spacetoday.net: special section: Mars

Spirit parked for the winter

Posted: Sun, Feb 14 12:45 PM ET (1745 GMT)
Mars Exploration Rover (NASA/JPL)

NASA's Mars rover Spirit has reached its final parking position on the Martian surface prior to the upcoming winter season and may soon go into hibernation. Rover controllers had hoped to reposition the rover, stuck since last year in a patch of sandy soil, into an orientation where the solar panels faced the Sun. However, controllers were forced to leave the rover an in unfavorable orientation that will reduce the amount of power the rover's panels can generate during the winter. As a result, mission engineers expect that the rover will be out of contact with the Earth for several months, starting within a few weeks, as it conserves what power it can produce. NASA had tried for several months to free the rover from its current location but recently acknowledged that it was likely the rover would be stuck there for the remainder of its mission.

Related Links:

Spirit rover to remain stationary

Posted: Wed, Jan 27 6:56 AM ET (1156 GMT)
Mars Exploration Rover (NASA/JPL)

NASA's Mars rover Spirit, stuck in a sand trap on the Martian surface for close to a year, will remain there permanently as project officials focus their efforts on keeping the rover alive during the coming winter. Project officials said Tuesday that efforts over the last several months to free the rover had not been successful, with now only four of its six wheels working. Instead, engineers will try to position the rover to maximize the sunlight hitting its solar panels so that the rover can generate enough electricity to make it through the upcoming winter, although officials said the rover could go into an extended hibernation during the winter, with limited or no contact with Earth, as it devotes what power it does generate to keeping its batteries charged and heaters operating. Even in its stationary position, scientists said that the rover can still perform good since, such as allowing radio tracking of the rover's position to measure wobbles in the planet's rotation, which can help determine the nature of the planet's interior.

Return to the spacetoday.net home page