Posted by tourdemars to Mars Exploration Rovers at July 16, 2004 03:58 PM

While NASA's Mars rover Opportunity toils away inside a crater, its robotic twin Spirit has rolled over its first rock outcrop on the other side of the planet. NASA scientists were elated at Spirit's rocky find, which came as the rover rolled backwards along the foot of a region called the West Spur at the Columbia Hills. "This is what we came to the Columbia Hills for," said an excited Matt Golombek, a rover science team member, during a press briefing today at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). "We've been seeking it, and we've finally found it."