Mars Rover, Spirit, Turns 4

Brandee07 writes "Designed for a 90 day mission, the Spirit Mars Rover is starting its 4th year of exploration. Spirit's sister-module, Opportunity, will turn four on Jan 25. 'We never thought we'd still be driving these robots all over Mars,' said Mark Lemmon, a planetary scientist at Texas A&M University and member of the rover science team. 'We joked about driving Opportunity into Victoria Crater, but now we're there, and we're looking at doing even more science. Each day they still work is an amazing one.'"

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[MyLongNickName]

Title: Mars Rover, Spirit, Turns 4
Summary: ""Designed for a 90 day mission, the Spirit Mars Rover is starting its 4th year of exploration"

"Beginning 4th year" is not the same as turning 4.

You start your 2nd year of life when you turn 1.

Re:Happy Birthday!

[Cally]

Spirit is in a bad way; unlike Opportunity, which has had several recent cleaning events and is still generating 650Whr/day, Spirit's solar panels have been steadily acculumulating dust ever since it left the crest of Husband Hill and descended into the dust-trap valley containing Home Plate. It's just been parked an over-wintering site right on the northern rim of Home Plate, which was picked because it allows up to a 25 degree northward tilt, turning the solar panels perpendicular to the sun and wringing every last watt from it's light. Spirit may survive the winter, but it's by no means certain. We do now know that the rovers can survive on less than half the official "rover death" power levels, because both made it through the global dust storm. Spirit's power levels should bottom out around 125Whr in (I think) about four months' time. It's going to be touch and go. With luck we may get another two earth years from her. Oppy, on the other hand, is still going strong. If some major mechanical failure turned it into a stationary weather-station vehicle, rather like Viking, it could conceivably last another five years - until the batteries finally lose capacity.