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Mars Rover Stuck in a Dune

Posted by Zonk on from the get-out-and-push dept.

Bamfarooni writes "The NASA Mars rover Opportunity has gotten stuck in a dune, buried up to the hubs of the wheels. While they haven't given up yet, it doesn't look good for the little guy who's now 359 days into the extended mission." From the article: "The Mars machinery had been cruising southward across the open parking lot-like landscape of Meridiani Planum, full of larger and larger ripples of soil. Opportunity has been en route to its next stopover, Erebus crater, nestled inside an even larger crater known as Terra Nova."

7 of 497 comments (clear)

  1. More info by Cyclotron_Boy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There's discussion on the Mars Rover Discussion Board and again. It seems careful Rover Watchers noticed that it hadn't moved in a few days, and started to wonder why. Apparently NASA had to say something, because people were asking questions.

    1. Re:More info by The+Angry+Mick · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I wonder why the soil is caking on the wheels? I would think that even ultra fine sand wouldn't do that unless there was some form of moisture.

      --

      I'm not tense. I'm just terribly, terribly, alert.

    2. Re:More info by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There's no caking, what you are seeing is the disturbed sand in the shadow of the rover -- it's a heap of sand on the ground (disturbed no doubt by the rover spinning it's (back) wheels) and the presense of the shadow and the wheel in the 2 dimensional picture makes it look like (at first glance) that the sand is stuck to the wheel.

      The right wheel (from the perspective of the picture) is perfectly clear. The left wheel looks to be in motion to me.

  2. Re:Dune, my ass by TCQuad · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My bet is that its grounded on the wreckage of Beagle II. :)

    I was going to dismiss this out of hand, but FTA, Opportunity did find two small craters right before running aground. The cause?
    They could have been created by an object from space that was large enough to make it through the martian atmosphere without burning up.

    And, let's not forget:
    "Given that these two craters haven't been covered by sand even though they are surrounded by sand ripples on a flat plain lends support to the idea that they're fairly recent."

  3. Terrestrial Simulations by QuantumFTL · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wouldn't worry too much about this one - the engineers are already using the engineering test rovers to test possible means of escape here on earth. The test rovers have proven invaluable in the past for modelling such complex situations (where computer models would be unlikely to be of much help).

    The rover had made it many kilometers, I don't a little sand dune is going to stop it. All the scientists I've spoken to about this seemed optimistic (which was not how they felt about the spirit anomoly back in January 2004) so... I'm not worried just yet.

    Does make for some very cool pictures though!
    -- Justin

  4. Re:That sucks, but they got their money's worth by barawn · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Or did they really expect the rover to last this long and simply said it was a 90 day mission in order to cover their tails?

    Ding ding ding, we have a winner. All NASA probes are typically given a very short lifetime and very modest expectations, engineering them for much larger goals. Easier to request money from Congress that way, and also less of a PR disaster if something goes wrong.

  5. Some suggestions to get UNstuck... by qualico · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Being an avid 4x4'er and no stranger to getting stuck, the best suggestions are this:

    1. Do *not* make things worse by spinning the wheels and digging yourself *in* further.
    (You're not rushing so you know this already, but certainly don't spin the wheels)
    2. Try to wiggle/dig *out* some clearance between your undercarriage and the sand. The more contact points you have the more friction you need to overcome. (After exhausting all options you may want to use the arms to remove as much sand from around the wheels and undercarriage as is possible. This may ruin the scientific instruments on those arms, but at least you'll better your chances of getting out.)
    3. Straighten your wheels as much as possible, but also try to match the entrance route.
    (noticed in the picture that one of the wheels is perpendicular to the track line, not a great way to get out.)
    4. Use your highest gear and slowly without tire spin, REVERSE!
    (It's usually best to go the route you came from, *not* visa versa because you've compacted the sand and you don't want to "plow" anymore)
    5. If that is difficult, ROCK the house! Rocking back and forth to create a space to give momentum on the way out is a great way of "punching" through the hard spot. Again, the reverse route is usually the best choice to rock out of. Give one last good pendulum type run at it when you're ready to try to bust out. Rocking forward then at the pinnacle, rock with all you have backwards.
    5. Use time to your advantage; keep working at it with the above. You don't want the sand to settle like cement though, so don't just sit there. Further those pesky dust devils may fill your tracks.
    6. Perhaps you can use gravity to your advantage on a slope.

    I'd wish you good luck, but there is no such thing as luck.
    There's only statistically calculated coincidence.

    So good "statistical calculating"!