Changes

The United States would, unfortunately, lose the next two successive craft that it sent to Mars. But its [[Mars Odyssey]] would arrive intact in 2001 and send back the first high-resolution images. Two years later the [[European Space Agency]] would successfully place its [[Mars Express]] orbiter in the Martian system; sadly, its associated landing craft would crash-land. The Mars Express orbiter continues in orbit around Mars.<ref name=esa>"[http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/ Mars Express home page]." European Space Agency. Accessed May 27, 2008.</ref>

The United States would, unfortunately, lose the next two successive craft that it sent to Mars. But its [[Mars Odyssey]] would arrive intact in 2001 and send back the first high-resolution images. Two years later the [[European Space Agency]] would successfully place its [[Mars Express]] orbiter in the Martian system; sadly, its associated landing craft would crash-land. The Mars Express orbiter continues in orbit around Mars.<ref name=esa>"[http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/ Mars Express home page]." European Space Agency. Accessed May 27, 2008.</ref>

[[Image:Mcmurdopan_spirit.jpg|thumb|left|150px||360 degree panorama from mars rover ''Spirit''.]]

[[Image:Mcmurdopan_spirit_big.jpg|thumb|left|150px||360 degree panorama from mars rover ''Spirit''.]]

The most successful missions to date have been the Mars Excursion Rover missions. Two of these sophisticated mobile robots, named ''Spirit'' and ''Opportunity'', launched in 2003 and arrived safely on Mars about six months later, on opposite sides of the planet. They have been running for four years now, at least fifteen times longer than they were warranted to run. The Opportunity rover has been taking pictures of the Victoria Crater, and Spirit has been photographing the Esperanza formation which contains "vesicular" basalt (characterized by multiple cavities representing dissolved gas escaping from solution during a volcanic eruption).<ref name=David>David, Leonard. "[http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/061228_rovers_update.html Mars Rovers: On the Roll to New Targets]." ''Space.com'' December 28, 2006. Accessed May 27, 2008.</ref>

The most successful missions to date have been the Mars Excursion Rover missions. Two of these sophisticated mobile robots, named ''Spirit'' and ''Opportunity'', launched in 2003 and arrived safely on Mars about six months later, on opposite sides of the planet. They have been running for four years now, at least fifteen times longer than they were warranted to run. The Opportunity rover has been taking pictures of the Victoria Crater, and Spirit has been photographing the Esperanza formation which contains "vesicular" basalt (characterized by multiple cavities representing dissolved gas escaping from solution during a volcanic eruption).<ref name=David>David, Leonard. "[http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/061228_rovers_update.html Mars Rovers: On the Roll to New Targets]." ''Space.com'' December 28, 2006. Accessed May 27, 2008.</ref>