Mars 2 Billion Years Ago
Mars Rover 2004 AD
Posted on 10/17/2004 1:07:30 AM PDT by billorites
Winter on Mars is a cruel season.
Nights are long. The sun is a shrunken orb, appearing half its size from Earth. With temperatures plunging to a heart-stopping minus 175 degrees, there is little relief from the alien chill.
What lies ahead is even worse: dust storm season, when howling, planet-wide siroccos can claw at the surface and choke the atmosphere.
NASA's twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been operating in this brutal environment since they landed on Mars in January.
And it shows.
Solar panels are covered with dust, cutting power by a quarter. Spirit's right front wheel turned balky, forcing controllers to drive in reverse, dragging the wheel behind like a gangrenous leg. Two temperature sensors on Opportunity are out, and a heater on its extension arm has been stuck in the on position since its January landing.
After notching a series of scientific successes, including finding proof that water once flowed on the Red Planet, the rovers are growing creaky with age.
Rover Project Manager Jim Erickson compares them to "a middle-aged man playing softball who should be in better shape. He's more susceptible to pulling a muscle."
Or dropping dead of a heart attack. This month, Spirit was brought to a dead stop by steering problems; luckily, when controllers tried later Spirit responded as if nothing was wrong.
In fact, Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists have already begun preparing for the inevitable end of the $835-million mission.
"We have two precious assets on Mars that the taxpayers bought," Erickson said. "The best answer of what to do with them is run them into the ground."
< SNIP >
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Getting every drop out of the little buggies. =o)
Typical of all taxpayer-funded Government programs.
Indeed! :-)
You would rather turn them off early?
Actually if they ran true to form of government they'd cost three times more and last half as long
Check this out:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1247692/posts
No. Not unless we could fire the legion of goobermint "scientists" using their data.
I am one of those simple-minded people that wonder WTF we are spending nearly a billion bucks on the study of Mars for in the first place.
Sad but true.
Where are the little green men? I need to know!
Turn over a rock. Find a Luddite.
Still wish they had put a windshield washer on the solar panels...
In truth, they have performed spectacularly well.
Many of us will go to our graves wondering what the damn mushroom thingies are.
Maybe a few of us will find out.
Breck Girl: "I think it can be said that if Senator Kerry is elected, those two rovers would get out of their wheelchairs and start walking!"
Nothing remarkable about water, but there's something remarkable about water on Earth.
Here the temperature is at the triple point of water. Water exists as a solid, liquid and gas simultaneously.
Not likely a common occurrence in the universe.
Name just one. Or are you talking out of you behind.
I am one of those simple-minded people that wonder WTF we are spending nearly a billion bucks on the study of Mars for in the first place.
Just maybe to learn more about this solar system, planetary formation in general, and ultimately more about our own Earth and its origins.
"simple-minded people"
QED :P
J/K lol!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.