By now everyone who wasn't in a coma knows about the Lander on Mars. Lets take a closer look through the wonder of the camera. But before we get into that lets take a detailed look at the Mars rover it contained.

Left: Detailed drawing of rover
Right: Photo of Rover

Left: Lander on Mars
Right: View of Lander from above

The lander unfolds after landing allowing the rover to roll off using one of the ramps that will be available.

Left: Landing Site
Middle: Reconstruction of the landing on Mars
Right: Rover probing for samples

Left: Area of super soil
Middle: Patch showing super soil location
Right: Patch location

Using nearly all the science instruments located on the rover's instrument deployment device or "arm," scientists yielded some puzzling results including the detection of a mineral called olivine and the appearance that the soil is stronger and more cohesive than they expected. Like detectives searching for clues, the science team will continue to peruse the landscape for explanations of their findings. (Excerpt from NASA)

Left: Scientists were puzzled by the discovery of olivine because it implies the soil consists at least partially of ground up rocks that have not been weathered or chemically altered
Middle: Moessbauer spectrometer, an instrument on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit that detects iron-bearing minerals in martian rocks and soil.
Right: True color picture taken with panoramic camera

Left: Camera zooms in on rock
Middle: Same rock in 3D, 3D glasses required
Right: Picture taken by rover Spirit before it rolled off lander

Left: Another view, notice the rocks
Middle: This rock seems very earth like
Right: Spirit demonstrates it microscopic vision on a penny

Left: Spirit stands up for first time
Middle: 360 Degree Panorama taken from lander, easier to see when enlarged
Right: Rover is off the lander

For a great multimedia experience, travel on Mars by CLICKING HERE (SELECT OPEN TO VIEW OR DOWNLOAD IT FOR VIEWING LATER)

Spirit is just getting warmed up. Who knows what wonders it will find in the future. The sister probe to Spirit, named Opportunity is scheduled to touch down today, January 24, 2004, on the other side of the planet. Good luck Opportunity.