.ustream.tv/channel/explore-space%21-with-nasa-jpl0. Details about the lectures can be found at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures.cfm?year=2009&month=1.

--Rover team members, including the science principal investigator, Steve Squyres of Cornell University, share the thrills and challenges in a video at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/podcast/mer20090112.cfm

--Astronaut E. Michael Finke, commander of the Expedition 18 crew currently orbiting Earth in the International Space Station, has sent a video message congratulating the scientists and engineers of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the rovers Spirit and Opportunity landing on Mars. This video plays at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=803.

The intrepid rovers have made many discoveries about historically wet and violent environments on ancient Mars. They have climbed a mountain, descended into craters, struggled with sand traps and aging hardware, survived dust storms, and relayed more than a quarter million pictures back to Earth.

A variety of Los Angeles-area public events are being held to mark the rovers' five-year anniversary, including a lecture that will be streamed live. Information at: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20090112a.html .