Spirit was launched last June. Entering Mars' atmosphere, it was slowed by parachute and retro-rockets. It was protected in the midst of big beach-ball type padding, which allowed it to bounce several times on the surface before rolling to a stop.

Within three hours, it had radioed small engineering photos to Earth, showing the surroundings and the rover's condition. Within about nine days, the rover should be unfolded from its platform and begin roaming around the landscape, sampling the geology and sending back detailed photos.

"Things happened when they were supposed to happen, as they were supposed to happen," Wiggins said. "NASA is thrilled. I'm thrilled. I'm just a volunteer and I'm thrilled."

Wiggins was surprised that Spirit returned photos as soon as it did. A contact at NASA had told him not to be disappointed if it took a day to establish radio contact with the lander, and another day to get any pictures back.

But the only gap in transmissions was for a short period after Spirt began bouncing across the terrain. Once the spacecraft stopped rolling, receivers locked onto the signal again.

Even though the first views from Spirit were only small, black-and-white engineering photos, Wiggins was impressed.

They show the spacecraft, but "we're also seeing rocks and dirt and little craters and mountains off in the distance," he said.

"I want the rover to go explore that mountain range."

It should be able to roam around on the surface for about three months, and maybe longer. Unlike previous vehicles, it is a large machine that does not need to stay close to the landing platform.

With Stardust, Wiggins said, the spacecraft escaped unscathed from its close encounter with the stream of particles from the comet. "There were pieces of the comet hitting it about six times the speed of a rifle bullet," he said.

But shielding protected the probe, and it collected cometary material. Stardust may have flown right through material shooting out of a vent on the comet.

"To me, it (Wild-2) really looks like a dirty snowball," said Chuck Hards, a noted amateur telescope-maker from West Valley City. He studied a photo that Stardust had sent back of the comet's nucleus.

Theorists have said for a decade that comets were dirty snowballs, and this view seems to prove it.

"Pretty heady times for anybody interested in science," Hards added.

Jarvis obviously agreed. He described the dual successes of the past few days as "the biggest thing to come along in a long, long time."

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