13.5.09

Stuck Spirit

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Further to her recent slippages, it seems that Spirit has become stuck in loose soil. Following several days of unsuccesful attempts to get free, the MER team have decided it would be wiser to perform some Earth-based experiments before proceeding, as former Rover manager Mark Adler relates here.

This isn't without precedent - Opportunity became briefly stuck in 2005, but Opportunity has always been the more healthy rover, and with a disabled wheel and some issues with communication to add to Spirit's woes, I'm sure there must be a fair few worried parents back at mission control.

2 comments:

gnome said...

Phew... so glad I turned that NAS job down. I wouldn't be able to handle the stress.

Zhoen said...

Sucks to slip.