Space.com's Top 10 "Mars Rovers' Most Amazing Discovers"

Space.com has just put up a list of the top 10 most amazing discoveries made by Mars Rovers. You can see the list here, but I'll post them anyway.

10. Last Task?

After traveling for nearly two years, Opportunity had finally arrived at Victoria Crater and was on the verge of descending when a global dust storm threatened to cut power to its solar panels, potentially ending the mission. Before being put to sleep to conserve vital battery power, the rover beamed back a series of stunning images of the crater that will keep scientists busy for a while yet. The storm itself will help scientists understand and prepare for future robotic and human missions. As of July 23, 2007 however, the rovers were enduring the storms

9. Born in a Fiery Explosion

Spirit's discovery of basaltic rock at its landing site, Gusev Crater, strongly suggested the region was the product of a volcanic explosion during which magma and water had mixed.

8. Alien Meteroite

During its exploration of Mars in 2005, Opportunity stumbled across a basketball-sized rock made of iron and nickel. It was the first meteorite ever discovered on another world.

7. Stinky Mars

While no human has made it to Mars yet to get a good whiff around, the rovers' discovery of high concentrations of sulfur in the planet's rock suggest it might stink like rotten eggs.

6. The Three Faces of Mars

Using rover data, scientists learned that Mars became progressively drier as it passed through three distinct geological eras. If life as we know it ever existed on Mars, it could only have survived during the planet's infancy.

5. Dust Devils

In 2005, Spirit managed to film a bevy of dust devils prancing across the Martian landscape. The clip gave scientists a rare glimpse into one of the few active processes still shaping the surface of Mars today.

4. Earth from Mars

Though not as well known as the "Earthrise" image taken by the Apollo 8 astronauts, this image taken by Spirit is historic in its own right, as it marks the first time Earth was photographed from the surface of another planet.

3. Photographs Earth-like clouds

Among their many firsts, the rovers photographed Earth-like clouds in the Martian sky for the first time from the planet's surface.

2. Gauging the Martian Temperature

Data from the rovers allowed scientists to create a detailed temperature profile of the martian atmosphere for the first time, and provided the first evidence of rising pockets of warm air, or "thermals," on the red planet. The latter finding could aid designers of future martian spacecraft.

1. A Wet Mars

Scientists had long speculated that Mars was once a wet world, but it was Spirit and Opportunity that provided them with the clinching evidence for their theories. The proof included silica-rich soil, "blueberries," and rippled-rock layers — all of which could have only formed if water once flowed on the surface of Mars.