NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover that landed at Gusev Crater in 2004 was named Spirit.
Spirit launched from Earth on June 10, 2003, and reached Mars on January 4, 2004. It landed inside Gusev Crater using airbags, becoming one of NASA’s two twin Mars Exploration Rovers. Its mission was designed to investigate Martian rocks and soil for evidence of past water activity.
Spirit operated far longer than its planned 90-Martian-day mission. It became stuck in soft soil in 2009 and stopped communicating with Earth in March 2010. Its twin, Opportunity, landed on the opposite side of Mars about three weeks later and continued operating for many years.
A common mix-up is confusing Spirit with Sojourner, the smaller rover from the 1997 Mars Pathfinder mission, or Curiosity, which landed in Gale Crater in 2012. Spirit’s landing site, Gusev Crater, was selected because scientists suspected it might once have held a large lake.