The preliminary results from the first extrication drive for Spirit on Sol 2088 (Nov. 17, 2009) indicate the rover stopped less than 1 second after it began, sensing more vehicle lateral tilt than permitted.
A tight limit on vehicle roll and pitch of less than 1 degree change was set for this first drive. As the rover began its first move, it sensed that its roll was outside the allowed limit and safely stopped the drive.
[...]
The attempt to extract Spirit from the Martian sand trap is expected to take weeks or months, with uncertain probability of success.
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I think this is one of those Peter Pan moments where we all need to start clapping if we believe that robots on Mars can pull themselves out of slippery sand.
3 comments:
I keep getting this image of a sad little robot, stuck in the sand.
Poor thing...
You had better be clapping.
I'm clapping!
I believe in little robots!
You can do it, Spirit!
(Actually I'm going to clap when I'm done with this comment - it's really difficult to clap and type at the same time)
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