Mars Exploration Rover, A Robotic Space Mission

An ongoing exploration of the planet Mars which involves robotic space mission using two robotic exploration rovers designed to perform geological tasks is currently undertaken by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) which designed, built, operated and was tasked with the collaboration of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to manage the project for NASA. The objective of the mission is to gather scientific data of rocks and soils to investigate and find clues of past water activities on mars to study the possibility of sustaining life on the planet. Two robotic rovers named Spirit and Opportunity were already deployed and are still currently collecting scientific information communicated back to earth, both were functioning beyond their initially expected target performance lifespan starting from its primary launch mission since 2003, although there have been ensuing problems encountered recently with the deteriorating performance of the first deployed rover Spirit which is now immobile, still it was retasked to perform as a stationary science platform to maximize its use. The second rover Opportunity is seen here in the video as an improved version of the first rover Spirit. It is fully equipped with a laser gun, a high-tensile strength drilling equipment, a wide array of precision robotic limbs complete with geologic accessories, and an internal built-in spectrometer for analysis of chemical properties of rocks and soil samples.