Unexpectedly, the mars rovers are still going strong

Nearly a year past its planned three-month lifetime, the Mars rover Spirit has found itself rejuvenated and is now making some of its most significant discoveries about Mars' waterlogged past.

A panoramic photograph taken by the rover Opportunity. The rover is currently racing across Martian plains to get to more interesting terrain to the south.

Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, on the other side of Mars have continued working so well that managers have requested that the mission be extended up to another 18 months. NASA reported that one of the mineral-identifying instruments on Opportunity had been turned off because of a malfunction, but the rovers appear otherwise healthy.

''Then it's become drive like crazy,'' said Dr. Raymond Arvidson, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and a member of the science team. On Thursday, Opportunity drove 624 feet in one day, the longest drive to date.

•	Unexpectedly, the Mars Rovers Are Still Going Strong New York Times, Tuesday, March 22, 2005 Byline: Kenneth Chang