NASA: Mars rovers will continue to run

Tue Mar 25, 8:42 PM ET

LOS ANGELES - NASA has no plans to turn off either of the healthy twin Mars rovers to make up for cost overruns faced by a big new rover slated to fly to the Red Planet next year, the space agency said Tuesday.

In a rare move, NASA said it rescinded a letter sent last week to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena that directed budget cuts to the Mars exploration program, including a $4 million reduction from the rovers project.

The action comes a day after scientists involved in the rovers mission said they would need to hibernate the rover Spirit and limit the duties of its twin, Opportunity, to fulfill NASA's budget cut.

The solar-powered rovers landed on Mars in 2004 and have long outlasted their planned three-month mission. They have impressed scientists and the public with findings of geologic evidence that water once flowed at or near the surface of ancient Mars.

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