The brave, unflagging Mars rover Spirit, who has lived on the
Red Planet for almost four years, has been given a death
sentence by the U.S. government. Right now, the little robot is
resting on a sunny slope, waiting out the winter and preparing
to do more tests on the Martian atmosphere. But now it looks
like Spirit has rolled on its six wheels and done science
experiments for the very last time. The U.S. government has
forced NASA, this country's national space agency, to cut its
budget by 4 million dollars. And that means only one rover,
Opportunity, will survive. To say that this is a tragedy is an
understatement. The Mars rovers have been one of NASA's most
proud achievements, and the information they gather today can
help future planetary colonists tomorrow. While NASA is planning
to land another rover on Mars within the next year, it's a shame
to shut down a perfectly serviceable rover that could be
supplementing what the new rover will learn. With the Earth
population skyrocketing, and urban overcrowd