NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is doing better this month after a Martian wind blew away some of the dust that has accumulated on its solar panels, increasing their electrical output, according to NASA. Spirit’s daily energy supply has risen by about 30 watt-hours—defined as the amount of energy used to power a 30 watt light bulb for one hour—from 210 watt-hours to 240. The rover uses about 180 watt-hours per day for basic survival and communications, the report said, so the increase doubles the power available for driving and using instruments to perform science.
“We will be able to use this energy to do significantly more driving,” said Colette Lohr, a rover mission manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., in a statement. “Our drives have been averaging about 50 minutes, and energy has usually been the limiting factor. We may be able to increase that to drives of an hour and a half.” Both rovers are still operating on the planet after five years. Spirit was the same rover that experienced a temporary glitch a few weeks ago. (Via Slashdot)
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