Spirit Lands on Mars: Red Planet Explored
NASA's Spirit rover bounced to a landing inside Gusev Crater on January 4, 2004, wrapped in airbags that cushioned its impact after a seven-month journey from Earth. The golf-cart-sized robot was designed to last ninety days. It lasted six years. Spirit's instruments analyzed Martian rocks and soil, discovering evidence that liquid water had once flowed across the planet's surface, a finding that fundamentally changed the search for extraterrestrial life. The rover climbed hills, survived dust storms that nearly killed its solar panels, and transmitted over 124,000 images before its wheels became permanently stuck in soft soil in 2009. NASA made its final communication attempt on May 25, 2011. Spirit's twin, Opportunity, outlasted it by another seven years. Together, they proved that robotic exploration could deliver sustained scientific discovery far beyond mission parameters.
January 15, 2004
22 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on January 15
Thirteen thousand starving people. A city under total blockade. Nebuchadrezzar's Babylonian armies didn't just want Jerusalem—they wanted to crush the spirit of…
He lasted 95 days. A former playboy and Nero's wingman, Otho seized the imperial throne through pure audacity—murdering his predecessor Galba in broad daylight …
A king who couldn't get divorced. So he invented his own church. Henry VIII simply rewrote the religious rulebook to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, …
A royal charter scrawled on parchment, and suddenly Canada becomes a divine real estate project. Francis I handed Roberval 50,000 square miles of frozen wildern…
She was twenty-five and unmarried, inheriting a throne torn apart by religious wars. Elizabeth stepped into Westminster Abbey knowing she'd have to outsmart eve…
The Livonian War ended not with a bang, but with a map redrawn in Polish ink. Russia's Ivan the Terrible — who'd spent decades battling for these Baltic territo…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.