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It took almost 2000 days for the defunct Spirit rover to travel 4.8 miles across the surface of Mars, but thanks to this time-lapse by YouTuber Oisiaa, you can relive its entire journey in 3,418 frames. The ending is a tear-jerker. Here's a still zippy ten-minute take. Hat tip to a_blackpanther! More »
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Want to know what it will look like when the Mars rover Curiosity blasts off from Earth later this year, then lands on Mars in 2012? This incredible video from NASA makes the whole thing look so awesome that we're willing to forgive the fact that it includes SWOOSH noises that you'd never hear in space. Plus you even get to see it doing some of the first experiments this mobile laboratory is designed to do once it lands on Mars. Click to view via NASA. More »
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James Cameron may have helped reinvent 3D film-making with Avatar, but he won't get to do the same for the space program. NASA has turned down his offer to put two 3D cameras on its next Mars rover. More »
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It's not exactly the secret origin that Marvel Comics promised us, but a cosmic ray may have given NASA's Mars rover Spirit the superpower of... forgetfulness. Are strange things afoot on the red planet? More »
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What happened to Polar Lander, the last Mars rover that NASA tried to land in the Martian polar region, where it hopes that the Phoenix rover will touch down on May 25? The mysterious fate of the lander that simply disappeared moments before reaching Mars has been the subject of both scientific and UFO-logy debates. Was it shot down by angry Martians dwelling at the pole? Did it encounter some strange magnetic phenomenon that disabled it? Or did it just malfunction? We may soon find out. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=389189&view=rss&microfeed=true NASA has announced that the Mars rover Spirit will not be shut down. This is a great relief to us, and to all of the io9ers who cried out in pain when NASA suggested it would have to kill Spirit in order to make a $4 million budget cut requested by the US government. [AP via Yahoo! News] More »
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The brave, unflagging Mars rover Spirit, who has lived on the Red Planet for almost four years, has been given a death sentence by the U.S. government. Right now, the little robot is resting on a sunny slope, waiting out the winter and preparing to do more tests on the Martian atmosphere. But now it looks like Spirit has rolled on its six wheels and done science experiments for the very last time. The U.S. government has forced NASA, this country's national space agency, to cut its budget by 4 million dollars. And that means only one rover, Opportunity, will survive. To say that this is a tragedy is an understatement. More »
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NASA tests the next generation of space parachute inside the world's largest wind tunnel, built to hold a Boeing 737. The 165-foot-long parachute opens to a diameter of nearly 55 feet, holds more air than a 3,000 square foot house, and can survive loads of over 80,000 pounds. NASA hopes to launch its new Mars Science Lab in 2009, which will put the next generation of rover on the surface of Mars in 2010. Click through for a couple of images of the new rover in progress. More »
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