WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) early on Thursday commanded the Mars rover Spirit to move off its lander and on the surface of Mars forthe first time since the robot arrived on the Red Planet 12 days ago.

    Mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory radioedthe command to the unmanned robot shortly after 0800 GMT.

    It would take at least one to two hours to confirm through a return transmission that the rover had moved, the US space agency said.

    Spirit has already sent back stunning 360-degree, color panoramic photo of Mars, revealing the planet's terrain in vivid, unprecedented detail.

    Spirit, which landed on Mars on Jan. 3, is the fourth US probe to successfully land on the Red Planet, following two Viking landers in the 1970s and the Pathfinder mission in 1997. Spirit's twin explorer, the rover Opportunity, is due to land on the opposite side of the planet on Jan. 24. Enditem