Spirit to roam no more

[n2doc]

Mars Rover to Roam No More -- It's Official Stuck NASA rover will still do science, though, if it survives winter on Mars.

Victoria Jaggard
National Geographic News
Published January 26, 2010

The Mars rover Spirit is putting down roots.

After months of trying to wiggle the rover out of a sand trap on Mars, the NASA probe remains firmly entrenched in the soft soil inside a small crater.

So mission managers announced today that the rover will stay put, spending the rest of its days conducting science from its current location inside the crater, where its wheels can move only a few inches.

That crater proved to be "a golfer's worst nightmare," Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program, told reporters today at a press briefing in Washington, D.C.

"It's a sand trap that, no matter how many strokes you take, you just can't get out."

more:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100126-mars-rover-spirit-nasa-stuck/

[glitch]

1. Next time they should install inflatible balloons and propellers for this type of situation.

I bet it wouldn't be hard to do for a little rover like this.

[Orrex]

2. What a colossal waste of money!

We built the thing for a 90-day mission, and all we get out of it six years (and counting)?



Outrageous!