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Mars Rovers Alive Until 2005?
maggeth writes "The BBC is reporting that negotiations are under way to extending funding for the Mars rovers beyond this September. Originally designed to work for 90 Martian days, they now predict they may last well beyond the 250 Martian days they had announced previously." hoferbr writes "A new analysis by Phil Berardelli at the United Press International quotes Steve Squyres, chief scientist for the Mars rover mission, in which he says that the Mars rovers '... could go into 2005'. Spirit and Opportunity will complete six months on the Martian surface on July."
Okay, did some searching and found that at a press conference he said that the reason a mechanism was not made to clean the panels was that any ones that they could think of were not worth the extra weight that would have to be added for that mechanism.
I forget the title of the Arthur C. Clarke story, set on the moon, but it presaged another part of the problem, here.
But basically, if you whisk off the solar cell panels with a broom, you have to worry about static electricity buildup. It's just possible that by wiping the solar panel, you'll build up a static charge and attract even more dust.
Of course this possiblity suggests another possability - some sort of static device to repel the dust, so you need no moving parts, beyond deployment.
Or you just estimate the dust accumulation rate, the solar panel degradation due to that, and the design lifetime of the mission. Then make the panels sufficiently oversize to accomodate, and live with it. Don't forget that one rover already has a bum wheel, so other things are showing wear and tear besides the panels.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.