--- title: Ten Years After Mars Rover Spirit Landing | TIME description: It’s been ten years since NASA’s Spirit rover first touched down on the surface of Mars. Spirit would go on to redefine the Red Planet and inspire the next generation of space exploration. canonical: https://time.com/video/Z9GB3ju9/ og:title: Ten Years After Mars Rover Spirit Landing og:description: It’s been ten years since NASA’s Spirit rover first touched down on the surface of Mars. Spirit would go on to redefine the Red Planet and inspire the next generation of space exploration. og:url: https://time.com/video/Z9GB3ju9/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Z9GB3ju9/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ten Years After Mars Rover Spirit Landing twitter:description: It’s been ten years since NASA’s Spirit rover first touched down on the surface of Mars. Spirit would go on to redefine the Red Planet and inspire the next generation of space exploration. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Z9GB3ju9/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Ten Years After Mars Rover Spirit Landing > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Ten Years After Mars Rover Spirit Landing [Watch (HLS stream): Ten Years After Mars Rover Spirit Landing](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Z9GB3ju9.m3u8) (2:27)  _Published 2014-01-04. It’s been ten years since NASA’s Spirit rover first touched down on the surface of Mars. Spirit would go on to redefine the Red Planet and inspire the next generation of space exploration._ --- Jul 27, 2023 4:04 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [NASA's Perseverance Rover Successfully Lands on Mars](/video/vfU7oIIi/) ### NASA's Perseverance Rover Successfully Lands on Mars [A Eulogy for NASA's Opportunity Rover ](/video/06y9Ksrk/) ### A Eulogy for NASA's Opportunity Rover [Mars Rover Opportunity Celebrates Its Eighth Birthday](/video/RrhAibb0/) ### Mars Rover Opportunity Celebrates Its Eighth Birthday --- ## Transcript It's been 10 years since NASA's Spirit rover first touchdown on the surface of Mars. Joined several weeks' later by its cousin Opportunity, Spirit would go on to redefine the Red Planet and inspire the next generation of space exploration. Spirit and Opportunity were part of NASA's Mars exploration rover mission. Launched in July 2003, the rovers were sent to study the surface of Mars looking for clues about the planet's past water activity. After landing, both rovers sent back a wealth of scientific data about the planet's terrain including numerous signs that planet once held water. The rovers also gave us a wealth of beautiful images from Martian sunsets to weird extraterrestrial rocks to some of the most exotic selfies ever taken. Scientist predicted Spirit and Opportunity could function for 90 Martian days before shutting down, but the rovers refused to quit. Thanks to some creative engineering from NASA's jet propulsion laboratories and aided by Martian winds cleaning out the rovers' solar panels, Spirit managed to keep on tracking for five years, over 20 times the planned mission length. Spirit eventually became irretrievably stuck in a patch of soiled soil on May 1st 2009. The rover continued to transmit data until March 22nd 2010 when it fell silent. Rest in peace little buddy. JPL's mission head John Callus said these parting words for the departed rover. " Spirit has climbed mountains, survived rover- killing dust storms, rode out three cold dark winters. She has given us a foundation to further understand ourselves and our place in the universe ." As for Opportunity, it's still going strong. The rover's last update came from Solander point where Opportunity soaking up sunshine and preparing for the next leg of exploration. It's covered just over 27 miles on Mars to date. Over its 10- year history, the Mars exploration rover mission has completely redefined our view of the Red Planet. Areas previously believed to be barren deserts may have once been covered with water and could possibly have sustained life. The mission has sparked other expeditions to Mars. NASA's new rover Curiosity touchdown on Mars in 2012 and both NASA and India's space agency recently launched probes to orbit the planet. Together Spirit and Opportunity exceeded all expectations and ushered in a new era of scientific discovery on Mars. Happy 10th anniversary, you guys. For Time, I'm Christian Bryan. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Ten Years After Mars Rover Spirit Landing","description":"It’s been ten years since NASA’s Spirit rover first touched down on the surface of Mars. Spirit would go on to redefine the Red Planet and inspire the next generation of space exploration.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Z9GB3ju9/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-01-04T13:27:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Z9GB3ju9.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/Z9GB3ju9/","duration":"PT2M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/Z9GB3ju9/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```