| on 02-06-2009 16:26 |
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 The Spirit rover has run into soft dirt and is spinning its wheels after crawling across the planet for five years.
Prof Prof Steve Squyres who is leading the Mars Exploration Rover Project of Cornell University, New York, said: "We're dug in pretty deep."
But without a tow rope to hand scientists are gathering as much information as possible to create a mock-up to look for ways to get the stricken rover free. The five wheels that still rotate on the golf-cart sized robot have been slipping severely, sinking the wheels about halfway into the ground. The sixth wheel stopped working about three years ago, according to space officials. The rover team of engineers and scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, has suspended driving Spirit temporarily while studying the ground around the rover. Â Its camera shows how the wheels have dug into the surface of the Red Planet - marooning it millions of miles from Earth. Dr John Callas, project manager for Spirit and its twin rover Opportunity, said: "Spirit is in a very difficult situation. We are proceeding methodically and cautiously." Both Spirit and Opportunity have been trundling across the Martian surface for more than five years now - far surpassing their original three-month missions - seeking answers about its history of water. Opportunity is currently on the opposite side of the planet which has a diameter of 4,213 miles. Astronomer Prof Jim Bell, leader of the mission's Pancam colour camera team, said Spirit seems to be in a unique combination of soft, sandy material that slopes in a place known as Gusev crater. Scientists say it could be the end of the road for the rover if they cannot find a way to get it moving again. Prof Squyres said: "It's Mars, these are old rover, anything could happen. We're living on borrowed time. But we're pushing onward as hard as we can." [source: telegraph] Last update: 02-06-2009 16:29
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