Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/01...ver-spirit.html
The Mars rover Spirit is likely stuck permanently, NASA says, and the space agency will prepare it to hibernate over the Martian winter.
NASA said Tuesday that its engineers have given up trying to free the Spirit from the loose sand where it has been trapped since April.
"[spirit's] driving days are likely over," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars exploration program, but "science will continue."
Engineer Ashley Stroupe said they will attempt to jostle the rover in place and angle its solar panels to increase its chance of surviving the Martian winter.
Spirit will hibernate for the winter and shut down communications with Earth. The hope is that the rover will wake up in the spring and continue its mission, albeit as a stationary Mars lander.
John Callas, the project manager for the Mars exploration rovers program, said Spirit can go without contact with Earth for up to six months and still reactivate.
"The bottom line is we're not giving up on Spirit. Once springtime comes … we have exciting science planned," said astronomer Steve Squyres of Cornell University.
Winter in the southern hemisphere on Mars, where Spirit landed, will begin May 13. Spring will come again Nov. 13.
Spirit was sent to Mars on Jan, 3, 2004, while a companion rover, Opportunity, landed 21 days later. The rovers were to explore the Red Planet on a mission that was only to last 90 days. In 2005, Spirit scaled a hill on Mars as tall as the Statue of Liberty. Opportunity continues to explore the surface of the planet.
