The twin Mars robots are awake and ready to continue their mission after surviving severe dust storms, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announced on Friday.
The solar-powered rovers were nearly destroyed in severe, sky-darkening Martian dust storms this summer.
Martian dust storms were so severe in July that officials feared the JPL-managed rovers -- Opportunity and Spirit -- would not survive to continue their travels. The golf cart-sized rovers were only expected to explore for three months when they first traveled the 303 million miles (about 485 million km) to Mars in 2004, but they are now operating in their 43rd month.
Opportunity's planned descent into the 800-foot Victoria Crater was delayed this summer because of the dust, but the rover is now expected to journey into the massive crater as early as Tuesday, said JPL, which is headquartered in Passadena, Los Angeles.
Scientists hope Opportunity will emerge with more information about the Red Planet's history, but some fear the aging rover may not be able to get back out of the hole.
Spirit lost the use of one of its wheels about a year ago, limiting its ability to climb on the Martian surface. On Wednesday, Spirit climbed onto its long-term destination, called Home Plate, a plateau of layered bedrock, said JPL, which manages the rovers for the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA).
"They faced dusty winds, power starvation and other challenges -- and survived. Now they are back to doing groundbreaking field work on Mars," said Alan Stern, associate administer of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
The rovers explore the red planet's surface and transmit scientific data back to scientists on Earth. Scientists have been struggling to decide which route Opportunity should take into the crater.
JPL officials said the rover has driven to the crater's planned entry point and will next drive in just far enough to get all six wheels into the hole.
"Opportunity might be ready for that first 'toe dip' into the crater as early as next week," said JPL's rover project manager, John Callas. "In addition to the drives to get to the entry point, we still need to conduct checkouts of two of Opportunity's instruments before sending the rover into the crater."
Source: Xinhua
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