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Long-lived Mars Rovers to Keep on Roving

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the getting-to-be-nerd-mascots dept.

An anonymous reader writes with a link to a ComputerWorld article about the ongoing saga of the Martian rovers. They've overcome amazing obstacles and they show no signs of shutting down any time soon. "'After more than three and a half years, Spirit and Opportunity are showing some signs of aging, but they are in good health and capable of conducting great science,' John Callas, rover project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement. Since landing, the rovers have had to surmount a host of technical issues. Just a few weeks after landing, the Spirit rover had an out-of-memory problem that almost ended its mission before it began, but scientists were able to get the rover back into operation. In April 2004, both needed software updates to correct problems and improve their performance."

6 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. Anyone who gives NASA a bad rap... by rah1420 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    should read the story of these two amazing machines. There's a lot that's wrong with NASA but there's so much that's right, too -- and this is proof positive.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens.
  2. NASA succeeds or fails... by jhines · · Score: 4, Insightful

    in a spectacular fashion. Either extreme, it is rare that a mission is routine.

  3. Re:Just think.. by no_pets · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Probably about a month and a half. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't.

    --
    "A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." - Shepard Book Quoting Malcolm Reynolds
  4. Repeatable? by thesupermikey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We have been seeing articles like this for 3 years now. That is great, the more positive talk about a NASA project the better.

    The thing that always seems to be missing is: why did these two robots continue to work so well, and, how do we go about repeating their success?

    --
    Mikey
    I've always been the kinda guy to fall for the girl dressed like an eskimo.
  5. Give the Engineers credit... by NoSpamPlease · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...but scientists were able to...
    Just a pet peeve of mine. No scientists were involved in rescuing the rovers. Engineers did all the work, and deserve all the credit for the immense success and longer duration of this mission. Scientists deserve the credit for the science that we get from them. The success of the rovers depends entirely on Engineers.
  6. Re:Manned Exploration is a Waste by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Space exploration isn't just about science or nationalism. It's also about humanity and it's desire for exploration. What's the point of learning all about the cosmos unless we can somehow put it to use for humanity? And part of that science is the effect of space travel and other-world habitation on humans. Eventually, humanity will be living out in space, and we will be better and richer for it.

    I consider that a fine investment of my tax dollars.

    --
    Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.