Credit: NASA / JPLThe 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.
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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.
I keep getting this image of a sad little robot, stuck in the sand.
ReplyDeletePoor thing...
You had better be clapping.
ReplyDeleteI'm clapping!
ReplyDeleteI 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)