NASA to Abandon Mars Spirit Rover

[n2doc]

By KENNETH CHANG
Published: May 24, 2011

The Spirit is dead.

NASA said on Tuesday that it was abandoning efforts to get back in touch with Spirit, one of the two rovers on Mars. Spirit, which has been stuck in a sand trap for two years, fell silent last year as winter arrived and its solar panels could no longer generate enough electricity. Engineers had hoped that the rover would revive when spring returned, but they never heard from it again.

Now, as the Martian days grow shorter, Spirit’s managers decided that it was not worth the time and money to continue.

“We couldn’t recover any of the approved science objectives that we had for Spirit even if we heard from the rover, which is very unlikely,” said John Callas, the project manager for Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, which continues to operate on the other side of the planet.

The last set of commands to Spirit will be sent early Wednesday morning.

more
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/science/space/25rover.html

[Botany]

1. Adieu mon ami M. Spirit

[madrchsod]

2. the saddest cartoon in our little solar system

http://xkcd.com/695/

[Nihil]

3. So true. (n/t)

:cry:

[FiveGoodMen]

4. I can still hardly stand to look at that one

So glad it really is just a machine.

[Rochester]

5. Rest in peace; wonder how much longer the other one will last