Dear Reader, remember the remote-controlled Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity? How long is it since the last time you thought of them? Spirit landed on Mars six Earth calendar years ago today, Opportunity on 25 January — and both still work fine! Sadly, though, Spirit has been stuck on the edge of a small dust-filled crater since May last year, one set of wheels inside and one outside the crater. Its future looks dim as the Martian winter approaches and it is in a poor position for continued solar power. But Oppy trundles on toward Endeavour crater, taking pictures and analysing rocks. In July it found a huge iron-nickel meteorite sitting on the Martian ground surface. Check out the project’s web site for news!

Update 5 January: Check out this excellent overview from the Planetary Society of currently active missions in the solar system and launches planned for 2010.

[More blog entries about astronomy, space, mars, nasa; astronomi, rymden, mars, nasa.]