Mars Rovers

Hi bloggers! I read The Mighty Mars Rovers by Elizabeth Rusch. I thought it was a very interesting book. It's title is self explanatory. It is about two Mars rovers named Spirit and Opportunity that tells their experiences on Mars. Spirit and Opportunity were designed by Steve Squyers. Steve asked NASA to fund the project and at first, NASA declined. Then, a few years later, NASA accepted.

An artist's perception of Spirit on Mars and the three craters Opp. is exploring

In 2003, Spirit took off a few months before Opportunity and landed safely on Mars, but later on, Spirit's communication device malfunctioned and was not able to send messages to Steve and his team. While Spirit was having trouble, Opportunity landed safely. Opportunity landed in a small crater. When Opportunity was finished exploring the crater, Spirits' communication device was fixed. Opportunity's team wanted to explore more. They told Opportunity to go to another crater named Endurance crater. It was only a mile, but that was a lot for a rover. When Opportunity got to Endurance crater, it's creators thought it was too steep to climb down into. So they made a model of the crater and a model rover to see how it would work out. They decided it was safe to climb down. Opportunity slowly climbed into the crater successfully. On Spirit's side of the planet, Spirit was climbing up to the Columbia hills to explore. Spirit's drivers debated on two ways to get up the hills. They chose the longer one with more sunlight to power Spirit's solar batteries. Opportunity was now done exploring Endurance crater and was ready for a bigger challenge. Opportunity's creators told it to drive toward Victoria crater. The land to Victoria crater seemed easier to drive on, so Opportunity's creators told it to keep going and that everything would be fine, but it wouldn't. While driving to Victoria crater, Opportunity got stuck and again, it's creators used models to recreate the situation. Opportunity's creators finally found a way to get it out of the hole Opportunity was stuck on, and it worked. Meanwhile, on Spirit's side of the planet, Spirit had gotten herself stuck just like Opportunity. For months her creators tried to recreate and find ways to get Spirit un-stuck but nothing would work. People had stickers and posters saying "Free Spirit" for the poor little rover on mars. Month after month the rover could not escape then finally, she escaped. But her creators noticed something. One of her wheels had broken and this caused the rover to swerve and make driving harder. While on top of the hills, Spirit noticed something on the ground from what looked like a crushed rock. Her creators inspected it and found out it was silica. They thought it was in all rocks, so they used Spirit's broken wheel to crush another rock. It turned out that there was silica in this rock too. Opportunity now had reached Victoria crater, but noticed something. There was a giant sandstorm in the area that could block out Opportunity's solar panels. So Opportunity's creators told him to save power by shutting down and when the storm was over, send a message. After months, Opportunity was thought to be destroyed by the storm, but at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, they heard a small beep. Opportunity was alive! When Opportunity was done with Victoria crater, it drove to Endeavor crater which was very big, and has been exploring ever since!

One of the "Free Spirit" posters

              Opportunity and Spirit were expected to live for three months, tops but it is now their their tenth year on Mars! I think Elizabeth Rusch wrote this book to tell readers about how rovers work and what they do on Mars.