The deck of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is so dusty that the rover almost blends into the dusty background. Image credit: NASA/JPL
Posted on 11/12/2008 12:33:36 PM PST by chessplayer
The craft is dangerously low on power because of dust covering its solar arrays. News of the problem comes a day after NASA declared an end to the Phoenix polar mission.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
After the lunar landings, the Mars Rover program has been the most successful to date.
It’s Bush’s fault and Martian warming that’s doing it ... email Obama to get it to stop!
TO get to the other side only to have Nasa say it's mission was over, so please die an ignoble death and sit for eternity in a desert after enduring months of dust storms and sub-zero temperatures.
Sounds like Spirit needs a bailout.
“After the lunar landings, the Mars Rover program has been the most successful to date.”
Yup. I hope it survives, but it`s power levels are even lower than they were during the last big dust storm. And it`s so close to making it`s 5th anniversary. I`m especially fond of the Spirit rover because it landed at a higher latitude than Opportunity. Getting less sunlight than Opportunity, it`s had a tougher road to hoe to survive.
I’ve seen videos from the rover of dust devils moving across its’ cameras’ field of view. It is really cool to know that there is an atmosphere there capable of picking up dirt and hurling it around. It reminded me of the deserty areas of California where I’d seen similar dust devils: Modesto, Buttonwillow, US 395.
amazing it has lasted this long..
That other piece expired officially , the Mars Phoenix Lander thingy,, that was a quick pop.. pooof. like Beagle2 almost .. at least it scooped and scanned some stuff before it croaked.. it lasted 2 months longer than they thought it woudl..
Both rovers have far outlived their expectations and are (and are recognized as) a tribute to the engineers who designed and assembled them.
Like the Viking landers before them, they were designed for a limited life, and like the Vikings, they smashed all expectations.
How long were they supposed to keep going?
IIRC, their original design lifespan was 90 days.
the last time, I recall, winds CLEANED OFF the solar panels.
You remember correctly. My father was instrumental in getting a Viking imager repaired in time to meet the launch window, so I’m glad they lasted as long as they did.
BTW, we have a great shot of the JPL parking lot from that camera. I’ll try to dig it up and post it somewhere for fun.
Very bad news. I love those Rovers. A larger one is going to Mars in ‘09 if I’m not mistaken. But I hope the Martians send some wind over Spirit’s way to clean off the panels.
I’m just poking fun. They were to last maybe 2 to 3 months (IIRC), and have in fact far exceeded expectations.
Sorry. I get emotional about my Mars landers. It’s a family thing.
“NASA’s speculation on the dust accumulation rate over time was initially born out as Spirit’s battery power dropped off during its mission. By early March 2005, for example, the rover’s solar panel efficiency had decreased to 60%. The following day, however, efficiency suddenly jumped up to 93%. The reason for the rapid improvement was discovered to be dust devils that swept over the rover and blew the panels clear of debris. A similar situation occurred when the rover’s power generation had plummeted to 40% but a strong wind cleaned the panels of dust and raised efficiency back to 93%. Several of these so-called “cleaning events” have been encountered by both rovers allowing them to produce far more power for much longer periods than originally anticipated.”
http://aerospaceweb.org/question/spacecraft/q0298b.shtml
I hope Spirit gets lucky again and another gust of wind clears it`s panels of dust.
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