Mars Rovers Get Extra 18 Months

iamlucky13 writes "NASA has stated in the latest mission press release that funding for an additional 18 months of exploration has been approved. The rovers have breezed through 14 months of operation so far, and the money will cover expenses through September of 2006. The rovers are still operating well, and recently both experienced dramatic power boosts from their solar cells. They are no longer like new, however. Opportunity has recently experienced data loss from one of its spectrometers, while Spirit has a smudged camera lens, a heavily used rock abrasion tool, and has previously struggled with intermittent steering issues."

Comments

Well..

[Flounder]

At least SOMETHING is getting enough funding in NASA.

Re:Well..

[mboverload]

Only because it holds the public's interest.

Pathetic.

Steve: "Oh, hey bob, no one cares about voyager anymore, so lets just scrap it!"
Bob: But it will be the first man made object ever to be in interstellar space! It will be the first transmission from out of our solar system!
Steve: Will there be any pictures?
Bob: Thats not the point
Steve: But what are we supposed to show on TV?
Bob: ........
Steve: For motherland Russia!
Bob: WTF? I thought this was NASA?
Steve: err..um..I mean, bring me that beer and hamburger! Time for Monday Night Football!

Re:Well..

[Rei]

Incorrect. It's not an arbitrary distinction whatsoever. The region where the solar wind drops below the speed of sound is called the "termination shock". Just like how on an aircraft, differences between supersonic and subsonic regions of flow create strong turbulent artifacts, so will happen with the solar wind (which is charged, meaning that it produces electromagnetic radiation when its path is changed). More significantly, at the heliopause, another issue arises: charge. The heliopause is where the solar wind balances out the pressure of the interstellar medium. Do the charged particles collect there, and if so, how densely? This could have profound effects for any kupier belt (or beyond) missions, as well as our models of solar system formation. Heck, we don't even know how far out the termination shock and heliopause are (and they're not in constant locations, as the sun is moving with respect to the local interstellar medium; the shape is something like a comet). Despite what we don't know about it, we do know this: the heliosphere is the source of the most powerful radio waves in our solar system - more than 10 trillion watts. By the way - it was Voyager who first detected these emissions.

After the heliopause comes the heliosheath, which has its own set of properties which are largely unknown. It's the area where the solar-influenced material blends into the interstellar medium (and getting any data on the interstellar medium would be a great boon for astronomy)

why?

[R.D.Olivaw]

"Mars Rovers Get Extra 18 Months"

why is that? Did it try to escape or something?

Most successful ever?

[Pants75]

In terms of science per dollar these two babies have got to be the most effective probes ever sent to another planetary body. Surely

Shame that our British version was ever so slightly less successful. *Sobs*

Rear hazard-avoidance camera?

[sdo1]

From the quote under the picture in the article...

"This image is from the rover's rear hazard-avoidance camera"

What, are they worried about something sneaking up on it from behind?

-S

Re:Rear hazard-avoidance camera?

[MichaelSmith]

What, are they worried about something sneaking up on it from behind?

If a wheel develops a problem during the life of the rover it may be necessesary to drive it backwards.

Also, these robots, like many others, spent a lot of their time getting too close to hazards and having to reverse away, so being able to see behind you is pretty important.

And another thing ... a good way to measure how far you have gone is to take a picture of your tracks. This makes it easy to integrate your movements and calculate your new position

Really nice new

[MaDeR]

I like both rovers. :) But I think they get more funding because of "to moon, _mars_ and beyond" thing. If NASA want to fulfill this goal, then must gather as much information as possible about Mars. I like idea of human presence on Moon and Mars, but not for price of cutting other succesful projects like Voyager.

Re:Really nice new

[Eminence]

• I like idea of human presence on Moon and Mars, but not for price of cutting other succesful projects like Voyager.

I don't like the idea of scraping Voyager too, but if we really get to the Mars the amount of technology developed and overall advancement of space exploration would make another long distance probes more likely than not.

In other words, if we go to the Mars we may some day go beyond our system but if we don't then surely not.

Re:Well, it's difficult to answer that

[jeffy210]

Frankly, Voyager is useless now, and money used to fund that project could be going to more worthwhile projects like the JPL rovers. The Voyager project was never meant to measure data outside of the solar system, but rather to gather data on the gas giants and outer planets. They accomplished that a long time ago.

Yes, but tell me, when is the next time we'll have a probe that far out in say, oh, the next 20-30 years?? While we're out there and it's sending data we might as well gather it. All data is new data that can be used. And as for "the original mission", don't forget the rovers were only supposed to be for about 90 days and look how much they've done.

The truth ...

[tomhudson]

Spirit has a smudged camera lens, a heavily used rock abrasion tool, and has previously struggled with intermittent steering issues."

Blurring vision, dulled senses, unable to go in a straight line ...

... the robots are frigging DRUNK!

.

.

FOR SALE

[jmrobinson]

'03 Spirit Rover

odometer: 0000003 miles
abrasion tool slightly dulled
slight steering problem
needs a good buff
runs great!
Asking $15,000,000 OBO

Re:Good value...

[LordPixie]

Incremental costs of running them must be a bargain. Great to see how well these things were made.

One can basically say the same about the Voyager probes. But that doesn't seem to have saved them from being eyed for downsizing.


--LordPixie

Re:Well, it's difficult to answer that

[UrgleHoth]

Frankly, Voyager is useless now

Useless?

"For the past two years or so, Voyager 1 has detected phenomena unlike any encountered before in all its years of exploration. These observations and what they may infer about the approach to the termination shock have been the subject of on-going scientific debates. While some of the scientist believed that the passage past the termination shock had already begun, some of the phenomena observed were not what would have been expected. So the debate continues while even more data are being returned and analyzed."