Mars Exploration Rover 25, 2011, bringing the elapsed mission time to 6 years 2 months 19 days, or over 25 times the original planned mission duration. In recognition of the vast amount of scientific information amassed by both rovers, two asteroids have been named in their honor: 37452 Spirit and 39382 Opportunity. The mission is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which designed, built, and is operating the rovers. On January 24, 2014, NASA reported that current studies by the remaining rover "Opportunity" as well as by the newer Mars Science Laboratory rover "Curiosity" will now be searching for evidence of
Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory and natural gas on Earth. NASA stated that these findings are not evidence that life existed on the planet, but that the organic compounds needed to sustain microscopic life were present, and that there may be deeper sources of organic compounds on the planet. Since September 15, 2018, a glitch in "Curiosity"'s active computer (Side-B) has prevented "Curiosity" from storing science and key engineering data. On October 3, 2018, the JPL began operating "Curiosity" on its backup computer (Side-A). "Curiosity" will store science and engineering data normally using its Side-A computer until the cause of the glitch in Side-B is