Mars rovers probe soil

08 Feb, 2004

The Mars rover Spirit used its robotic arm to brush dust off a rock while its twin, Opportunity, tested its wheels on the floor of the crater where it landed last month, NASA scientists said on Friday.
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena had slated a full weekend of activities for the golf cart-sized rovers, which are examining rocks and soil on opposite sides of the Red Planet for signs that its climate was once wetter, warmer and more hospitable to life.
Spirit returned to full-time science on Thursday after engineers determined what crippled its onboard computers for nearly two weeks. Engineers put in place safeguards to prevent the problem from cropping up again in either rover.
"I think I can say with as much certainty as we can say about anything here that our patient is healed," Spirit mission manager Jennifer Trosper told reporters on Friday.

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