WASHINGTON - THE US space agency's Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity this month mark their fifth anniversary on the Red Planet, where they have endured harsh conditions and revealed a deluge of information.

The twin robots, which landed on Mars three weeks apart in January 2004, were initially expected to have just 90-day missions, but have since sent back to Earth a quarter-million images, toured mountains and craters and survived violent dust storms.

TRENTON (New Jersey) - 'HEY baby, you OK?' Mike asks his girlfriend as she sits down next to him.

'Yeah, I'm OK,' Toni says, and she puts her head on his shoulder. Mike thinks it's safe to move in for a kiss.

THIAROYE SUR MER (Senegal) - FIRST, it took the animals.

Goats fell silent and refused to stand up. Chickens died in handfuls, then en masse. Street dogs disappeared.

Then it took the children. Toddlers stopped talking and their legs gave out. Women birthed stillborns. Infants withered and died.