2003 the spirit rover is launched beginning nasas mars explorat 06 10
3000�1955
2003 23 years ago Historical Events June 10 3 sources

The Spirit rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission.

On June 10, in the year 2003, The Spirit rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission. This event is recorded as a Historical Events event in the history of June 10, one of 454 recorded events on this date across all of history.

Spirit, also known as MER-A or MER-2, is a Mars robotic rover, active from 2004 to 2010. Spirit was operational on Mars for 2208 sols or 3.3 Martian years. It was one of two rovers of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Spirit landed successfully within the impact crater Gusev on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity (MER-B), which landed on the other side of the planet. Its name was chosen through a NASA-sponsored student essay competition. The rover got stuck in a "sand trap" in late 2009 at an angle that hampered recharging of its batteries; its last communication with Earth was on March 22, 2010.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on June 10, 2003 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Historical Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 3 Wikipedia articles.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 8 May 2026.

On This Date in History 454

Type Year Date Event
Historical Events 2025 Jun 10 Eleven people are killed, including the perpetrator, and eleven others are injured, in a mass shooting at a secondary sc
Notable Deaths 2025 Jun 10 Suchinda Kraprayoon, Thai army general, 19th Prime Minister of Thailand (born 1933)
Historical Events 2024 Jun 10 A plane crash in Malawi leaves 10 people dead, including the country's Vice President Saulos Chilima
Notable Deaths 2024 Jun 10 Victims in the 2024 Chikangawa Dornier 228 crash:
Notable Deaths 2024 Jun 10 Steele Hall, Australian politician, 36th Premier of South Australia (born 1928)
Selected Events 2024 Jun 10 A plane crash in Malawi, kills nine people, including Vice President Saulos Chilima
Notable Deaths 2023 Jun 10 Ted Kaczynski, American mathematician and domestic terrorist (born 1942)
Notable Deaths 2020 Jun 10 Claudell Washington, American baseball player (born 1954)
Historical Events 2018 Jun 10 Opportunity rover, sends it last message back to Earth
Historical Events 2018 Jun 10 The Opportunity rover sends its last message back to Earth
Notable Deaths 2018 Jun 10 Neal E
Notable Deaths 2017 Jun 10 Julia Perez, Indonesian singer and actress (born 1980)
Notable Deaths 2016 Jun 10 Christina Grimmie, American singer-songwriter (born 1994)
Notable Deaths 2016 Jun 10 Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1928)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jun 10 Robert Chartoff, American film producer and philanthropist (born 1933)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jun 10 Wolfgang Jeschke, German author and publisher (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jun 10 Marcello Alencar, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 57th Governor of Rio de Janeiro (born 1925)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jun 10 Gary Gilmour, Australian cricketer and manager (born 1951)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jun 10 Robert M
Notable Deaths 2014 Jun 10 Jack Lee, American radio host and politician (born 1920)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jun 10 Doug Bailey, American political consultant (born 1933)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jun 10 Enrique Orizaola, Spanish footballer and coach (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jun 10 Barbara Vucanovich, American lawyer and politician (born 1921)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jun 10 Piero Bellugi, Italian conductor (born 1924)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jun 10 Warner Fusselle, American sportscaster (born 1944)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jun 10 Will Hoebee, Dutch songwriter and producer (born 1947)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jun 10 Georges Mathieu, French painter and academic (born 1921)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jun 10 Joshua Orwa Ojode, Kenyan politician (born 1958)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jun 10 George Saitoti, Kenyan economist and politician, 6th Vice-President of Kenya (born 1945)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jun 10 Sudono Salim, Chinese-Indonesian businessman, founded Bank Central Asia (born 1916)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jun 10 Gordon West, English footballer (born 1943)
Notable Deaths 2011 Jun 10 Brian Lenihan Jnr, Irish lawyer and politician, 25th Irish Minister for Finance (born 1959)
Notable Deaths 2010 Jun 10 Basil Schott, American archbishop (born 1939)
Notable Deaths 2010 Jun 10 Sigmar Polke, German painter and photographer (born 1941)
Historical Events 2009 Jun 10 Eighty-eight year-old James Wenneker von Brunn opens fire inside the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and fatally
Notable Deaths 2009 Jun 10 Stelios Skevofilakas, Greek footballer (born 1940)
Historical Events 2008 Jun 10 Sudan Airways Flight 109 crashes at Khartoum International Airport, killing 30 people
Notable Deaths 2008 Jun 10 Chinghiz Aitmatov, Kyrgyzstani author and diplomat (born 1928)
Selected Events 2008 Jun 10 War in Afghanistan: A U
Selected Events 2008 Jun 10 Sudan Airways Flight 109 crashed on landing at Khartoum International Airport, killing 30 of the 214 occupants on board
Notable Deaths 2007 Jun 10 Augie Auer, American-New Zealand meteorologist (born 1940)
Notable Deaths 2005 Jun 10 Curtis Pitts, American aircraft designer, designed the Pitts Special (born 1915)
Notable Deaths 2004 Jun 10 Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2004 Jun 10 Odette Laure, French actress and singer (born 1917)
Notable Deaths 2004 Jun 10 Xenophon Zolotas, Greek economist and politician, 177th Prime Minister of Greece (born 1904)
Notable Deaths 2003 Jun 10 Donald Regan, American colonel and politician, 11th White House Chief of Staff (born 1918)
Notable Deaths 2003 Jun 10 Bernard Williams, English philosopher and academic (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2003 Jun 10 Phil Williams, Welsh academic and politician (born 1939)
Historical Events 2002 Jun 10 The first direct electronic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans is carried out by Kevin W
Notable Deaths 2002 Jun 10 John Gotti, American mobster (born 1940)

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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