http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- Diagnostic tests were run on Spirit's right-rear wheel and right-front wheel on Sol 2013 (Dec. 12, 2009). http://www.physorg.com/news180119338.html Space & Earth Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:20:04 EST news180119338 (PhysOrg.com) -- A series of diagnostic tests on Spirit's right-rear wheel on sols 2104 and 2105 (Dec. 3 and 4) investigated stalls that occurred on Sol 2099 (Nov. 28) and earlier. The rover team cannot draw any conclusions at this point, but the results are not encouraging, and further tests are planned. http://www.physorg.com/news179520386.html Space & Earth Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:47:28 EST news179520386 Homer's Iliad tells the story of Troy, a city besieged by the Greeks in the Trojan War. Today, a lone robot sits besieged in the sands of Troy while engineers and scientists plot its escape. http://www.physorg.com/news179081243.html Space & Earth Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:48:31 EST news179081243 (PhysOrg.com) -- Spirit's right-rear wheel stalled again on Sol 2099 (Nov. 28, 2009) during the first step of a two-step extrication maneuver. http://www.physorg.com/news178990566.html Space & Earth Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:36:57 EST news178990566 (PhysOrg.com) -- On Sol 2095 (Tuesday, Nov. 24), Spirit performed a set of diagnostic actions related to a stall of the right-rear wheel on the previous drive, three days earlier. http://www.physorg.com/news178393606.html Space & Earth Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:00:03 EST news178393606 (PhysOrg.com) -- Spirit experienced a wheel stall with the right-rear wheel during the second step of a two-step drive on Sol 2092 (Saturday, Nov. 21). This is not the same wheel that stalled on Sol 1899 (May 6), the left-middle wheel. http://www.physorg.com/news178221429.html Space & Earth Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:20:04 EST news178221429 (PhysOrg.com) -- Because the first extrication drive for Spirit, on Sol 2088 (Nov. 17), stopped as soon as it began due to an exceeded tilt limit, the plan for an extrication drive on Sol 2090 (Nov. 19) will essentially be a repeat of the first drive plan, but with improved rover attitude knowledge. The updated attitude knowledge comes from the rover's measurement of its tilt on Sol 2088. http://www.physorg.com/news177844519.html Space & Earth Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:17:08 EST news177844519 (PhysOrg.com) -- The preliminary results from the first extrication drive for Spirit on Sol 2088 (Nov. 17, 2009) indicate the rover stopped less than 1 second after it began, sensing more vehicle lateral tilt than permitted. http://www.physorg.com/news177704677.html Space & Earth Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:40:01 EST news177704677 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA will begin transmitting commands to its Mars exploration rover Spirit on Monday as part of an escape plan to free the venerable robot from its Martian sand trap. http://www.physorg.com/news177260630.html Space & Earth Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:40:03 EST news177260630 (PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers using test rovers on Earth to prepare for extracting the sand-trapped Spirit rover on Mars have added a new challenge to their preparations. http://www.physorg.com/news175200306.html Space & Earth Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:50:01 EST news175200306 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the past several weeks, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory finished experimentation on methods to get the rover Spirit unstuck from its location near a plateau called Home Plate. http://www.physorg.com/news174650773.html Space & Earth Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:40:06 EST news174650773 (PhysOrg.com) -- Mars rover team members are planning a long-duration experiment with the test rover at JPL beginning next week. This test will check whether favorable motion seen in earlier tests can be sustained to gain as much distance in the sandbox as Spirit would need to complete on Mars to escape its predicament. http://www.physorg.com/news169480401.html Space & Earth Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:20:01 EST news169480401 Mars rover engineers at JPL are winding down testing of different escape maneuvers using a test rover in a sand box filled with soil to mimic the Martian surface. It is possible that in early August the first extraction attempts with Spirit rover, which is dug-in on Mars, might take place. http://www.physorg.com/news168270821.html Space & Earth Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:30:02 EST news168270821 (PhysOrg.com) -- Mars rover team members have begun a new phase of testing at JPL -- using longer-duration experiments -- in their preparations for driving Spirit again on Mars. http://www.physorg.com/news167929150.html Space & Earth Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:59:34 EST news167929150 The Mars rover team is using a test rover at JPL to assess various extraction techniques that might get Spirit out of the loose soil of "Troy" on Mars. http://www.physorg.com/news167060388.html Space & Earth Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:45:37 EST news167060388 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have combined a trio of shots taken seconds apart through different colored filters to create a special-effects portrait of a moving dust devil on Mars. http://www.physorg.com/news166807575.html Space & Earth Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:00:03 EST news166807575 Using a test rover in a sandbox at JPL with special soil simulating Spirit's predicament on Mars, engineers are assessing possible maneuvers for getting Spirit out and onto firmer ground. http://www.physorg.com/news166203838.html Space & Earth Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:44:33 EST news166203838 Engineers placed a rock underneath the test rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., on July 1, 2009, to more closely simulate Spirit's predicament on Mars. http://www.physorg.com/news165768550.html Space & Earth Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:50:12 EST news165768550 In one of the most remarkable engineering feats of our time, the aging Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity are still taking orders and sending home pictures more than five years after they were supposed to turn into slabs of space junk. http://www.physorg.com/news165402360.html Space & Earth Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:06:33 EST news165402360 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars rover Spirit, lodged in Martian soil that is causing traction trouble, is taking advantage of the situation by learning more about the Red Planet's environmental history. http://www.physorg.com/news165164322.html Space & Earth Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:30:01 EST news165164322 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new image of Spirit's underbelly is helping engineers assess the rover's current state and plan her escape from soft soil. The panoramic mosaic of multiple images was taken by the microscopic imager instrument at the end of Spirit's robotic arm--the first time that imager has been used to assess the underside and wheels of the rover. The image appears blurred because the microscopic camera was designed to focus on targets just a few centimeters in front of its optics. The imagery will assist engineers with analyses and ground-based testing to recreate the rover's conditions before testing various options for extracting it from its current location. http://www.physorg.com/news163351826.html Space & Earth Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:30:51 EST news163351826 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's rover project team is using the Spirit rover and other spacecraft at Mars to begin developing the best maneuvers for extracting Spirit from the soft Martian ground where it has become embedded. http://www.physorg.com/news161970968.html Space & Earth Tue, 19 May 2009 16:56:51 EST news161970968 (PhysOrg.com) -- The five wheels that still rotate on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit have been slipping severely in soft soil during recent attempts to drive, sinking the wheels about halfway into the ground. http://www.physorg.com/news161316655.html Space & Earth Tue, 12 May 2009 03:11:29 EST news161316655 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit drove on Thursday for the first time since April 8, acting on commands from engineers who are still investigating bouts of amnesia and other unusual behavior exhibited by Spirit in the past two weeks. http://www.physorg.com/news159802967.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:44:13 EST news159802967 (PhysOrg.com) -- After three days of completing Earth-commanded activities without incident last week, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit had a bout of temporary amnesia Friday, April 17, and rebooted its computer Saturday, April 18, behavior similar to events about a week earlier. http://www.physorg.com/news159554640.html Space & Earth Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:44:38 EST news159554640 (PhysOrg.com) -- The team operating NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is examining data received from Spirit in recent days to diagnose why the rover apparently rebooted its computer at least twice over the April 11-12 weekend. http://www.physorg.com/news158948038.html Space & Earth Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:14:44 EST news158948038 (AP) -- NASA's aging Mars rover Spirit has rebooted its computer at least twice for unknown reasons. http://www.physorg.com/news158907961.html Space & Earth Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:06:28 EST news158907961 In January 2004, NASA landed two identical robotic rovers named Spirit and Opportunity on the surface of Mars. The twins were primed for a brief 3-month mission to tell us a story of water and possibly life itself in the planet's past. More than five years later, the dynamic duo are still roving the Red Planet, engaged in a saga of overachievement that has transformed Mars exploration. http://www.physorg.com/news157305969.html Space & Earth Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:06:52 EST news157305969 (PhysOrg.com) -- Loose soil piled against the northern edge of a low plateau called "Home Plate" has blocked NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit from taking the shortest route toward its southward destinations for the upcoming Martian summer and following winter. http://www.physorg.com/news155493768.html Space & Earth Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:43:33 EST news155493768 (PhysOrg.com) -- A small but important uptick in electrical output from the solar panels on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit this month indicates a beneficial Martian wind has blown away some of the dust that has accumulated on the panels. http://www.physorg.com/news153682553.html Space & Earth Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:39:08 EST news153682553