NASA’s Mars rover spirit passed its
six-year anniversary January third but
the upcoming Mars winter may spell the
end for the all-terrain vehicle last
year spirits wheels broke through a
crusty Mars surface layer and became
trapped in the loose and hidden
underneath here a NASA scale model
mock-up is seen trying to maneuver out
of the predicament latest attempts to
recover the real Rover have resulted in
its sinking deeper in the Martian soil
spirits twin rover Opportunity landed on
the opposite side of Mars three weeks
after spirit and is still able to roam
across the planet surface the two Rovers
combined have traveled more than 16
miles sending back photos and lots of
data about the planet as daily sunshine
on the red planet southern hemisphere
declines with the approaching winter
NASA ground operators are trying to
adjust the tilt of spirit solar panels
to compensate for the decrease in solar
energy right now the solar panels are
pointed slightly south it’s in its
approaching winter and for the best
sunlight it should be pointed in the
other direction toward the north where
the Sun will be above the horizon unless
the tilt is improved and an unexpected
gust of Martian wind can clean off dust
accumulation on its solar panels spirits
power will continually decline until May
and the rover could become totally
inoperable but NASA scientists say the
rover’s far outlasted their expected
life of just 90 days something that
lasts almost six years when it is only
supposed to last 90 days you got to be
joyful that that thing has been so
tremendously successful in some ways the
idea that it may be stuck in in one
place is sad and that it can trove
anymore but on the other hand it’s still
alive there are some science that it can
do that it couldn’t do as a rover and so
that’s in fact something look forward to
and is exciting
Meyer says by being stationary spirit
can make extremely fine measurements
using its radio and it can monitor minor
variations in the spin of Mars he says
by doing that for an extended time
scientists will be able to tell if Mars
has a liquid center or a solid center
six-year anniversary January third but
the upcoming Mars winter may spell the
end for the all-terrain vehicle last
year spirits wheels broke through a
crusty Mars surface layer and became
trapped in the loose and hidden
underneath here a NASA scale model
mock-up is seen trying to maneuver out
of the predicament latest attempts to
recover the real Rover have resulted in
its sinking deeper in the Martian soil
spirits twin rover Opportunity landed on
the opposite side of Mars three weeks
after spirit and is still able to roam
across the planet surface the two Rovers
combined have traveled more than 16
miles sending back photos and lots of
data about the planet as daily sunshine
on the red planet southern hemisphere
declines with the approaching winter
NASA ground operators are trying to
adjust the tilt of spirit solar panels
to compensate for the decrease in solar
energy right now the solar panels are
pointed slightly south it’s in its
approaching winter and for the best
sunlight it should be pointed in the
other direction toward the north where
the Sun will be above the horizon unless
the tilt is improved and an unexpected
gust of Martian wind can clean off dust
accumulation on its solar panels spirits
power will continually decline until May
and the rover could become totally
inoperable but NASA scientists say the
rover’s far outlasted their expected
life of just 90 days something that
lasts almost six years when it is only
supposed to last 90 days you got to be
joyful that that thing has been so
tremendously successful in some ways the
idea that it may be stuck in in one
place is sad and that it can trove
anymore but on the other hand it’s still
alive there are some science that it can
do that it couldn’t do as a rover and so
that’s in fact something look forward to
and is exciting
Meyer says by being stationary spirit
can make extremely fine measurements
using its radio and it can monitor minor
variations in the spin of Mars he says
by doing that for an extended time
scientists will be able to tell if Mars
has a liquid center or a solid center
Please follow and like us: