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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."
I've had worse.
I don't think their hardware meet Vista's specs.
Then I remember a story Spider Robinson told about a cheap digital watch that died on him. He was pretty pissed off, but then he remembered that:
a) it was originall a Crackerjack prize or some other freebie.
b) it was 5 years into it's projected one year battery life.
At this point he gave it a solemn memorial service and kept it in a revered place (I think he may have buried it).
Whenever they finally die, I hope that they find an honored place in whatever museum the future Mars colonists decide to set up.
R2.0
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
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
The NASA engineers always triumph!
I think its great that the mars rovers lasted as long as they have. when you consider the failed mars mission attempts, spirit and opportunity are huge successes that have long outlasted their expected lifespan. The new mars orbiter "MRO" is sure to provide more information about the surface of mars, and possible landing sites for even more capable landers in the future. my question to /.ers is this: should we be focusing so much on mars or should we be looking toward other possible outposts/life harboring worlds like europa. and the new horizons mission to pluto - a waste of time, or an exciting new learning opportunity?
personally, i doubt life will be found on mars. and i'm doubtfull any significant life will be found anywhere in our solar system. but, we are natural explorers who will continue to explore, even with a bum wheel.
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.
Doesn't really LOOK like it's free spinning:
1 /2F195698779EFFAQ15P1210L0M1.JPG
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/2/f/78
Hmmm, typical NASA project, 21 months late and far over budget. :)
Oh well, what the hell...
What do you expect? The rover has lasted *8* times longer than design. That's the equivalent of driving 400,00 miles on tires rated for 50,000 miles. It's a heck of an accomplishment and I can only applaud the terrific job the design engineers and builders did.
My tricycle had training wheels.
Actually, having recently heard a talk with people from JPL I can tell you why. They went with brushed motors because it was what had been previously used and was, therefore, seen as a safe option. For future robotic missions they plan on using brushless motors.
It's not that simple. The rovers are full of fairly sophisticated sensor packages, most of which can't handle the extremely low temperatures on the Martian surface. They need the batteries to basically, well, run the heater.
The principle investigator for the missions has written a book, "Roving Mars", that really is worth the read.
They stopped using the wheel about a year ago for a while because it was having problems as if the lubricant was wearing off, and it indeed did *not* free-spin when power was not sent to it. They simply dragged it around by running the rover backward. They found it easier to control the rover by dragging the bum wheel rather than by pushing it. They only used the wheel for close-up control when rocks were being targeted. Eventually it started working properly for a while, and now won't turn at all. It does not appear they have a "free spin" mode. Dragging is it.
i t01.html
I beleive they have a video about the last time the wheel was left dragging. They did some test-bed simulations of an Earthly rover copy. Page down to the "Driving Uphill Backwards" portion, about half-way down the page:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/video/spir
Table-ized A.I.
It is so interesting that we leave tire tracks on other planets. They may be that the first signs of life we find, or that other beings find.
Imagine the tension if we found ourselves face-to-face with a foreign martian rover!