I'm guessing that without mobility, they won't be able to get Spirit angled well for winter solar energy gathering and so Spirit probably won't survive this winter. Opportunity, unless something unforseen happens, should survive the winter and reach Endeavour crator in a little more than a year from now.
The engineering team that designed and built these robots really are to be congratulated. In an environment as hostile as Mars these two rovers have defied all the odds and delivered more science than anyone would have dared imagine.
If they are coming to their ends, it will absolutely be in triumph.
Still, I get a bit misty thinking about it.
Posted by: Eric Shepherd | June 28, 2009 7:34 PM
Sheppy, I sure hope so. It'd be pretty sweet to see Spirit's odometer rolling again.
- A
Posted by: Asa Dotzler | June 28, 2009 7:44 PM
Spirit's currently at ~945 Wh, which is nearly as high as it was right after landing.
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_spiritAll.html#sol1941
ISTR one of the NASA folks on unmannedspaceflight.com saying that with the current power surplus, even if they can't get unstuck by winter they'll still be fine.
Dare we hope that both rovers will still be alive when MSL lands in 2012? Hmm!
Posted by: Justin Dolske | June 28, 2009 7:51 PM
The team that designed and built Firefox really are to be congratulated. In an environment as hostile as the browser marketplace Firefox has defied all the odds and delivered more technology, freedom, and innovation than anyone would have dared imagine.
Sorry, couldn't resist. :)
In all seriousness, any thoughts about using explosives on the Moon?
I have mixed feelings but I see it more as pessimistic exploration. There isn't a need to go wrecking another object in space just yet. At least not until man has come closer to wrecking the one we're on now and have exhausted all of its resources. If the idea is to be able to support life on Moon bases for science and further space exploration, then ok cool, but otherwise, the funding could go elsewhere.
As a Diabetic (24 years), I'm all for science research in space because the Humalog Insulin that I use that keeps me alive was developed there. Now that's a good use of funding. Although it was probably from a private company (Lilly?)
Posted by: Ken Saunders | June 28, 2009 8:11 PM
Justin, that's great news. I knew she was pulling in more power after a couple of cleaning events but I didn't realize that it was sufficient to survive a winter without getting angled better. Yay!!
It really would be awesome if the MERs were alive when the Mars Science Laboratory arrives (two years late :( Competition for Deep Space Network time is a problem I would love to see.
- A
Posted by: Asa Dotzler | June 28, 2009 9:30 PM
To be fair, they're still working on extricating Spirit. They do move a little when they run the wheels; they're just doing simulations to figure out the best way to get unstuck before they really go for it.
The fact that Spirit had like six cleaning events over the last couple of months, and now has double the power available that Opportunity does (around 850 watt-hours last time I looked) is exciting; gives them plenty of time to sort out a way to get it loose.