Nov 13
NASA to Attempt to Free Stuck Mars Rover
Posted in: NASA, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
After several months of deliberation and research–much of which looked fun, at least from here–NASA will begin transmitting commands to its Spirit Mars Rover in an attempt to free the five-year-old robot from its Martian sand trap.
The rover has been stuck since April 23rd; engineers are expecting the process to take a while, and no one is sure if they will be able to free Spirit for good.
“This is going to be a lengthy process, and there’s a high probability attempts to free Spirit will not be successful” said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a statement. “After the first few weeks of attempts, we’re not likely to know whether Spirit will be able to free itself.”
NASA researchers will transmit some commands, and then evaluate the results the next day as the rover sends back data. From there, researchers will make adjustments, and then keep going with more commands. Here’s hoping.
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