<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <P> The launch patch for Spirit, featuring Marvin the Martian </P> Mars rovers (NASA) ← Sojourner Curiosity → </Td> </Tr> <P> The launch patch for Spirit, featuring Marvin the Martian </P> <P> Spirit, also known as MER - A (Mars Exploration Rover--A) or MER - 2, is a robotic rover on Mars, active from 2004 to 2010 . It was one of two rovers of NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission . It landed successfully on Mars at 04: 35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity (MER - B), landed on the other side of the planet . Its name was chosen through a NASA - sponsored student essay competition . The rover became stuck in late 2009, and its last communication with Earth was sent on March 22, 2010 . </P> <P> The rover completed its planned 90 - sol mission . Aided by cleaning events that resulted in more energy from its solar panels, Spirit went on to function effectively over twenty times longer than NASA planners expected . Spirit also logged 7.73 km (4.8 mi) of driving instead of the planned 600 m (0.4 mi), allowing more extensive geological analysis of Martian rocks and planetary surface features . Initial scientific results from the first phase of the mission (the 90 - sol prime mission) were published in a special issue of the journal Science . </P>

When did spirit and opportunity land on mars
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