Mars racks 'em up: Spirit 'facing near-death'

[Woo482]

no Phoenix has died and it will be most likely frozen and the solar panels could fall of with the weight of any ice and then it will have problems with power

 

[Linguofreak]

I thought phoenix just went to bed, the sun is too low for the solar panels to pick up any energy.

If it survives the winter, the solar panels could theoretically power it back up when spring comes, but it is not expected, and I don't believe it ever was expected, to survive the winter.

 

[JamesG]

Phoenix's electronics are not expected to survive the cold of a Martian polar winter (> -200 F). But who knows, NASA may have been lowballing to reduce expectations just like they did with Spirit and Opportunity.

 

[Zachstar]

While things are looking better. At best without a serious cleaning event the rover will just have to sit in place and stare at things.

These rovers are just too old. And with money needed for more shuttle flights it is only a matter of time before they just command a shut down.

 

[tblaxland]

These rovers are just too old. And with money needed for more shuttle flights it is only a matter of time before they just command a shut down.

Well, that assumes that your government wants NASA to fly extra shuttle missions (decision Apr '09, IIRC). Cutting MER would net about $15M/year out of the required $2,000M/year.

 

[ryan]

But i bet some of those great technicians would do it for free.

 

[RisingFury]

But i bet some of those great technicians would do it for free.

I sure as hell would!

 

[JamesG]

They really should have had the foresight to include this attachment to the arm:

 

[Saturn V]

They really should have had the foresight to include this attachment to the arm:

LOL!!! Truly an excellent idea!

 

[to be]

These rovers are just too old. And with money needed for more shuttle flights it is only a matter of time before they just command a shut down.

Why? It costs next to nothing to run them until they die, all the cost was up front.

 

[Woo482]

have you for got about paying for the fuel for the mission,the mission controllers and all the other cost of a space mission ?

 

[Omhra]

But seriously, could they not have included on the little rovers and phoenix a small compressor with a 1 littler can to hold the atmosphere and with a little light weight network of hosing (like the one on a fish tank, but better) to spray "air" on the solar panels?
It could slowly charge for a month before it would have to be discharged to reclaim the surface area covered in dust....

 

[Bj]

Why? It costs next to nothing to run them until they die, all the cost was up front.

What about the drivers? They probably want to be paid...

 

[JamesG]

The cost of running the ongoing mission is peanuts compared to the costs of building and launching. And the science they are doing is priceless.

 

[Bj]

The cost of running the ongoing mission is peanuts compared to the costs of building and launching. And the science they are doing is priceless.

True enough, but it still is a factor.

nasa-wont-dampen-exploratory-spirit-of-mars-rovers

Reportedly, the entity was tasked to slash $4 million from the project's budget just yesterday, which would have forced Spirit into hibernation and limited Opportunity's opportunities by mandating that commands be sent up every other day (versus everyday now).

 

[Andy44]

If the vehicles are dying, the controllers will move on to other projects, but will stay on MER as part-timers and periodically try to contact the vehicles until the program gets canc'd for good. Paying them is not too much of an issue. There were people contacting Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft long after they had met their objectives. It costs very little to send a radio signal now and then and see if your super-expensive mission can provide a few more bytes of science data.

They will keep trying until there's no hope.

 

[JamesG]

What will be cool is that when humans finally get to Mars, will they be able to dust off the rovers and get them to fire back up?
Will they put them back to work or box them up for a return home for a retirement in some nice warm museum?
Will they have used their century of trickle charging contemplation to develop self awareness ala "Walll-e"?