MER Mission Extended 18 Months
I'm surprised someone didn't post this yesterday. All the MER fans must be over at Doug's site.
April 6, 2005 — NASA has decided to extend the missions of twin Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity by 18 months, after both robots outstripped their initial three-month mission expectancy by more than 11 months.
"We are extending their mission through September 2006 to take advantage of having such capable resources still healthy and in excellent position to continue their adventures," NASA's deputy associate administrator Gnassem Asrar said Tuesday in a statement.
Makes sense to not have to keep extending every 6 months and trying to come up with the extra money so often. Engineers are aiming for 1000 sols! Who in their wildest dreams could have hoped for something like that?
I think Gary had the idea of sending more MERS in 2009 since MSL looks like it will slip to 2011. If NASA doesn't get least two more of these on Mars in 2009 they are absolute idiots. I'd love to see one land here:
