2009 15 Nov

Spirit Rover Ready to Take…Those Sunken Wheels… [Mars]

…And learn to roll again, roll again so free. Sure, Spirit is stuck in sand and senile, but that doesn’t mean he’s down and out. NASA is ready to free Spirit from the sand and put him back to work.

At least, that’s the plan. Really they’re expecting much from their efforts. Even though NASA has spent half a year planning how to get the rover out of the lose sand it’s stuck in, every step will be dependent on what happens during the previous one. Right now NASA only has six forward rotations of Spirit’s wheels planned. They anticipate extreme slippage, and will have to reevaluate the next steps once that first miniscule motion is completed.

If work continues at that pace, it’s easy to see why escape efforts are planned to last until 2010. Even if Spirit can’t get out of the sand trap that swallowed it, there’s still plenty of good the rover can do while stationary. Just know that, whatever happens, we’re all pulling for you little buddy. [Network World via Slashdot]