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- szelij, on 10/12/2007, -1/+31The rovers has lasted well beyond the expected time...and they'll last for a bit more.
- vhtrading, on 10/12/2007, -4/+30I say we send Bruce Willis and his roughneck team up there to fix it.
- Spelvin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26It blows my mind that these little guys are still moving along sending back data!
Lets here it for the peeps at NASA! - adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -5/+30No but I bet theres a Starbucks
- antron, on 10/12/2007, -4/+24The rover has 6 wheels.
Ass. - cambrown99, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19There's actually TWO starbuck's. The second one is directly across the canal from the first.
- CajDarkmoon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15At least we have no shortage of redundancy in the idiot department...
- syuusuke, on 10/12/2007, -6/+19the little green men will fix it
- MetalRemains, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11so true... even when the buzz about them died I tried to keep up because they are very interesting.
- lava, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10It has 6 wheels, they monitor the status of the circuits constantly, and they sent TWO. What the hell is wrong with you?
- ksgant, on 10/12/2007, -7/+15Is there triple-A on Mars?
- ZekeSulastin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8If you use a larger wheel, they have to fit it somewhere, have a different internal drive system, make a bigger pivot bar thus making the rover bigger, etc. Believe me, there are many reasons the engineers picked that configuration ...
- carpespasm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8i'm all for anything to shoot bruce willis into space, have him take about 2 dozen more rovers with him so we can do some more looking around while he's at it
- paulmdx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Wouldn't larger wheels mean the motors would need more torque? This may not be feasible with weight, resilience and power requirements.
- gklitt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8The rovers are just a huge success...they aren't mentioned much anymore but I'm sure everyone will notice when they finally die out.
- jamba, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9It has six wheels. Well, five now. Would it kill the Martians to come out and fix it?
- marmaladeshark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"It's exposing the underlying materials as we go - that's a bonus."
It's not a bug its a feature - outz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7it does have FIVE other wheels
- vileS, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7God's speed, little doodle.
- ohmar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Yeah, somehow i have to believe that just MAYBE the engineers at NASA know more about this than you do. Since, you know, they put a rover on mars and you probably couldnt point a telescope at mars
- Crim, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Silver Lining: the NASA scientist says the rover's wheel failure is not entirely bad for the mission.
"It's exposing the underlying materials as we go - that's a bonus."
At this point both Rovers could explode completely and the overall mission would still have been a success, they are far past the expected end date of the original mission and they deserve a Mountain Dew each. Good job! - CajDarkmoon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6And if the repair robot broke?
- j_bellone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5It has also lasted MUCH longer than expected. Wasn't the original design only suppose to last 90 days?
- cmajewski, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Me too, but it's too bad missions such as these are going to come few and far between...
Excerpt from
Is NASA in Outer Space?
Not After a Surprise Round of Budget Cuts (washingtonpost.com)
"To the consternation of scientists everywhere, the agency plans to slash its science budget, which covers deep space exploration, by a total of as much as 25 percent over this year and next, with a massive $3 billion cut in the projected budget over the next five years. If you cut off one-quarter of a table's legs, it tends to fall down. And that means a lot of damage." - jetta421, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Whoever designed the Mars Rovers should be put in charge of NASA. They have lasted way beyond their original lifespan, have given us a dearth of information about Mars, and have brought some of the mysticism of space exploration back to the general populace. Even though they aren't front page news anymore, the day they officially "die" they will be once again, and all of their discoveries will be front page as well. I hope I'm around for the day they discover microbes under the soil!
- Rickler, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6What did they expect using such tinny wheels... larger circumference is better. I understand that mars is almost a vacuum and has extreme temps but they could be a little larger...
- soogy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Just imagine it in your head with some sort of sad music playing. Poor little Rover, scurrying along, trying to find a safe place to stay during the harsh and cold winter, all while dragging his wheel behind him on a string.
- STKD, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4The term "America basher" seems slightly silly. "Bush administration basher" I'd proudly admit to being (and, for anyone who isn't - have you been paying attention for the last 5 years or so?) and I don't avoid NASA threads. I love them. I think the Rovers have been an outstanding success and couldn't be happier or more impressed with the work NASA have done. It's a shame that said administration don't do more to recognise and promote the fact of what these fine people have done. NASA do amazing things no matter who is in charge. They don't do it for the "Almighty America" alone either.
- djdole, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6I like how all the America bashers avoid the NASA threads.
Moon...been there done that...dozens of times... made it our bitch but still claimed it not for the U.S. but for all mankind.
Mars...been there... bunch of times.
Comets....did it.... AND retrieved data and samples.
Extrasolar-system probes... did it.
What other country can claim all of those?
I'll be the first to claim now..."Only in America" - soogy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"And if the repair robot broke?"
Well then you should have thought of that before, asswipe! - dosle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I volunteer to be sent to fix it.
- scotty1024, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah but if they had bought the Sharper Image 3 year extended warranty they could have gotten a new rover.
- dtfinch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Did anyone think it was not beyond repair? It's not like we can send someone over to fix it.
- panicofficer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Mysticism? Perhaps you mean mystery or imagination, but mysticism is not something that I've ever associated with space exploration.
- g0tmk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2well the origional mission goal was for it to last 30 days - and its been almost 2 years now
- diggduggjoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I wonder if, we need to have remote wheel ejection on future missions? Just drop it and move on! Obviously, missing a wheel hurts, but it would be far better than dragging a failed one. It would not need to be very complex either, some muscle wire to a release pin and it falls away. The only catch would be having a loose middle wheel get in the way of the others during release or balancing the rover when an end wheel needs to be dropped. This could be planned for, especially with all the miracles they do with broken stuff now.
I love the robot missions, we can get great science inexpensively and without risk to people. NASA has had a few blow up, but it never becomes a national tragedy like the shuttle failures. The shuttle had its purpose, but we need cheap, low risk launch vehicles to really colonize space. Space is dangerous, but getting there should not be. - krewemaynard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2when they get on the same page, they can do some impressive stuff (see here for unimpressive stuff: http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/30/mars.metric.02/)
- an0nym0us, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Screw Willis, bring in the ROCK.
For all we know the rover might have trigger some sort of portal to hell. - Onibus, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7What would Macgyver do?
- petro62, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Agreed that NASA sadly doesn't get the attention it needs to unless there is tragedy. I loved and still do enjoy the space program. I am no tree hugger, but the way things are going it is obvious that in a few lifetimes the planet Earth is going to be beyond repair(unless some major changes happen) and the two place we have to look towards is either space or the ocean. I just wish they could get the current shuttle program working like a clock again and get things moving. I also wish there wasn't going to be 3 or 4 year no flying time while they design and perfect the next shuttle system. Anyways NASA needs more support.
- Tyrel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Alright... but the soviets got pictures of the surface of Venus like 20-30 years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera NASA hasn't done that yet!
They also have been to Mars in the past. And the European Space Agency has an orbiter there now. As much as I love NASA, we can't give them all the credit. - valkyries, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2even space isn't a vacuum its still has some presser :-P like .4psi
- artofwar420, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3The same"people" that dusted off the solar panels before will fix the wheel this time around.
- pagit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2they could but they forgot to check the spare before they left
- jetta421, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1mysticism, mystery, they all point to the unknown...isn't that what space is all about? the search for answers to the unknown...point taken PanicOfficer, I trudge on.
- joeyjojo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3We've spent the last few years debating 'creationism', hating the gays, fighting petty wars, etc, etc.
Meanwhile a dedicated group of folk at NASA have done the truly remarkable human feat. Humans need to just sit for a few minutes and really think about how amazing this project has been and maybe get some perspective. ;o) - Brightside, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Its pretty amazing what then sent been able to do with all the major setbacks they've had over the years (budget cuts, Shuttle problems). This is still a success story the NASA folks can be very proud of.
- miles32, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Macgyver!! chuck Norris would be to busy giving idiots joke ideas
plus macgyver would make a nuke out of toothpicks. - DolFan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It was an open connection in the electrical drive for the wheel.
For the article you don't feel like reading: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/missions/mer/spirit-update.html
Go ROVERS! - Takteek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Or... just send up two Rover/Repair Bots.
If one breaks, the other can repair it. -
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