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Today is the 12th anniversary of the Spirit rover's landing on Mars. She arrived at Gusev Crater on January 3, 2004 for a mission of 90 sols. A sol is a Martian day which is about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day, so 90 sols is about three months.

You can find out more about Spirit and the Mars mission at Good-bye Spirit.

Millions of people followed the treks of the Martian rovers Spirit and Opportunity as they explored the red planet. In 2009 Spirit became trapped and was last heard from in March 2010. After a year being unable to contact her, on May 24, 2011, with sadness, NASA formally ended her mission.