Mars rovers keep exploring Red Planet

**Adam** · 2nd January 2006, 11:56 AM

Quote:

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The warranty expired long ago on NASA's twin robots motoring around Mars.

In two years, they have traveled a total of seven miles. Not impressed? Try keeping your car running in a climate where the average temperature is well below zero and where dust devils can reach 100 mph.

These two golf cart-sized vehicles were only expected to last three months.

"These rovers are living on borrowed time. We're so past warranty on them," says Steven Squyres of Cornell University, the Mars mission's principal researcher. "You try to push them hard every day because we're living day to day."

The rover Spirit landed on Mars on January 3, 2004, and Opportunity followed on January 24. Since then, they've set all sorts of records and succeeded in the mission's main assignment: finding geologic evidence that water once flowed on Mars.

Part of the reason for their long survival is pure luck. Their lives were extended several times by dust devils that blew away dust that covered their solar panels, restoring their ability to generate electricity.

Like most Earth-bound vehicles, these identical robots have their own personalities.

The overachieving Opportunity dazzled scientists from the start. It eclipsed its twin by making the mission's first profound discovery -- evidence of water at or near the surface eons ago that could have implications for life.

The rock-climbing Spirit went down in the history books by becoming the first robot to scale an extraterrestrial hill.

Last summer, it completed a daredevil climb to the summit of Husband Hill -- as tall as the Statue of Liberty -- despite fears that it might not survive the weather.

The rovers haven't been all get-up and go -- technical hiccups have at times limited their activity, even from the start. At one point, Spirit had a balky front wheel, but engineers overcame the problem by driving it in reverse.

Last spring, Opportunity got stuck hub-deep in sand while trying to crest a foot-high dune, and was freed after weeks of effort by the Earth-bound engineers.

Signs of aging
The six-wheeled travelers, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, also are showing signs of aging. In November, a motor on Opportunity's robotic arm stalled and the arm failed to extend while it was surveying a rock outcrop. The engineers fixed that problem after two weeks.

This mission is the first time any probe has extensively rolled across Mars, whose rocky landscape is a dangerous place for man-made objects to settle and roam.

There have been four previous Mars landings that succeeded. Of those, NASA's stationary Viking 1 lander operated the longest, from 1976 to 1982. NASA's Sojourner was the first rover, but it stayed close to its Pathfinder lander.

Spirit and Opportunity parachuted to opposite ends of Mars. Spirit landed in Gusev Crater, a 90-mile-wide depression south of the Martian equator.

Opportunity followed three weeks later, touching down on Meridiani Planum on the other side of the planet.

In two years, Spirit has traveled over three miles and beamed back 70,000 images including self-portraits and panoramas of the rust-colored planet's surface. Opportunity has driven over four miles and transmitted more than 58,000 images.

Three times NASA has extended the rovers' mission, spending an extra $84 million on top of the $820 million original price tag.

While both rovers have discovered clues of ancient water, they also have found evidence of a violent past that might have prevented some life forms from emerging.

Piecing together a definitive history of Mars is far from over, scientists say, as the rovers head to their next destinations to explore more rocks and minerals.

Spirit recently descended Husband Hill and is driving toward a basin that holds geologic promise.

Opportunity is rolling to an enormous depression known as Victoria Crater that is thought to hold more clues about the planet's past.

"Rock layers are the barcode of Mars history," said John Grotzinger, a science team member from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"Every time we encounter new layers, it's another piece of the puzzle."

**Adam** · 2nd January 2006, 11:57 AM

Dust devils video on Mars

**Ezekiel** · 2nd January 2006, 02:22 PM

Since they are there (and still working despite the odds) they should continue to fund it appropriately.

Who knos what they could find "tomorrow?"

Mapper · 2nd January 2006, 05:52 PM

Geesh, That movie sure is spooooky.

Thradia · 3rd January 2006, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Since they are there (and still working despite the odds) they should continue to fund it appropriately.

Who knos what they could find "tomorrow?"

Well said. It's completely amazing that the rovers lasted this long in the first place, they should think of that as a type of sign and keep at it until the things die. It's a lot of money to keep them going, but worth it in my opinion.

2nd January 2006, 11:57 AM	#2
Adam Lead Administrator Owner Join Date: Oct 1990 Posts: 6,014 Gold: 66,546 Thanks: 49 Thanked 571 Times in 187 Posts	Re: Mars rovers keep exploring Red Planet Dust devils video on Mars Get your own personal forum Like these ones - Personal forum listing Bored @ work? Play in our arcade! Useful Tips on how to use UOForums Open your own blog

2nd January 2006, 02:22 PM	#3
Ezekiel Wycorp--Dwarf Hunter Join Date: Jul 2005 Shard: Area 52 Posts: 2,504 Gold: 82 Thanks: 0 Thanked 8 Times in 6 Posts	Re: Mars rovers keep exploring Red Planet Since they are there (and still working despite the odds) they should continue to fund it appropriately. Who knos what they could find "tomorrow?"

2nd January 2006, 05:52 PM	#4
Mapper Europa for the win! Join Date: Jul 2005 Shard: Europa Posts: 286 Gold: 5 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Mars rovers keep exploring Red Planet Geesh, That movie sure is spooooky.

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