News tagged with spirit

Team Runs Operational Test to Prepare for Extracting Spirit

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Oct 19, 2009 | 3 / 5 (1) | 0

(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.

Scientists work to free Mars rover Spirit

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Oct 13, 2009 | 5 / 5 (11) | 0

(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.

Planned Rover Test to Run a Week or More

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Aug 14, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

(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 ...

Free Spirit Testing Nearing Completion

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 31, 2009 | 3 / 5 (1) | 0

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 ...

Free Spirit: Longer Rover Tests Beginning

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 27, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (3) | 0

(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.

Test Mars Rover Checks Pivoting Technique

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 17, 2009 | 5 / 5 (2) | 0

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.

Mars Dust Devil Has Colorful Effect in Image Series

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 14, 2009 | 3.5 / 5 (2) | 0

(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.

Rover Extraction Tests Begin (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 07, 2009 | 2 / 5 (1) | 0

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.

Free Spirit: Rock Under the Belly

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 02, 2009 | 4 / 5 (4) | 1

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.

Not space junk yet: Mars rovers carry on despite age, ailments

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 28, 2009 | 5 / 5 (15) | 4

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 ...

Mars Rover Yielding New Clues While Lodged in Martian Soil

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 25, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (11) | 1

(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.

Spirit Takes a Peek at Her Belly

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 04, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (5) | 1

(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 ...

Mars and Earth Activities Aim to Get Spirit Rolling Again

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

May 19, 2009 | 5 / 5 (5) | 2

(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 ...

Spirit rover's wheels stuck in soft Martian dirt

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

May 12, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (9) | 0

(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 ...

Spirit Resumes Driving While Analysis of Problem Behaviors Continues

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Apr 24, 2009 | 5 / 5 (2) | 2

(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 ...