Journey to discover Mars

Images of Mars were recorded by two self-propelled probes of the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) after 5 years of operation.

NASA technicians are examining the MER-2, then changed to Spirit, at the Kennedy Space Center, March 2003. The name of this ship with her twin brother, Opportunity, was chosen through the student essay writing competition. (Photo: NASA / Getty)

The Delta II rocket put Sprit on orbit on June 10, 2003. (Photo: AFP / Getty)

The graphic depicts Spirit dropping into the surface of Mars on January 4, 2003. Opportunity ship landed three weeks later. (Photo: NASA / EPA)

Spirit is responsible for collecting and analyzing soil samples to find traces of water on the red planet. (Photo: NASA)

Spirit's wide-angle 3D image was taken right after landing on the Red planet. (Photo: NASA / Getty)

In February 2004, Spirit moved the photo to the left and ground below the ship. (Photo: EPA)

The Opportunity probe has the same design as Spirit and landed on Mars later than its three-week-old twin brother. NASA initially expected them to operate only for 3 months but they are still persisting. By early 2009, these two devices had five years of non-stop work at different locations on the Red planet. (Photo: Star)

The sand dunes on the meteorite surface are captured by Opportunity going deep into the Endurance crater. During 5 years of operation on this planet, two moving ships total about 21 km. (Photo: EPA)

The jagged surface with a thick layer of stone about 3 cm that scientists named "El Capitan". During the operation on Red Planet, two Spirit and Opportunity probes sent about 250,000 images to Earth. (Photo: NASA)

A photo of the Mars surface taken by Spirit in January 2004. When NASA announced the launch of these two probes, no one thought they could work that long, far exceeding the initial expectation of three months. (Photo: EPA)

New model of exploration equipment is being drafted and may be released by NASA in 2011. (Photo: AFP / Getty)