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Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., have been working to free NASA's Spirit rover from a soft patch of Mars soil for more than two weeks now, but progress in the struggle has been hard to come by. After a series of attempted extraction moves, Spirit has budged, but not by much. By the end of a drive on November 28, which ended prematurely when one of the rover's wheels stalled, Spirit had spun its wheels a linear distance of 9.5 meters but had moved forward only 16 millimeters. (It had also sunk five millimeters downward.)
The robotic explorer became embedded in soft soil more than seven months ago, and its operators carefully weighed escape options before commencing drive attempts on November 17. The plan is to move Spirit forward, retracing its path so as to avoid breaking new ground. (The rover had been driving backward for years because of a front wheel failure.)
Mission managers have cautioned that Spirit may never extricate itself from Troy, as the troublesome area of Mars has become known. But the rover, along with its more mobile twin Opportunity, has long outlived its original assignment. Tapped for three-month missions on the Red Planet, both Spirit and Opportunity will mark their six-year anniversaries of reaching Mars early next year.
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8 Comments
Add CommentI am shahab daneshmandi M.D from iran. From one month
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisago I am sending reiki energy to recharge solar panels of
rover spirit from the earth. I follow your researches over the
mars and I will countinue sending reiki energy till you become successful to make the spirit free.My email is opse77@yahoo.com I will be happy if there is any help that
I can do.
Sincerely
S.daneshmandi M.D
I went to look over the problem. Yes, it's pretty stuck there all right. I would give it a push, but my ethereal form only stirs some of the littlest dust bits. ;)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisForward into the past!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am thrilled at every positive step, no matter how small, such a remote decision buffered teleoperation challenge presents. Almost every move would be the wrong one in such a situation even without communication delays. This is almost like a chess game. Hope nothing breaks or wears out in the tedious process. Keeps me interested, no matter what the outcome shall be.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wonder if they have tried going back down the slope until they are out of the soft spot and then just going around it? I'm sure it's easier said than done but what they are doing does not seem to be working.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFirst of all why does this craft have such small wheels on it? Everyone on earth knows if you want an all-terrain four-wheeled drive vehicle, all-terrain lawn mower, all0-terrain off road vehicle, etc. you have large wheels with knobs for grip. Something of the inflatable nature would work best. It doesn't seem like a lot of thought was put into the actual event of driving around on martian soils. Too many engineers involved maybe. Just like the goofy mistakes made when designing a car, ingenuity, engineering, and most of all common sense tactics and applications work best.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm amazed at how small the wheels are on this craft. Most people know if you want something for off road on earth you use a larger wheel with large knobs. Preferably sometype of inflatable works best but on Mars it might be a different story. On earth when you take vehicles, trucks, Personal all-terrain vehicles, bicycles, etc. off road you want large knobby tires for grip and tires that won't get stuck very easily. You need the old common sense application on Mars the same as you have on earth. Ingenuity, engineering, and common sense applications make for a rover that won't ve getting stuck in an inch of sandy material. Larger tires with knobs for grip. Come on guys.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJust wait until word comes back that "someone" has come along to help! Of course, the camera would be pointed in the wrong direction.
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