Mars Rovers: 6 years

[HomeBrewerDude]

UPDATE: Nasa has officially decided that Spirit is now a stationary platform. Weather and water cycle observations are now its primary objectives.
http://arstechnica.com/science/news...g-mars-as-opportunity-takes-time-to-drill.ars

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/index.html


original post:
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Spirit is still operational, but currently and possibly forever stuck in a sand drift:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20091231a.html

...but the current stand still gave rise to the discovery of evidence of geothermal steam vents:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/02dec_troy.htm?list46156

Oppurtunity is still going:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20091125a.html

current immediate target:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gall.../B2056_navcam_1N310709068EFFA9NAP1973L0M1.jpg

UPDATE: Nasa has decided that Spirit is now a stationary platform. Weather and water cycle observations are now its primary objectives.
http://arstechnica.com/science/news...g-mars-as-opportunity-takes-time-to-drill.ars

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/index.html

 

[FelixDeCat]

I wish we would fund more missions like this. I think this has been one of the best examples of government spending I can point to. Also, I think they should send one Mars Rover to extricate the other. Yes, I know they would be too worried about both getting stuck, but its worth a try IMO.

 

[SaltBoy]

I wish we would fund more missions like this. I think this has been one of the best examples of government spending I can point to. Also, I think they should send one Mars Rover to extricate the other. Yes, I know they would be too worried about both getting stuck, but its worth a try IMO.

Not a bad idea. After all, they were both expected to last, what, 30 days each?

 

[FelixDeCat]

Not a bad idea. After all, they were both expected to last, what, 30 days each?

Exactly. But you know those wacky scientists still wouldnt risk stranding both units, even though if you did the math - it just might work.

 

[destrekor]

We need to do a Moon Rover for that possible lava tube vent thing they found. See if there is anything down there.

 

[ViviTheMage]

damn, there's nothing othere...it looks like iowa, but desert.

sweet gif.

 

[OutHouse]

6 years, that is just amazing.

 

[lxskllr]

I love way Mars looks. It's awesomely bleak and desolate. Looks like a perfect home :^D

 

[DaveJ]

I love way Mars looks. It's awesomely bleak and desolate. Looks like a perfect home :^D

It ain't the kind of place to raise your kids.

 

[lxskllr]

It ain't the kind of place to raise your kids.

Yea, it's cold as hell.

 

[Slick5150]

I wish we would fund more missions like this. I think this has been one of the best examples of government spending I can point to. Also, I think they should send one Mars Rover to extricate the other. Yes, I know they would be too worried about both getting stuck, but its worth a try IMO.

They're on opposite sides of the planet. It could never get there.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

NASA officially decided to change Spirit's mission objectives:

Weather and water cycle observations are now its primary objectives.
http://arstechnica.com/science/news...g-mars-as-opportunity-takes-time-to-drill.ars

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/index.html

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

NASA officially decided to change Spirit's mission objectives:

Weather and water cycle observations are now its primary objectives.
http://arstechnica.com/science/news...g-mars-as-opportunity-takes-time-to-drill.ars

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/index.html

 

[irishScott]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/spirit.png

That said we'll eventually colonize Mars and pick it up, at which point Spirit will live on in a museum somewhere. So the story has a happy ending of sorts.

 

[ussfletcher]

While I was working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (where the rovers were built, designed, and are controlled) They were working pretty hard on getting this thing unstuck. They had a full size mock up of Spirit stuck in a pile of sand, sitting at a perfect angle. Basically.. they were really having an issue where they would tell the rover to move and its sensors would kinda make it difficult, because the wheels were spinning. So it was a very delicate process to try to get it to move forward without digging itself deeper in.

What was more amazing is the Mars Science Laboratory, go check that thing out... comes in on a sky crane and is lowered to the surface via a tether. It was pretty far in construction when I saw it... its huge too, almost the size of a mini-cooper as opposed to the current ones which are like the size of power wheels.

This was Sept.- Dec. 09

 

[TheVrolok]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/spirit.png

That said we'll eventually colonize Mars and pick it up, at which point Spirit will live on in a museum somewhere. So the story has a happy ending of sorts.

Adorable xkcd. Makes me sad for the lil guy.

 

[surfsatwerk]

Adorable xkcd. Makes me sad for the lil guy.

Yep I felt the same way when I read it. And then I felt a bit like a soulless monster because I haven't had any reaction to the tens of thousands dead in Haiti. But grief at the suffering of a cartoon robot has to count for something... right?

 

[guyver01]

What a MARS Rover may look like:

 

[TheVrolok]

yep i felt the same way when i read it. And then i felt a bit like a soulless monster because i haven't had any reaction to the tens of thousands dead in haiti. But grief at the suffering of a cartoon robot has to count for something... Right?

qft.

 

[Bl0cks]

Can't believe it has been 6 years already, I remember following this when they were first launched. And to think that they predicted it wouldn't even last a couple months.

 

[Jeff7]

...
What was more amazing is the Mars Science Laboratory, go check that thing out... comes in on a sky crane and is lowered to the surface via a tether. It was pretty far in construction when I saw it... its huge too, almost the size of a mini-cooper as opposed to the current ones which are like the size of power wheels.

This was Sept.- Dec. 09

I'm definitely looking forward to MSL. Hopefully it doesn't have as much trouble with fine, loose soil. There sure won't be any problems with dust accumulating on solar panels though.

And let's hope that skycrane thing works as advertised.

 

[BUTCH1]

While I was working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (where the rovers were built, designed, and are controlled) They were working pretty hard on getting this thing unstuck. They had a full size mock up of Spirit stuck in a pile of sand, sitting at a perfect angle. Basically.. they were really having an issue where they would tell the rover to move and its sensors would kinda make it difficult, because the wheels were spinning. So it was a very delicate process to try to get it to move forward without digging itself deeper in.

What was more amazing is the Mars Science Laboratory, go check that thing out... comes in on a sky crane and is lowered to the surface via a tether. It was pretty far in construction when I saw it... its huge too, almost the size of a mini-cooper as opposed to the current ones which are like the size of power wheels.

This was Sept.- Dec. 09

Hopefully the wheels who's motors have failed can "freewheel" and not lock in place. Really a fine job in designing and building these machines and a validation for robotic based research in general. I, for one don't think we should try to send humans to mars until we have a propulsion system that can get them there and back in less than 6 months, expecting complex systems needed for manned missions to last for years is asking for a tragedy in space IMO..

 

[Jeff7]

Hopefully the wheels who's motors have failed can "freewheel" and not lock in place. Really a fine job in designing and building these machines and a validation for robotic based research in general. I, for one don't think we should try to send humans to mars until we have a propulsion system that can get them there and back in less than 6 months, expecting complex systems needed for manned missions to last for years is asking for a tragedy in space IMO..

No dice on that. They fail, they stay put.
That's why Spirit's been reclassified - it's got two dead wheels now, and they're preventing it from getting every last bit of traction it would need in order to (slowly) get itself out of this loose soil.
Giving the wheels that ability may have increased complexity, which generally means that there's one more thing that can go wrong, as well as an increase in weight. They had some pretty substantial time, space, and weight constraints on these things.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I find the concept of the rover to be pretty awesome. It's like an adult version of a toy remote control with a camera, and it's on the moon! Guessing it has quite a lot of various sensors and stuff to get other data. Really this is probably the best way possible to study different planets/spacial bodies without having to send someone who is stuck out there for long.

I definably say they send more, maybe they could get a couple on mars and if they can launch satellites in the proper orbits they could maybe even cover other planets though think going beyond would get very challenging due to how far they'd have to send signals. The moon is the closest thing to us and think there is actually like a 12 minute lag for any command sent / data received.

 

[sandmanwake]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/spirit.png

That said we'll eventually colonize Mars and pick it up, at which point Spirit will live on in a museum somewhere. So the story has a happy ending of sorts.

No, eventually we'll enter a new Dark Age, forget about Spirit, rise up technologically again, send a new probe to Mars, find Spirit, and some people will decide it's proof that there was intelligent life on Mars who wiped themselves out somehow while the future government will classify and deny all existence of Spirit. Similar to what happened with the Dropa disks.