Stuck Spirit Rover Moves!
Written by Nicholos Wethington
The Spirit Rover, which has had its wheels stuck for 145 Martian sols, has finally moved! Though she's far from being extricated from her current position, this is the first time that she's budged in quite a while. The Mars rover driving team is working on ways to get Sprit out, and this recent move was just them getting Spirit's wheels in alignment for an upcoming procedure to free her from the sand trap she's stuck in. But it's a start!
As Emily reported over at the Planetary Society Blog, this is the "First drive sequence in 145 sols", according to the rover driver Scott Maxwell on Twitter. The team is getting ready to start extricating Spirit.
The rover team has been working diligently on ways to get Spirit free from the sand that the rover has been stuck in since April. Given that the rover has been having memory problems - the most recent was October 30th – this will be an extraordinary challenge.
Here are some more animations of Spirit's most recent move:
This is from Spirit's forward hazcam, from sols 2078 and 2079. You can see the buried wheel in the bottom left portion of the image. Credit: NASA / JPL / animation by Damien Bouic
Spirit's right rear hazcam from sols 2072 to 2078. Image Credit: NASA / JPL / animation by fredk
NASA will be giving out further details of their plan at a press conference this Thursday, November 12th , so be sure and check back here for more specific information on the escape plan for Spirit!
Source: Planetary Society Blog
Tags: Mars, Spirit RoverRelated stories on Universe Today
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7 Responses to “Stuck Spirit Rover Moves!”
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November 9th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
It's ALIVE!!!
November 9th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Go Spirit!!
November 9th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
It's time to GO !
November 9th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Just MAN UP Spirit! I'm sick of you feeling sorry for yourself! Get your butt moving.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:46 am
Ooo, that's a trifle harsh Astrofiend.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:47 am
Next time, they'll buy a AAA policy.
November 10th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
The animation makes it look like they've chosen to rotate horizonatlly the stuck wheel to dislodge material inside the rims and compact the soil below? Or perhaps a 'sculling' motion is being attempted? Let's roll this rock!