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The hope was that with two entirely separate explorers, the chances were good that at least one would be successful – but both of them made it to Mars in one piece, and were competely functional. NASA's goal was for these explorers to survive 90 days on the surface, driving around and sending back scientific data. When both of them were still working after 90 days, the team got more funding and they kept on going. That's been repeated several times now, and four years later – more than 16 times the design life expectancy – both explorers are still going. It's been an amazing technological success, and a far richer source of solid science than anyone dared dream at the mission's inception.
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These two intrepid explorers (and their Earth-bound controllers) get very little attention in the media these days. I guess they're boring to most people. They have returned far more science with their sustained explorations than any manned mission would, for a tiny fraction of the cost of a manned mission. Frankly, I'm surprised (but delighted!) that NASA has funded this unexpectedly long mission – they're so focused on manned space exploration that any such robotic mission is always at risk of being de-funded (and missions that have yet to fly are always at risk of being canceled, as so many already have been).
More like this, please, NASA...
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