Exciting stuff still happening on Mars: Spirit is approaching the Columbia Hills, and is just a few Sols (days) from reaching — and climbing! — those formerly far-off alien slopes. Salt in the soil has provided further evidence of Martian water.

Opportunity is about to take a plunge, descending into steep Endurance Crater to examine the richly layered soil and bedrock for more clues to Mars’ wet geologic history. The danger is that the crater walls will prove too steep for Opportunity to climb back out. A worthy risk, however: it’s not like the sandy expanse of Meridiani Planum was offering much more eye candy as compared to the Gusev Crater site.

I had been slacking off a bit on animating Mars Wiggles because the scenery was getting monotonous, but it looks like coming days and weeks will have many more visual treats to offer from the Martian surface. Those rovers just keep going, and going, and going…