NASA concedes defeat with Spirit

jumpguy

The US space agency (Nasa) has conceded defeat in its battle to free the Spirit rover from its Martian sand trap.

The vehicle became stuck in soft soil back in May last year and all the efforts to extricate it have failed.

Nasa says Spirit, which landed on the Red Planet just over six years ago, will now live out its remaining days as a static science station.

The robot geologist has taken thousands of images and found evidence in Mars' rocks of a wetter, warmer past.

"Spirit is not dead; it has just entered another phase of its long life," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars exploration programme at Nasa headquarters in Washington DC.

"We told the world last year that attempts to set the beloved robot free may not be successful. It looks like Spirit's current location on Mars will be its final resting place."

Spirit was one of two rovers Nasa landed on the planet in the January of 2004. The second vehicle, Opportunity, continues to roll freely on the surface.

Spirit was targeted at the 170km-wide Gusev Crater, a near-equatorial location in the southern hemisphere that orbital images had suggested might once have held a giant lake.

The investigation of this watery history got off to a slow start. Spirit initially found rocks that had undergone very limited alteration by exposure to moisture.

It was only after a 2.5km drive to nearby hills that the instrumented robot discovered rocks and soils that had experienced extensive exposure to water.

Nasa has spent more than $900m on its Mars Exploration Rover programme, from design through to current operations. It is currently spending about $20m a year on current activities.

The data acquired by the vehicles has generated about 100 scholarly papers, including special editions of the leading international journals Science and Nature.

So that's the end of that. It's stuck in a position that is not favourable to generate power when the Martian winter comes along. Time will tell if it survives...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8481798.stm

syklops

im not being flippant but they couldnt drive Oppertunity to Spirits location and try to push it free?

Or would they be afraid it might get stuck aswell?

Captain Chaos

syklops wrote: »

im not being flippant but they couldnt drive Oppertunity to Spirits location and try to push it free?

Or would they be afraid it might get stuck aswell?

It's too far away, the rovers are no where near each other considering the speeds they move at.

Plus both rovers have performed their jobs many times over. They were only expected to last 90 days, not 6 years. It would be a waste to try and free it becuase of the risk and the time it would take from Oppertunity even if it could get to it which could take months as far as I know.

Spirit can now do experiments that can only be done by remaining stationary for long lengths of time. Like using radio waves to map under the Martian surface and measure the magnetic field of the planet.

jumpguy

syklops wrote: »

im not being flippant but they couldnt drive Oppertunity to Spirits location and try to push it free?

Or would they be afraid it might get stuck aswell?

For all the reasons Captain Chaos said tbh...also, lets say they did get Opportunity to Spirit, what'd they do then? They don't have a wrench or anything (and even if they did, who'd attach it to the other rover?), they can't ram them because they'll damage them, and if one pushs the other, Spirit will be pushed out of the trap, and Opportunity into the trap!

djhaxman

jumpguy wrote: »

For all the reasons Captain Chaos said tbh...also, lets say they did get Opportunity to Spirit, what'd they do then? They don't have a wench or anything (and even if they did, who'd attach it to the other rover?), they can't ram them because they'll damage them, and if one pushs the other, Spirit will be pushed out of the trap, and Opportunity into the trap!

Bad choice of vowel, my friend.

I've heard of bitches from hell, but never wenches from Mars.

AtomicHorror

It's a shame that Spirit won't drive again, but it's still active and can still do some science. It's been running on Mars for 6 years, which is so very impressive. If the rover can stay alive till May as they expect it will, I don't think anyone can feel short changed.

Hauk

I think the lifetime the Rovers have survived is a testament to the engineering and design minds at Nasa. Well done to those guys. It's not sad, it's a victory.

It is still able to deliver valuable scientific information, and Opportunity is still pottering about on the surface.

Remember, every crest, every hill, every hole these little rovers peer into is stuff that has never been seen before, and I love it.

When the Mars Science Laboratory gets there, I hope those two little rovers are still at work, regardless of being stationary or not.

ynotdu

Thanks for the update Jumpguy.Yep six years and more to come if they can get its solar panels to face a bit more north during the Martian winter,now ya would'nt get value like that even at Lidl or Aldi!:)

Opportunity ironicly is heading towards a crater called Endevour as the Space Shuttle Endevour is sitting on a pad due for a launch on Feb 7th,Its date is to be confirmed today Jan 27th,i'm sure yous know it has had some problems with the tranquility node/ Cupola module it is to deliver to the ISS.

Rock on Spirit&Opportunity!

Anybody got good links to the rovers pictures????
They use to be easy to find but not so much anymore.{NASA were naughty too and color enhanced them sometimes!}

Hauk

ynotdu wrote: »

Thanks for the update Jumpguy.Yep six years and more to come if they can get its solar panels to face a bit more north during the Martian winter,now ya would'nt get value like that even at Lidl or Aldi!:)

Opportunity ironicly is heading towards a crater called Endevour as the Space Shuttle Endevour is sitting on a pad due for a launch on Feb 7th,Its date is to be confirmed today Jan 27th,i'm sure yous know it has had some problems with the tranquility node/ Cupola module it is to deliver to the ISS.

Rock on Spirit&Opportunity!

Anybody got good links to the rovers pictures????
They use to be easy to find but not so much anymore.{NASA were naughty too and color enhanced them sometimes!}

http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/all/

There ya go. All raw unprocessed. Just choose your sol and have a look. They're great

djhaxman

Hauk wrote: »

http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/all/

There ya go. All raw unprocessed. Just choose your sol and have a look. They're great

Nice find, Hauk.

Hauk

No problem. Enjoy

ynotdu

Hauk wrote: »

http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/all/

There ya go. All raw unprocessed. Just choose your sol and have a look. They're great

Thanks Hauk,from what i have seen already from the link it should be compulsory viewing for ALL Space/Astronomy nuts!:)

EvilMonkey

XKCD comic


Hopefully they can keep Spirit going after the winter there is still some useful experiments they can do stationary.

lord lucan

Here's the latest about Spirit and Opportunity. Looks like a lost cause for Spirit unfortunately.:(

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1003/31spirit/

Beeker

lord lucan wrote: »

Here's the latest about Spirit and Opportunity. Looks like a lost cause for Spirit unfortunately.:(

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1003/31spirit/

Shame but it did outlast its predicted life. Roll on Opportunity:)

lord lucan

Latest on our 2 little friends on Mars here:http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1005/20marsrecord/

lord lucan

They still haven't given up hope!

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1007/19spirit/

riptide

The dust reduces the efficiency of the craft's fixed solar arrays. Occasional gusts of wind blow dust off the solar panels, giving the rovers a jolt of electricity.

But the fortuitous wind gusts aren't common in winter, and if Spirit's solar panels have collected more dust since March, the rover could face a master clock fault.

From the link... what winds are they talking about?

lord lucan

riptide wrote: »

From the link... what winds are they talking about?

Mars does have its own weather. It has defined summer and winters with huge variances in temperatures.It gets very strong winds on a regular basis. It even has clouds and dust storms are a regular occurrence.It's very interesting actually.:)

djhaxman

lord lucan wrote: »

Mars does have its own weather. It has defined summer and winters with huge variances in temperatures.It gets very strong winds on a regular basis. It even has clouds and dust storms are a regular occurrence.It's very interesting actually.:)

Indeed. The dust storms on Mars are so large they sometimes cover the entire planet and can last for months. It's something that will have to be looked into if there's to be a manned mission there.

http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/mars/mars-dust-storms/

ynotdu

djhaxman wrote: »

http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/mars/mars-dust-storms/

Cheers dj for the link, i went to its homepage and decided it was too good a site not to add to My favourites,think that brings me up to about 200 space related sites to keep an eye on now !:eek:

*I used to be normal ya know!:o:o:o*

Beeker

Waiting for ET Spirit to phone home:)

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1007/30spirit/

lord lucan

Beeker wrote: »

Waiting for ET Spirit to phone home:)

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1007/30spirit/

I love the way they talk about them like they're their children!:)