Mars Rover in peril!

NASA is hoping for a 'miracle from Mars' as mission controllers wait to hear from Spirit. The rover is trying to survive its toughest winter yet, and may never phone home again.

spaceweather.com...

en.wikipedia.org...

On July 26, mission managers began using a paging technique called "sweep and beep" in an effort to communicate with Spirit.

"Instead of just listening, we send commands to the rover to respond back to us with a communications beep," said John Callas, project manager for Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "If the rover is awake and hears us, she will send us that beep."

"It will be the miracle from Mars if our beloved rover phones home," said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program in Washington. "It's never faced this type of severe condition before - this is unknown territory."

science.nasa.gov...



It seems that even NASA now are resigned to the fact that it might be the end of the line for the Spirit rover after a particularly hars Martian winter this year. Spirit had previously gotten itself stuck in soft soil and unable to move in May 2009, although it couldn't move it was still performing what tasks it could. But NASA have not heard from Spirit since March this year.

Although somewhat expected this is rather sad news, Spirit has performed well and operated much further than it was initially intended too. Spirit has given us some magnificent pictures of the red planet and some invaluable science.

All the Spirit updates.
marsrover.nasa.gov...

Here is a photo of the original landing site.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f9df56e382e1.jpg[/atsimg]

[edit on 31-7-2010 by pazcat]

reply to post by pazcat


Spirit was a great little rover , sending back far more interesting pics than its sister Opportunity , IMHO.
We should celebrate its longevity and mourn its loss , and of course look forward to the next generation of Mars rovers

reply to post by gortex


I couldn't agree with you more, Spirit has left a good legacy.
But we shouldn't forget that Opportunity is still operating and heading for Endeavour crater i believe.

[edit on 31-7-2010 by pazcat]

reply to post by pazcat


Awe poor little Spirit. I always liked the pics from Spirit, some of my favs are from this rover.

You never know it could respond, didn't something respond recently that NASA thought was lost or no longer working? I think I read something like that on here but I can't remember any details.

I think that we should hold a minutes silence for the poor thing.

I think I'll send a condolance card to NASA

Just think of all the fun that was had because of the Spirit rover. Mainly just from pictures of rocks, but of course it was always going to be open to speculation.

Here is a couple of the more famous photos that Spirit has captured. OK they are only rocks but I am sure all will recognise them.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/0ba26f8fa536.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ec233d685f9f.jpg[/atsimg]

Much fun was had.

[edit on 31-7-2010 by pazcat]

I request the mods to have Spirit join William One Sac as much loved people who have been lost.

reply to post by BSG75


Well NASA hasn't called time of death just yet on Spirit but i would definitely think a tribute would be in order when the time comes.
Infact I may spend some time next week making a more comprehensive thread about Spirit. I am certain there is much that i can dig up, it will be fun.

xkcd: Spirit

reply to post by pazcat


Ahhhh...where, oh where is John Lear when you need him?

I recall his (and others) saying that there are teams of "secret space corps" astronauts on Mars, able to access the Rovers ( among other things ) to sweep off the dust, change the batteries, etc.

Guess they're too busy erasing the features from the "face" in Cydonia??

reply to post by Saint Exupery


Please remove that link. I burst into tears at the end of the panels.

What do other people think? Will the old girl come back? I wonder if NASA will say anything on their site or in a press release if we send them.

reply to post by BSG75


You know i wouldn't be surprised at all if they announced it dead and then in 5 years or something somebody picks up a mysterious signal from Mars that after much headcratching turns out to be Spirit. Probably not all that likely but you never know.

@ weedwhacker

Yeah, I wonder what that crowd would have to say. Of course some would still maintain that.

It was a very well engineered piece of machinery. Unfortunate to see it go but it far exceeded it's service life on an alien world no less. Probably when we go to Mars some day it will find itself in a museum.

reply to post by GoldEagle


I wonder...about the "museum" thing.

Which is better? Leaving it (them) in situ as a sort of 'protected' artifact...preserved for posterity.

OR...your idea, of bringing back to Earth? (One would have to assume that there was sufficient technolgy to actually accomplish such a frivolous task...that there was enough energy/advanced propulsion system, etc).

It's like the Apollo sites...THEY can just be thought of as museums, already...and in place.

Not to mention, all the other stuff laying about...other space craft, intentionally crashed...the Eagle LM was left in orbit in 1969, but that would have decayed long ago, and its impact site completely unknown, as of yet.

I guess at least for a few generations, it won't be a big problem!!

But some day, some century...somebody's going to want the land that 'X' is sitting on, for some reason....'history' be damned.

Originally posted by BSG75
reply to post by Saint Exupery

 

Please remove that link. I burst into tears at the end of the panels.

What do other people think? Will the old girl come back? I wonder if NASA will say anything on their site or in a press release if we send them.

One day, one day, man NEEDS to go to mars. These rovers DESERVE our best effort to reach mars in our lifetimes and bring them back to assume their rightful place in the Smithsonian. They may just be machines, but we've learned so much about Mars thanks to them, they're our teachers, our instructors, and an inspiration to kids everywhere. Fortunately it's not like they're going anywhere, they'll be waiting for us, but I will deeply disappointed if we either fail to go in my lifetime or fail to make them a priority at some point during the program that gets us there. Like Surveyor 3, let's bring at least something of them back, and preferably the whole package.

Originally posted by weedwhacker
reply to post by GoldEagle

 

OR...your idea, of bringing back to Earth? (One would have to assume that there was sufficient technolgy to actually accomplish such a frivolous task...that there was enough energy/advanced propulsion system, etc).

It's like the Apollo sites...THEY can just be thought of as museums, already...and in place.

Well even Apollo made it a priority to retrieve a part of a lander we had previously sent there. It also served as a test of our ability to conduct a precision landing while still using terrain that wasn't too difficult to negotiate. Why not do the same thing for Mars using one of the rovers as a goalpost? Perhaps they'll decide we don't need to test our ability to do a precision landing by then, our computer technology being as advanced as it is, but we've never landed a man in such a thin atmosphere before and our robotic landings have been hit and miss. I think one of the MER rovers would serve a great double-purpose, just as Surveyor 3 did.

reply to post by ngchunter


Yeah...I saw your bit about the Smithsonian....still, this is a decision many decades down the road.

It really will come down to weighing (pun intended) the cost of lifting the mass of one or both Rovers and transporting them back here.

Dunno how this will play out...might be an interesting fiction story to incorporate, though?

reply to post by weedwhacker


What is the latest news in our missing friend?

Question to Mods: Can we make Spirit an honoury member of ATS? Anyone second my application?