Soft Ground Puts Mars Rover Spirit in Danger Despite Gain in Daily Energy

[Wilms]

Soft Ground Puts Spirit in Danger Despite Gain in Daily Energy

Spirit's Wheels Digging into Soft Ground, Sol 1899

11-May-2009

Wheel slippage during attempts to extricate NASA's Mars Rover Spirit from a patch of soft ground during the preceding two weeks had partially buried the wheels by the 1,899th Martian day, or sol, of the Spirit's mission on Mars (May 6, 2009).

Spirit took this image with its front hazard-avoidance camera on Sol 1899. With Spirit in the position shown here, the rover team temporarily suspended driving attempts while studying the ground around Spirit and planning simulation tests of driving options with a test rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Driving attempts between the time Spirit took a similar image 10 sols earlier and when this image was taken moved the rover a total of about 36 centimeters (14 inches).

While driving backwards, the rover drags its right front wheel, which no longer rotates. For scale, the distance between the wheel tracks is about 1 meter (40 inches). This view is looking northward, with Husband Hill on the horizon.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20090511a.html



http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA12002

Mars Team Digs in To Free Spirit

June 25, 2009

Mars team members have rolled up their sleeves and will be shaping a few tons of diatomaceous Earth and clay into an exact replica of the area where the Spirit rover is embedded on Mars. Recreating the conditions here on Earth in a testbed is important for testing the "Free Spirit" escape plans, which will occur over the next few weeks. Once a safe escape route is mapped, commands will be sent to the rover.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/20090625a.html

[Oregone]

1. The Rover is filmed in a Nevada desert

And sometimes a studio stage. Right next to the moon landing. If it gets stuck, the NASA engineers will dig it out.


:)