News tagged with spirit

Sandtrapped Rover Makes a Big Discovery

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 03, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (56) | 11

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.

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 ...

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.

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.

Mars rover Spirit has unexplained computer reboots

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Apr 14, 2009 | 3.7 / 5 (13) | 19

(AP) -- NASA's aging Mars rover Spirit has rebooted its computer at least twice for unknown reasons.

Controllers Cheer as Data Arrive from NASA's Spirit Rover

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Nov 13, 2008 | 4.7 / 5 (9) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit communicated via the Mars Odyssey orbiter today right at the time when ground controllers had told it to, prompting shouts of "She's talking!" among the ...

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 ...

Mars Rover Update

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Mar 26, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (7) | 5

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 ...

NASA to Begin Attempts to Free Sand-Trapped Mars Rover

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Nov 12, 2009 | 5 / 5 (6) | 0

(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.

Spirit Mars Rover: Unexpected Wheel-Test Results

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 15, 2009 | 5 / 5 (6) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Diagnostic tests were run on Spirit's right-rear wheel and right-front wheel on Sol 2013 (Dec. 12, 2009).

Mars Rover Team Diagnosing Unexpected Behavior

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jan 28, 2009 | 3.7 / 5 (7) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- The team operating NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit plans diagnostic tests this week after Spirit did not report some of its weekend activities, including a request to determine its orientation ...

Spirit Gets Energy Boost from Cleaner Solar Panels

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Feb 12, 2009 | 5 / 5 (5) | 6

(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 ...

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 ...

Mars Rovers Near Five Years of Science and Discovery

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 30, 2008 | 4.8 / 5 (5) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity may still have big achievements ahead as they approach the fifth anniversaries of their memorable landings on Mars.

How Martian winds make rocks walk

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jan 08, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (5) | 8

Rocks on Mars are on the move, rolling into the wind and forming organized patterns, according to new research.