おやすみなさい, Spirit
January 29, 2010 Featured, Science
After six incredible years of exploration, it seems that NASA’s Spirit Rover has reached the end of its mobility. That said, just because it can’t move anymore doesn’t mean the robotic explorer is going to be put down forever.
According to the news report on NASA’s website, Spirit is going to continue conducting scientific experiments as a stationary device now that it’s confirmed that it will not be able to escape the quicksand-like material it’s been trapped in the last 10 months. One of these experiments may even prove to be just as important as all the work it’s done beforehand: determining if Mars has a liquid core.
Originally designed to operate only 90 days, Spirit has driven an incredible 16 kilometers and taken over 133,000 photos. Although it’s given us just a tiny glimpse of Mars’ geological wonders, it has been one of the most important scientific tools ever created by humans. Even if it’s lost over the coming Martian winter, it will not be forgotten.
Hopefully the scientists relaying commands to Spirit will have the chance to align its solar panels more towards the sun so that it doesn’t freeze over the coming months.