[meteorite-list] Mars Rover May Have Lost Power for Good

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:07:34 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201011170107.oAH17YWO016955_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2010/11/16/mars-rover-may-have-lost-power-good

Mars Rover May Have Lost Power for Good
The Cornell Daily Sun
By Yusnier Sonora Lopez
November 16, 2010

"Spirit" - one of two rovers sent to Mars in Jan. 2004 as part of the
Mars Exploration Rover Mission - has failed to relay information to
Earth in over eight months, despite hopes from NASA that springtime
sunlight on the Red Planet would recharge its batteries. According to
reports, this could mean that Spirit has finally lost power, without
means of recharging.

But Cornell researchers heavily involved with the project remain optimistic.

"The Spirit hasn't died; we haven't heard from it, but we suspect it is
still alive and we are waiting to hear from it," said Prof. Steve
Squyres '82, astronomy, lead investigator for the Mars Exploration Rover
mission.

NASA received the last communication with Spirit March 22, when it was
expected the vehicle would spend the Martian winter in hibernation.

Along with the rover Opportunity, Spirit has been collecting data since
January 2004, far surpassing the initial 90 days that the Spirit was
guaranteed to rove. The solar cells in Spirit are stacked in three
layers, allowing them to maximize their energy efficiency. This
technology has proven to be more effective than that used in the Mars
Pathfinder mission of 1996, which lasted three months.

In 2007, after dust storms blocked sunlight to the rovers, scientists
assumed that the solar cells would not be able to collect enough energy
to power Spirit. Once again, the quality of the solar cells surpassed
people's expectations, as the rovers survived the dust storms and
eventually resumed operations.

In May 2009, Spirit was caught in a soft sand pit named Troy, where it
has remained since that time.

Squyres said that the stationary situation of the Spirit was a good
thing because it would allow scientists to study the rotation patterns
of Mars through space. Squyres said that they could "track [Spirit's]
radio signal to determine [Mars'] motion through space."

Regardless of the fate of Spirit, NASA has no intention of halting
future missions to Mars, according to Squyres.

"There is another rover that is being launched next year," Squyres said.
"This will represent a bigger opportunity as a mission, but I will have
a much [more] minor role compared to my role in the current MER mission."

"Generally speaking, the most important thing that we have learned from
the rovers is that even though Mars is cold and dry today, in the past
it was warmer and wetter, with liquid water on the surface," said Squyres.
Received on Tue 16 Nov 2010 08:07:34 PM PST