NASA Mars Rover Spirit May Move Forward By Spinning Its Wheels

coondoggie writes "As NASA celebrates its Mars rover Spirit's sixth anniversary exploring the red planet, it is hunting for a way to keep the machine, which is mired in a sand trap, alive to see a seventh year. On its Web site, the space agency this week noted there may indeed be such an option. That option would be spinning the wheels on the north side of Spirit, letting it dig in deeper in the Martian sand but at the same time improving the tilt of the rover's solar panels toward the Sun."

Comments

Incredibly silly headline

[Vyse of Arcadia]

That ranks up there with "People kept alive by breathing."

HillBilly Engineering at its Finest

[Anonymous Coward]

Floor it!

Re:HillBilly Engineering at its Finest

[Nerdfest]

I'm not fully versed in the hillbilly vernacular, but I believe the appropriate idiom is "Give 'er".

Re:Heh

[CarlDenny]

Except then you're putting all your eggs in one basket if there's a landslide that drags them both down, a sandstorm that prevents solar charging, or a problem on landing.

Maybe if we sent up two identical rovers, but dropped them off independently at different points on the planet?

Re:Let's start digging then...

[sopssa]

In Earth it wouldn't, but it's a different matter in space. The dust wont be falling down but just flow all around the rover, since theres no gravity.

This looks like a job for Tiger Woods

[Torodung]

[NASA is] hunting for a way to keep the machine, which is mired in a sand trap, alive to see a seventh year.

Ah. The real reason for Tiger Woods' leave-of-absence.

--
Toro

Re:Design

[petsounds]

All they had to do was play Moon Patrol to figure that out.

Re:Heh

[az26er]

In English, Carter...