Annals of Exploration–We Have Rolldown: Mars Rover Spirit is now six-wheeling on the Martian landscape. The rolloff was completed in the early morning hours (East Coast Earth time), while the Jet Propulsion geeks at mission control played “Who Let the Dogs Out” (sorry guys, that song is soooo over….). Spirit took 78 seconds to go 10 feet, so the current land-speed record on Mars is less than one-tenth of a mile per hour. It’s going to go up (I hope, or this will be a sloooow, slooow mission), and TWC will happily serve as the record-keeping authority for the planet Mars. Here’s what the lander looked like in Spirit’s rear-view mirror.



Losing the Lander: Check out the tire tracks….