Mars rover Spirit landed in Gusev Crater on January 4

2004. It became a stationary science platform on 26 January 2010 after NASA’s efforts to free it from a sand trap had been unsuccessful. During its six years of exploration of the red planet

Spirit traveled 7.73 km and made significant discoveries

e.g. detection of deposits of salts and minerals such as sulfur and opaline silica that only form in the presence of water. This paper presents a brief review of Spirit’s six years of Mars roving and major scientific discoveries. In particular

it demonstrates how planetary mapping and remote sensing technologies have been greatly supporting the mission to achieve its science and engineering goals.