... Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission , Cornell , JPL , NASA Explanation: This was Spirit's view on Martian-day 1,000 of its 90-Martian-day mission. The robotic Spirit rover has stayed alive so long on Mars that it needed a place to wait out the cold and dim Martian winter. ... The long winter is finally ending in the south of Mars , and with the increasing sunlight plans are now being made for Spirit to further explore the rocky Columbia Hills inside intriguing Gusev crater . ... Mars in View . ...