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Spirit may be fading on Mars, NASA says
NASA to Mars rover:Â Phone home or else.
The space agency said it will reach out to contact the Mars rover Spirit a final time Wednesday after a series of unanswered attempts.
NASA speculates that an extreme Martian winter may have frozen the rover’s communication apparatus or weakened its energy level, hindering its ability to communicate.
In a press release Tuesday, NASA said, in essence, what we have here is a failure to communicate.
"We no longer believe there is a realistic probability of hearing from Spirit," Dave Lavery, NASA’s program executive for solar system exploration, said in the release.
Created for a three-month mission, Spirit landed on Mars in January 2004 and exceeded its intended life span by several years, giving scientists an in-depth look at the surface conditions of the red planet.
But there have been obstacles - namely massive dust storms, paralyzing sandboxes and plain ol' feisty weather that has challenged the rover's functionality.
Over most of the past seven years though, despite various violent conditions, Spirit has always managed to re-establish connection.
Not this time.
The last transmission received by the rover was March 22, 2010, NASA said.
The rover program will now focus its energies on Spirit’s twin rover, Opportunity, which landed 21 days after Spirit. Also, NASA is prepping the November launch of Curiosity, a bigger, more-tricked out rover (six 20-inch wheels?) slated to arrive on Mars in mid-2012.
As for Spirit, NASA said any communication from the rover will basically be relegated to voice mail.
“The Deep Space Network may occasionally listen for any faint signals when the schedule permits," Lavery is quoted in the release.
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I'm pretty sure this is Obama's fault!
There, you happy now.
This article is about SCIENCE, NOT Politics. You want to know why space holds such appeal to so many...because its quiet. In space, no one can hear you b!tc# about politics, or global warming. Anyone who mentions something about Obama, Bush, (other political figure), hollywood, war, peace, etc...do us a favor, punch yourself in the head and go to a different article and post ad naueasum.
I heard Howard from Big Bang Theory was messing with the rovers. That is probably where the problem is. LOL
Not Obama fault, Not Bush fault, it was the Asphalt!
"Created for a three-month mission, Spirit landed on Mars in January 2004 and exceeded its intended life span by several years, giving scientists an in-depth look at the surface conditions of the red planet."
It lasted much more than 3 months, good old rover. The fact that its dying now isnt to bad since it already went above and beyond, nasa must have done a great job.
We should probably send Donald Trump on Mars to check on it and to see if there is any leadership problem. Oh and ensure it's a one way journey 😉
Ya , sure and then when aliens find him there we will get fined for littering
Thank you Spirit for years of discovery and science. I hope one day you will be in a museum back on Earth and remembered for being a pioneer.
Alverant: I hope one day Spirit will be in a museum on Mars and will be remembered for being a pioneer.
One of the nice things about Spirit and Opportunity is that they were made from commercial-off-the-shelf parts. COTS doesn't always work, but in this case, it worked great and cost less!
REad My BliPs .NO!
nah, some little martian kid just has it in his toybox
Zim did it!
I'm thinking Rover went 'native' and cut its own communication attention. Its probably relaxing by a canal somewhere enjoying the weather : )
I AM ROVERMAN, HEAR ME ROVER!!!!!!!
come in Johnson Control, we'd like to wakeup the center, and wish you a fairwell.
So, it was caused by an "extreme Martian winter"? We really should be concerned. The winters on Mars are become more extreme. The summers are also becoming extreme. The dust storms have become more severe. This is undeniable proof that we're not just destroying Earth; we're destroying the solar system with global warming! Earth has become so hot that we're heating up other planets.
🙂
damn it al gore............
Just in case it isn't obvious for people such as Troy, ALL martian winters are extreme.
*sigh*
that's quite the ridiculous statement. i'd like an explanation of you logic here.
you sir are a genius, somebody get this man a nobel prize
Don't worry Troy I'll explain it... Sarcasm folks