It looks as though Spirit and Opportunity won't just be sending us pretty pictures:
Evidence that suggests Mars was once a water-rich world is mounting as scientists scrutinize data from the Mars Exploration rover, Opportunity, busily at work in a small crater at Meridiani Planum. That information may well be leading to a biological bombshell of a finding that the red planet has been, and could well be now, an extraterrestrial home for life.There is a palpable buzz here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California that something wonderful is about to happen in the exploration of Mars.
...Those findings and their implications are headed for a major press conference, rumored to occur early next week -- but given unanimity among rover scientists and agreement on how and who should unveil the dramatic findings.
NASA is rumored to be staying mum on a wealth of data until it's ready to present. Is - or was - Mars inhabited? Though my intuition tells me that microbiotic lifeforms are almost certain to exist, I won't know before any of the rest of us. Even if this latest Mars missions fails to prove that we are not alone, we shouldn't miss the story already unfolding. Two low-cost, high-risk robot explorations on another planet are in the midst of an unprecedented operational and scientific success. And this is only the beginning of a complete repudiation of Luddites, skeptics and the generally unimaginative. With some luck and a blessing, the public won't forget this latest venture into the grand mystery.