After several weeks of silence on NASA’s Rover Mission page, the rovers have resumed operations!

Band of Bright Rock in Victoria CraterNASA’s twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are beginning to move again after being put into a deep hibernation mode for six weeks due to the severe dust storms that swept across the planet in late June.  The storms hit just as Opportunity was poised to enter Victoria crater, which scientists believe may contain crucial geological records of past conditions on Mars.  However, after a month-long dust storm, I wonder how easy it will be for the machines to maneouver and get through all the sand.

The storms had blocked most of the sunlight required for the rover’s solar panels to generate power.  Both robots had to stop driving, and Opportunity was running so low on power that NASA through it might “freeze to death” during the frigid Martian night.  Luckily, the storms have receded and both rovers are about to start driving towards their targets.

Dust left over from the storms is still causing some problems, however.  Some dust appears to have fallen onto the lens of Spirit’s microscopic imager when the protective cover was opened.  The imager is one of several instruments attached to the end of Spirit’s robotic arm and is used to return detailed observations of rocks and soil.

In an attempt to remove the dust, scientists have been pointing the imager directly down, then opening and closing the cover as a form of “robotic blinking”.  Some dust has come off this way, and the image quality is a bit better, but still less than before the storms.

As dust settles out of the atmosphere, some is also landing on the rovers’ solar panels and blocking some of the sun’s rays.  But this is not expeted to become a serious problem.  Gusts of wind help clean the panels from time to time, which is something that seems to have happened to Opportunity once already since the end of the storms.

Opportunity has also started driving and was expected to arrive as early as Monday on a spot on Victoria crater’s rim, where it will make some observations.  These will help the team evaluate targets in the crater and possible routes to get inside.