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

Re:Incredibly silly headline

[Anonymous Coward]

"Spinning its wheels" is technically what wheeled vehicles do while in motion, but idiomatically, it refers to wheelspin on sand/snow/etc. that doesn't result in forward/backward motion. It's commonly used as a metaphor for futile action, and so when the literal case turns out to be beneficial, the result is a mildly amusing headline. To use your example, it's more like "people kept alive by breathing water", in that it's the opposite of what you'd expect.

And one should add

[Sycraft-fu]

The rover was designed for a 90 day mission. If it made it to Mars operational, and was capable of operating for 90 (martian) days, the mission was a success. Here we are, years later and it is still working. It isn't as though this is a panic "Oh no we have to save the mission!" kind of thing. Rather, this is another step to see how long they can extend a tremendously successful mission. Even if the rover dies tomorrow, it will have far surpassed any expectations set for it.

Also of note is that Opportunity, the other of the two rovers launched, is currently trucking along towards a crater they want to look at.

Re:And one should add

[selven]

Was it really designed for 90 days? It could be that the only way they could sell it to Congress was if they told them that they only had to pay for technicians for 3 months.

Re:Incredibly silly headline

[mea37]

I agree, except you also have to realize that they're using "move forward" idiomatically, in that this idea may keep the rover functioning longer but will increase the chance that it is stationary for the remainder of its functional lifetime.

Proof of the tenacity and ingenuity of humanity

[preaction]

7 years ago we put together a robot designed to survive a journey off of our own planet (secured to a fireball), through the vacuum of space (oxygen-breathing life need not apply), land on another planet (falling from miles above the surface) about which little is known (and nothing about the proper tire to use in a martian dust-pit). This tiny robot was hoped to survive for 90 days. It has survived for more than 2,500 days. This tiny moment of reflection brought to you by the You Really Are Alive In A Great Period of History Foundation.

Re:Heh

[couchslug]

"You know what the solution to this problem is? Send more rovers. Lots more. If we had a spare rover near Spirit, we could probably have it roll over and give Spirit a tow..."

We could afford to send MANY more unmanned missions (not to rescue other unmanned missions...yet) if we weren't spending a disproportionate amount of money on the romantic adventure of sending meat tourists into space. If the public want romance, let them fap to science fiction.

We are wasting resources that could be advancing the vital robotic capabilities we REQUIRE ANYWAY to explore the universe.