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Mars Rover Spirit Down a Wheel

riflemann writes "NASA is reporting that two years into its 90-day mission, Spirit has lost one wheel and is now running on five wheels, dragging the broken wheel. With this reduced mobiity, the rover still needs to make its way to a slope where it can catch enough sun over the Martian winter to keep it operating. 'Even though the rovers are well past their original design life, they still have plenty of capability to conduct outstanding science on Mars.', says project leader Dr. John Callas."

22 of 272 comments (clear)

  1. Tis but a scratch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've had worse.

    1. Re:Tis but a scratch by metricmusic · · Score: 5, Funny

      A scratch? Your wheel's off!

      We thank thee Lord, that in thy merc-

      --
      http://www.livejournal.com/users/metricmusic
  2. Still a tossup - Rovers dead before Vista released by SpaceLifeForm · · Score: 4, Funny

    I still believe both rovers will be alive
    when and if Vista is ever released.

    --
    You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
  3. Re:Still a tossup - Rovers dead before Vista relea by therage96 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Aha, but will they still be functioning when Duke Nukem Forever gets released? I mean, 2514AD is a long ways away!

  4. Re:Still a tossup - Rovers dead before Vista relea by GKThursday · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't think their hardware meet Vista's specs.

  5. Only lost 1 wheel? pfft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    If a dog can walk on two legs you better hope this thing keeps going, otherwise it's pretty embarassing.

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=OZqVvYkCe68

    1. Re:Only lost 1 wheel? pfft by archen · · Score: 5, Funny

      Actually I used to have a dog with two legs. I named him cigarette. Ever day I'd take him out for a drag.

      heh, sorry.. had to make the joke...

  6. C'mon ya pansy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The NASA engineers always triumph!

  7. Conversation I never Overheard by Black+Copter+Control · · Score: 5, Funny

    Martian1: It broke it's leg. I say we shoot it and put it out of it's misery.
    Martian2: nah. It seems to have such a drive for life.

    --
    OS Software is like love: The best way to make it grow is to give it away.
    1. Re:Conversation I never Overheard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
      Martian3: How come neither of you knows how to use apostrophes correctly?

      /shoots martians 1 and 2

  8. 2 years into a 90 day mission... by HermanAB · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hmmm, typical NASA project, 21 months late and far over budget. :)

    --
    Oh well, what the hell...
  9. Late Breaking News: by iced_773 · · Score: 4, Funny

    A sense of triumph swept our fair red world today when reports came in that the Grand Army of the Council had damaged one of the robotic invaders from the evil blue planet. K'Breel, speaker for the Council of Elders, made the following comment:

    This was a great victory in our war with the evil blue planet. While we have only impaired the horrid machine's movement, we will continue to strike until it and its dreadful twin are pools of molten metal.

    When a journalist suggested that the terrible monstrosity had merely worn out one of its locomotive rotators, K'Breel had the traitor's gelsac mutilated immediately.

    Apologies to TripMaster Monkey.
  10. Shoulda got the AAA Extended Service Plan by slickwillie · · Score: 4, Funny

    100 mile free towing too!

  11. Re:Great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    My tricycle had training wheels.

  12. The Truth... by Tatarize · · Score: 4, Funny

    They made Spirit and Opportunity do some battlebot stuff. And well, Spirit is a puss.

    --

    It is no longer uncommon to be uncommon.
  13. Pfft, try just ONE leg... by ChePibe · · Score: 4, Funny

    This little guy seems to make it on his own just fine on one leg. Although, admittedly, he'll prob'bly never take him a wife.

  14. Pit Stop by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hopefully at the next Pit Stop the guys that are wiping down the solar panels will also jack it up and change out the wheel.

    Ten seconds! Go!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  15. Re:At first read, I get dissapointed by livewire98801 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Scotty: 8 weeks, sir

    Kirk: Mr Scott I-

    Scotty: But you don't have 8 weeks, so I'll do it for you in 2

    Kirk: Mr Scott, have you always multiplied your repair estimates by a factor of four?

    Scotty: Of course, Admiral, how else can I keep my reputation as a Miracle Worker?

    Kirk: Your reputation is secure, Mr Scott.


    If I recall, this dialoge was in ST:3, but I'm not sure of that.

    --
    "He may be mad, but there's method in his madness. [...] It's what drives men mad, being methodical." G.K.Chesterton
  16. I am saddened... by rice_burners_suck · · Score: 4, Funny
    ...to hear that the rover has lost a wheel,
    though pain it does not feel.

    Now it limps along the Martian soil,
    alone in a great vastness of red sand and rocks.
    I hope it reaches the top of the slope,
    else alas for naught will it toil.
    For in that vast desert there's no telephone box.
    Nor much chance for hope.

    Like the injured lone explorer,
    Oh! What a horror!

    it will suffer its demise,
    Alone on that alien world,
    Its nearest neighbor far away,
    as no one hears its cries.
    The wrath of Mars is unfurled,
    And there alone will it lay.

  17. One Wheel Dragging? by Derling+Whirvish · · Score: 3, Funny

    One wheel dragging huh? Must be that the Mars rovers are manufactured by the same company that make the shopping carts for Walmart.

  18. Re:Still a tossup - Rovers dead before Vista relea by flyingsquid · · Score: 3, Funny
    To be fair the rovers were lucky to land in areas with lots of whirl-winds to clean them. If it was not for the whirl-winds the rovers would probably be paper-weights by now.

    Well, future rovers could carry around little Roombas to run around and vacuum off the top of their solar cells.

  19. Overtime? by DeadboltX · · Score: 3, Funny

    "NASA is reporting that two years into its 90-day mission"

    Talk about overtime, you think the rover gets time and a half now?