Eagle Eye on Opportunity's Crater
After slippage first prevented the Opportunity rover from escaping a crater, now informally called Eagle Crater, the wheels traversed a different route as the rover turned and took another startling panorama of what has been its home base.

The Big Bounce
JPL's Tom Rivellini led the team that worked on engineering the successful airbag landing on Mars. His first person account of test and design iterations gives insight into how a complex challenge evolved into a fully-functioning lander on the surface of another planet.

Tumbleweed Rover
While current missions explore the equatorial regions on Mars, much of the interesting weather and geology is nearer the more dangerous martian poles. A novel concept borrowed from nature employs the lowly tumbleweed to cover long distances through rough terrain.

Evocative Debris, Orbital Opportunity
Finding the space hardware left over from various stages of a successful descent on Mars has given scientists and engineers some remarkably evocative views from orbit. Opportunity landed in a small crater, in a fortunate turn of events compared to a golfing hole-in-one, but appreciating just how dominant the lander is relative to its destination took a large view of the landing site.

Where on Mars is Beagle?
Large radio telescopes and a constellation of orbiting cameras are continuing their Christmas vigil, in hopes of getting a signal from the lost Beagle 2 Mars lander. Scientists however have begun to accept that while it is on the martian surface, the lander is inactive.

Second Opportunity, Safe on Mars
Surviving its harrowing entry and landing, the second Mars rover called Opportunity was reported to be 'live' and at rest on the surface of a volcanic plain called Meridiani Planum. As Rob Manning, the development manager for the critical Entry, Descent and Landing, described events, "it is amazing how far away and close Mars really is." With two mobile laboratories and a constellation of orbital relay stations, the chance to study Mars at its closest to Earth for the last 60,000 years seems to be taking shape.

Panorama Captures Landing Petal
A stunning view back towards the station that served as a temporary home on Mars for the Spirit rover, shows virtually all aspects of the planetary journey--from folded storage, to descent and egress. The eastern hills on the horizon are likely targets for further exploration.

Warming Up to the Red Planet
With the second rover less than two weeks from a rendezvous on the other side of Mars from the current Spirit rover, comparisons between landing sites and entry conditions take on increased importance. The other side of Mars will look completely different in panoramic view, as a dark, grey, basaltic plain, most similar to a volcanic landscape but perhaps preserving evidence of a watery past.

Spirit Makes Tracks on Mars
The Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, descended today from its landing base onto red soil. The wheel tracks were confirmed by new images looking back at what is now debris, its petal-like platform. What was a mission that began as a lander is now a rover, and about to transform again into a robotic geologist.

Reverse Robotic Origami
As the Spirit rover unfolded from its stowed position and prepared to drive with six wheels in the martian soil, mission scientists described why the current landing site has their team ready to drive.