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...Next week in TIME and on TIME.com, more photos, graphics and what's next for Spirit's exploration of Mars...
While the Spirit rover combs the surface of Mars looking for clues of past life, we're poring over the sharpest photos ever seen of the Red Planet. NASA's website has struggled to keep up with public demand, and the Mars mission is clearly a victory, especially considering the Columbia tragedy less than one year ago. Today we chat with TIME senior writer Jeffrey Kluger about what it all means...
...TIME.com: Have any of the initial discoveries been surprising? Kluger: The biggest surprise so far is the dark patch of dirt that was dragged by Spirit's airbags during landing. It resembles mud, but it can't be mud, because of the absence of water, and therein lies the mystery. Mars may have at one time held water, and one place it might be found is the Gusev Crater, an area about the size of Connecticut that was Spirit's landing spot. The crater may have once been a lake, and scientists feel that spot gives us the best chance...
...TIME.com: How much did the Spirit mission cost, and has it been worth it? Kluger: The cost is $850 million, and we won't know whether it was worth it until the science is returned. But we do know that it's possible to get a spacecraft bigger and more sophisticated than Pathfinder there. And don't forget the old axiom that says there's no such thing as a failed experiment, because failures teach you what doesn't work...
...This is really an ongoing, evolving relationship,” he said. “There’s a lot of work ahead of us to actually turn the spirit of the [agreement] into a reality. I really see this not as the end of a process but the beginning of a new process...