Mars Rover Spirit May Never Wake From Deep Sleep

astroengine writes "After repeated calls from NASA to wake up Mars Exploration Rover Spirit from its low-energy hibernation mode, mission control is beginning to realize the ill-fated robot may never wake up again. After getting stuck in a sand trap in Gusev Crater and then switching into hibernation in March, rover operators were hopeful that the beached Spirit might yet be saved. Alas, this is looking more and more unlikely. In a statement, NASA said: 'Based on models of Mars' weather and its effect on available power, mission managers believe that if Spirit responds, it most likely will be in the next few months. However, there is a very distinct possibility Spirit may never respond.'" Related xkcd strip, in case the headline wasn't anthropomorphic enough for you.

Comments

On the bright side...

[Titoxd]

Those were the longest 90 days ever. Good job to everyone all around, although I imagine it will be a bit weird for the rover team to all of a sudden not have a rover to take care of...

Re:On the bright side...

[eln]

As it turns out, declining the Mars endorsement on their AAA coverage was a fatal mistake.

Well, just send the sys admin

[Anonymous Coward]

He can go reboot it, right? I know it is the weekend, but it's obviously part of his job duties.

Or the onion article

[Wolvenhaven]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/mars-rover-beginning-to-hate-mars,2072/

RIP little buddy

[Anonymous Coward]

Sad that people are taking so little notice. The two rovers may be the greatest achievement of mankind to date. Lasting this long is beyond heroic. They may be robots but they have both shown a stubborn determination that is impressive for man or machine. He'll be missed and I think we all wish his brother well. They'll be decades going over the data generated but the two lonely robots, one now apparently sleeping for all time.

Re:RIP little buddy

[dtml-try MyNick]

Wish I could mod you up 10 times.

The majority of people haven't got the slightest idea that A: these robots even exist and B: even if they do what kind of achievement it is.
The scale and precision of this operation is mindboggling.

The distances, the numerous variables and sensitivities involved is something that I, as just a layman, can't even begin to comprehend.

But I can sit back, read and watch about it and for once be proud of the human race. Be in awe what good and positive things, however hard they might be, we as humans can accomplish if we really set our minds to it.

Re:RIP little buddy

[nacturation]

The two rovers may be the greatest achievement of mankind to date. Lasting this long is beyond heroic. They may be robots but they have both shown a stubborn determination that is impressive for man or machine.

Speaking of which: http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/

"On June 28, 2010, Voyager 2 completed 12,000 days of continuous operations since its launch on August 20, 1977. For nearly 33 years, the venerable spacecraft has been returning unprecedented data about the giant outer planets, the properties of the solar wind between and beyond the planets and the interaction of the solar wind with interstellar winds in the heliosheath. Having traveled more than 21 billion kilometers on its winding path through the planets toward interstellar space, the spacecraft is now nearly 14 billion kilometers from the sun. Traveling at the speed of light, a signal from the ground takes about 12.8 hours to reach the spacecraft."

I should have such ill-fate

[sphealey]

> "After repeated calls from NASA to wake up Mars Exploration Rover
> Spirit from its low-energy hibernation mode, mission control is beginning
> to realize the ill-fated robot may never wake up again.

I would wish to have such ill-fate as exceeding my predicted lifetime by a factor of 10x and accomplishing 20x more than believed possible within that lifetime.

sPh

"ill-fated?"

[Joehonkie]

I don't think "ill-fated" is a term you would use for something that performed far beyond expectations.

Re:Awwwww...

[NeutronCowboy]

For that reason, one of the best XKCD strips ever. Not every comic is gold, but this one is pure gold on a number of levels.

Human nature

[PinkyGigglebrain]

I was involved with this project when the rovers where still being built. When you build or are otherwise involved in something you really believe in like this you can't help anthropomorphizing them.

To most its just a machine, a worthless hunk of metal, but to those who put there hearts and souls into this program those rovers are almost as precious as children. Its part of human nature to imbue objects with an identity, a soul, just look at how people treat cars, plans, boats, etc..

Sprite and Opportunity carried more than just a bunch of electronics to Mars, they carried the dreams and hopes of all those who choose join it in its journey.

To those, like myself, who consider the rovers to be more than the sum of their parts it will be a very sad day when Sprite is officially listed as dead. And to those who would laugh at us because they can't care for anything beyond themselves or limit their love to only humans, I pity you.

Disney|PIXAR

[MadGeek007]

Sounds like a plot for a Disney|PIXAR movie. WALL-E meets Sleeping Beauty?

the re-write

[ChipMonk]

Someone re-captioned it, and Randall Munroe is hosting it.

I think they both work.

Re:Sigh!

[DerekLyons]

Spirit isn't stuck in the sand. It's hung up on a rock. The wheels cannot get any traction.

Partly right, partly wrong. She's hung up on a rock because she got stuck in stand - and attempts to drive out only dug her in deeper until she became hung up on a rock.

Grr, both summary and story are misleading

[ScottMaxwell]

We never particularly expected to hear from Spirit before this coming October +/- 1 month, making the suggestion that we're "beginning to realize she might never wake up again" more than a little misleading. According to our best models, the energy levels on Mars are just barely reaching the point where Spirit might wake up for even a few minutes a day, and hearing anything from her at this point would be a great stroke of luck. Have patience. She's there.

I understand that NASA is trying to manage expectations, but their way of doing it is bad management that needlessly demoralizes the team. My own personal expectation is that we damn well will hear from Spirit, and after a certain recovery period she'll be moving on Mars again.