Spirit marks sixth anniversary with uncertain future
Posted: Mon, Jan 4, 2010, 5:53 AM ET (1053 GMT)
NASA's Mars rover Spirit marked its sixth anniversary on the Red Planet Sunday night as controllers struggled to free the aging spacecraft from a sand trap. Spirit landed in Gusev Crater on Mars on the night of January 3, 2004, and has spent the following six years exploring the region. Since April, though, the spacecraft has been stuck in sandy soil after the rover broke through a crusty surface layer. Efforts to free the rover are ongoing, but have been hampered by problems with two of the rover's six wheels. Project officials said that if they're unable to free the rover, they hope to at least improve its tilt to maximize the amount of sunlight on its solar panels as the next Martian winter approaches. In a worst-case scenario the rover may not be able to generate enough power to remain in operation as early as May.
NASA's Mars rover Spirit marked its sixth anniversary on the Red Planet Sunday night as controllers struggled to free the aging spacecraft from a sand trap. Spirit landed in Gusev Crater on Mars on the night of January 3, 2004, and has spent the following six years exploring the region. Since April, though, the spacecraft has been stuck in sandy soil after the rover broke through a crusty surface layer. Efforts to free the rover are ongoing, but have been hampered by problems with two of the rover's six wheels. Project officials said that if they're unable to free the rover, they hope to at least improve its tilt to maximize the amount of sunlight on its solar panels as the next Martian winter approaches. In a worst-case scenario the rover may not be able to generate enough power to remain in operation as early as May.| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, October 3
ULA’s Vulcan Centaur Readied For Oct. 4 Liftoff
Aviation Week — 5:27 am ET (0927 GMT) Can ULA clear the final hurdle on Vulcan?
Defense One — 5:27 am ET (0927 GMT) Space Ops: Vulcan At The Pad
Aviation Week — 5:27 am ET (0927 GMT) SpaceX’s mission to improve Starlink gets pushback from Europe
Teslarati — 5:26 am ET (0926 GMT) Starlink satellites create light pollution and disrupt radio frequencies. And it's getting worse
CBC — 5:26 am ET (0926 GMT) |
