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NASA Mars Rover Beams Images to Earth

By Joe Palca

Published January 3, 2004 at 9:00 PM PST

This story was published more than 21 years ago.

Researchers are jubilant at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., where scientists and engineers monitor data pouring in from the Mars Exploration Rover. The Spirit rover landed on the surface of Mars Saturday night and began beaming images and data back to Earth in a mission that has reportedly gone exactly according to plan. NPR's Joe Palca reports.

National

Joe Palca

Joe Palca is a science correspondent for NPR. Since joining NPR in 1992, Palca has covered a range of science topics — everything from biomedical research to astronomy. From 2011 to 2020 he produced stories that explored the minds and motivations of scientists and inventors as part of his series, Joe's Big Idea. Palca is also the founder of NPR Scicommers – A science communication collective.

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