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ROBOT EXPLORERS 79

The adventures of Sojourner on Mars attracted unprecedented
attention on the Internet, which was becoming an increasingly
important outlet for news and outreach. The designers had hoped
that the rover would be able to continue its mission for 30 Martian
days (called “sols”), but in fact Sojourner lasted for 83 Martian
days. It was only the failure of the lander’s batteries (which had
been anticipated) that cut the rover off from being able to relay its

The current generation of Mars rovers are larger and more capable than
Sojourner, but they are her true descendents in design and technology.