WIRED Staff
Science

Slideshow: No Life on Mars, But Many Bugs

Mars rover software architect Glen Reeves reveals the many challenges of maintaining a functioning operating system on another planet. A Wired News Q&A by Xeni Jardin.
This 3D image combines computergenerated models of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and its lander with real surface...
This 3-D image combines computer-generated models of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and its lander with real surface data from the rover's panoramic camera. It shows Spirit's position just after it rolled off the lander on Jan. 15, 2004.NASA/JPL

See related story: No Life on Mars, But Many Bugs

Image may contain Fisheye

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this image on Jan. 28, 2004, the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. The image shows the robotic arm extended to the rock called Adirondack. As it had been instructed a week earlier, the Moessbauer spectrometer, an instrument for identifying the minerals in rocks and soils, is still placed against the rock. Engineers are working to restore Spirit to working order so that the rover can resume the scientific exploration of its landing area.

NASA/JPL