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January 26, 2010
After more than six years of exploring the Martian landscape, NASA announces that the Spirit will no longer roam the hilly nooks and crannies of the Red Planet. But the NASA team puts a upbeat spin on the news that the rover is now a stationary research platform: “Spirit is not dead,” says Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program. “It has just entered another phase of its long life.”
Spirit can do a lot of science at its fixed position (this panoramic image shows its final view). NASA hopes that it will examine the sulfur-rich soil previously churned up by its wheels, and will study winds and the Martian atmosphere. The rover can also inspect the planet’s rotational movement by precisely radio-tracking individual points on the planet’s surface; tiny wobbles in the rotation may shed light on the composition of the Red Planet’s core. “If the final scientific feather in Spirit’s cap is determining whether the core of Mars is liquid or solid, that would be wonderful,” says Spirit scientist Steve Squyres.
But before it can embark on any of those scientific projects, the rover has to make it through the dark, cold Martian winter. The rover’s solar panels are not well positioned to catch the winter sunlight, so it will soon go into hibernation mode to conserve power. If Spirit can survive the frigid temperatures, it will communicate with NASA as the Martian spring arrives, and should be able to resume scientific research next September. Says Squyres: “The bottom line is, we’re not giving up on Spirit.”
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University
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February 19th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
breath taking views of mars from this fine brave robot, my thoughts r with u spirit has u settle fown for the long cold winter
good night
February 21st, 2010 at 1:26 pm
What these guys, the people behind the robots, have been able to accomplish is just stunning to me.
February 21st, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Absolutely stunning. the detail in the pictures, the clarity…. love it.
February 22nd, 2010 at 1:57 am
Go Spirit! You’ll last through the winter. You’ve already done so much for science, and you’ll continue to advance our understanding of Mars. No little green men here, at least n0t yet.
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:53 am
That’s the Spirit!
Wish we could have larger images to use on our desk top!
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:57 pm
I never thought the demise of a robot could be so sad….
February 25th, 2010 at 2:21 am
I have been following Spirit and Opportunity for the last 6 years and have compiled over 4,000 color images that I made out of the raw images received by NASA JPL at their website, it takes at least 3 raw RGB images to make one color image. Here is a place I stored over 1,400 color images at Google-Picasso site including panoramic views and the latest images of the meteorites found at Opportunities site, enjoy:
http://picasaweb.google.com/shineinnovations
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:14 am
Well done Spirit Team, well done….
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:43 am
It has been an absolutely remarkable achievement that, in my opinion, has not received near the recognition that is deserved. To place a vehicle on another planet, cruse all over the place, document the adventure in photos and transmit them back to humanity – one word – “unbelievable”!
March 4th, 2010 at 11:08 pm
Hope the day human race will land on Mars is not too far away.
March 5th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
How did they decontaminate the bungie cords from virus and bacteria?
November 2nd, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Amazing these rovers could last so long.
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