Mars Rover face end of mission

richlevy • Jul 22, 2007 10:25 am

They were supposed to last for 3 months, but after 3 years the Mars Rovers may soon be gone.

PASADENA, California (AP) -- Mission scientists worry that nearly a month's worth of storms could permanently damage or disable the Mars rovers exploring the Red Planet.

Before the dust storms, Opportunity's solar panels had been producing about 700 watt hours of electricity per day. The dust reduced the daily output to less than 400 watt hours, prompting the rover team to suspend driving and most observations. On Wednesday, Opportunity's solar-panel output dropped even further, to 128 watt hours.

The rovers have been exploring Mars since landing in 2004 for a mission originally planned for three months.

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zippyt • Jul 22, 2007 10:38 am

They just need to figuer out how to get it to shake like a dog , get all that dust off the solar panels

Elspode • Jul 22, 2007 11:53 am

It isn't so much the dust on the panels...the sunlight is obscured because of the constant dust storms. There's not enough available sunlight for the panels to make electricity.

zippyt • Jul 22, 2007 12:29 pm

Well that too ,

But hell 3 years !!!! Good value for the dollor !!!

Just found this about the batterys and solar cells ,
http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/technology/bb_power.html

Nivek • Jul 22, 2007 1:36 pm

Well I think it's great that they got three years out of a three month mission, so anything beyond that is just gravy.

richlevy • Jul 22, 2007 2:44 pm

Nivek;366728 wrote:
Well I think it's great that they got three years out of a three month mission, so anything beyond that is just gravy.

Yeah, sort of like a space going Gilligan's Island. They should have named one the Minnow.;)

tw • Jul 23, 2007 1:26 pm

richlevy;366685 wrote:
They were supposed to last for 3 months, but after 3 years the Mars Rovers may soon be gone.

This had happened to one of the Rovers previously. Then another storm came along and blew the dust off solar panels.

This time, storms were longer. It is not just solar panels that worry Rover drivers. Everything in both Rovers were exposed to very severe weather. Eventually we will learn what was and was not damaged. First, both Rovers need another storm to again blow dust off the solar panels. This story is probably a misrepresentation by a reporter. More likely, it's just another story in the life of two Rovers.

xoxoxoBruce • Jul 25, 2007 1:12 am

A series of severe Martian summer dust storms has blocked 99 percent of direct sunlight to the rover Opportunity. Its companion, Spirit, has been affected to a lesser extent. Both rely on solar panels to charge their batteries.

Scientists believe the storms could continue for several days, or even weeks.

"We're rooting for our rovers to survive these storms, but they were never designed for conditions this intense," Alan Stern, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a news release posted Friday on the space agency's Web site.

The rovers will not be able to generate enough power to keep themselves warm and operating under reduced sunlight for much longer, NASA said.

Griff • Jul 25, 2007 8:42 am

Nivek;366728 wrote:
Well I think it's great that they got three years out of a three month mission, so anything beyond that is just gravy.

That's just NASA keeping the bar low enough.

xoxoxoBruce • Jul 26, 2007 4:05 pm

Well, many of those Martian slopes are very slippery, after all.

tw • Jul 26, 2007 6:14 pm

xoxoxoBruce;368335 wrote:
Well, many of those Martian slopes are very slippery, after all.

One of those rovers was scheduled to drop down into a deep crater - a most risky task. That will be put on hold.

Fortunately for the rovers, it is summer. Harsh weather that makes Mars so inhospitable to humans is still relatively mild for the Rovers.

It is not just dust on the solar panels that appears to be a problem. Mars atmosphere apparently is currently heavy with dust. Whether the problem is dust on panels or too much dust in air is subjective. What appears to be a planet wide storm must subside before we know more. Unfortunately, that may take until the Martian winter which means both rovers accomplish little this year.