A BROKEN wheel has left NASA's Mars rover Spirit in danger of being marooned over winter. "We need to drive like hell and get to the hills before the winter sets in," says Steven Squyres of Cornell University, New York, principal investigator for the rovers.
Spirit needs to find a north-facing slope to maximise the sunlight falling on its solar panels during the coming Martian winter. There are hills only 100 metres away, but the broken wheel is making progress slow.
Squyres says the rover could ride out the winter on nearby "lily pads", his term for areas angled towards the sun. That would ensure survival, but little more. To continue its scientific tasks such as remote sensing, moving the robotic arm and sending data back to Earth, Spirit needs more power, and for this it must reach the hills.
”To keep working, the rover needs more power, and for this it must reach the hills
To cope with earlier wheel problems, the rover team honed a strategy of dragging a damaged wheel for 90 centimetres, then switching it on for 10 centimetres. "You create a pile of dirt and then drive over it," Squyres says. That won't work now. "We may have to learn to drive all over again."
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.
