Mars Rover Spirit Down a Wheel

riflemann writes "NASA is reporting that two years into its 90-day mission, Spirit has lost one wheel and is now running on five wheels, dragging the broken wheel. With this reduced mobiity, the rover still needs to make its way to a slope where it can catch enough sun over the Martian winter to keep it operating. 'Even though the rovers are well past their original design life, they still have plenty of capability to conduct outstanding science on Mars.', says project leader Dr. John Callas."

Tis but a scratch

[Anonymous Coward]

I've had worse.

Great...

[Anonymous Coward]

now we have interstellar tricycles?

Not so surprising

[Reverend528]

That's what happens when you only test the wheels for 9 days.

Re:Great...

[Anonymous Coward]

Dumbass. 5 != 3

Still a tossup - Rovers dead before Vista released

[SpaceLifeForm]

I still believe both rovers will be alive
when and if Vista is ever released.

Re:Still a tossup - Rovers dead before Vista relea

[therage96]

Aha, but will they still be functioning when Duke Nukem Forever gets released? I mean, 2514AD is a long ways away!

Re:Still a tossup - Rovers dead before Vista relea

[GKThursday]

I don't think their hardware meet Vista's specs.

Re:Tis but a scratch

[metricmusic]

A scratch? Your wheel's off!

We thank thee Lord, that in thy merc-

Only lost 1 wheel? pfft

[Anonymous Coward]

If a dog can walk on two legs you better hope this thing keeps going, otherwise it's pretty embarassing.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OZqVvYkCe68 [youtube.com]

C'mon ya pansy

[Anonymous Coward]

The NASA engineers always triumph!

Conversation I never Overheard

[Black Copter Control]

Martian1: It broke it's leg. I say we shoot it and put it out of it's misery.
Martian2: nah. It seems to have such a drive for life.

Re:Cold

[HermanAB]

Sure, they can provide transport - one way - and there is that little niggling problem with orbit insertion and parachute deployment that sometimes crop up... :)

Re:Conversation I never Overheard

[Anonymous Coward]

Martian3: How come neither of you knows how to use apostrophes correctly?

/shoots martians 1 and 2

2 years into a 90 day mission...

[HermanAB]

Hmmm, typical NASA project, 21 months late and far over budget. :)

Late Breaking News:

[iced_773]

A sense of triumph swept our fair red world today when reports came in that the Grand Army of the Council had damaged one of the robotic invaders from the evil blue planet. K'Breel, speaker for the Council of Elders, made the following comment:

This was a great victory in our war with the evil blue planet. While we have only impaired the horrid machine's movement, we will continue to strike until it and its dreadful twin are pools of molten metal.

When a journalist suggested that the terrible monstrosity had merely worn out one of its locomotive rotators, K'Breel had the traitor's gelsac mutilated immediately.

Apologies to TripMaster Monkey.

Shoulda got the AAA Extended Service Plan

[slickwillie]

100 mile free towing too!

Re:Great...

[Anonymous Coward]

My tricycle had training wheels.

The Truth...

[Tatarize]

They made Spirit and Opportunity do some battlebot stuff. And well, Spirit is a puss.

Re:Cold

[Prof.Phreak]

Sure, they can provide transport - one way - and there is that little niggling problem with orbit insertion and parachute deployment that sometimes crop up... :)

In other words, they'll use a large trebuchet to get you there (or somewhere... either way, it will be fun!)

Re:Not so surprising

[Chowderbags]

It might even be the equivaltent of driving 400,000 miles on those tires too!

Re:Conversation I never Overheard

[bckrispi]

Oh, you make me verrry angry. Verrry angry indeeeeed!!

Re:Not so surprising

[slightlyspacey]

Hey, it's still within an order of magnitude of the right answer and I didn't confuse English with Metric measurments :)

Re:Only lost 1 wheel? pfft

[archen]

Actually I used to have a dog with two legs. I named him cigarette. Ever day I'd take him out for a drag.

heh, sorry.. had to make the joke...

Re:exploration will continue

[cashman73]

my question to /.ers is this: should we be focusing so much on mars or should we be looking toward other possible outposts/life harboring worlds like europa.

Didn't HAL (or Dave Bowman, or whomever the aliens were) tell us, "ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE."?

Pfft, try just ONE leg...

[ChePibe]

This little guy [homestarrunner.com] seems to make it on his own just fine on one leg. Although, admittedly, he'll prob'bly never take him a wife.

Pit Stop

[SuperKendall]

Hopefully at the next Pit Stop the guys that are wiping down the solar panels will also jack it up and change out the wheel.

Ten seconds! Go!

Re:At first read, I get dissapointed

[livewire98801]

Scotty: 8 weeks, sir

Kirk: Mr Scott I-

Scotty: But you don't have 8 weeks, so I'll do it for you in 2

Kirk: Mr Scott, have you always multiplied your repair estimates by a factor of four?

Scotty: Of course, Admiral, how else can I keep my reputation as a Miracle Worker?

Kirk: Your reputation is secure, Mr Scott.

If I recall, this dialoge was in ST:3, but I'm not sure of that.

I am saddened...

[rice_burners_suck]

...to hear that the rover has lost a wheel,
though pain it does not feel.

Now it limps along the Martian soil,
alone in a great vastness of red sand and rocks.
I hope it reaches the top of the slope,
else alas for naught will it toil.
For in that vast desert there's no telephone box.
Nor much chance for hope.

Like the injured lone explorer,
Oh! What a horror!

it will suffer its demise,
Alone on that alien world,
Its nearest neighbor far away,
as no one hears its cries.
The wrath of Mars is unfurled,
And there alone will it lay.

PHB Response

[Golias]

It's remarkable how much longer these guys have still been alive even after they already completed their originally planned goals. Here's one thing that NASA did right.

What are you talking about? Their projections were WRONG by an order of magnitude. They should all be fired for failing to predict the life-span of these rovers accurately.

Re:Tis but a scratch

[buswolley]

Lets all bow our heads for a moment.... for the loss of the sixth wheel.

One Wheel Dragging?

[Derling Whirvish]

One wheel dragging huh? Must be that the Mars rovers are manufactured by the same company that make the shopping carts for Walmart.

Re:PHB Response

[SEWilco]

The cost of support operations for the rovers is way over budget.

Re:C'mon ya pansy

[Krakhan]

*Rushes in* No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Re:Still a tossup - Rovers dead before Vista relea

[flyingsquid]

To be fair the rovers were lucky to land in areas with lots of whirl-winds to clean them. If it was not for the whirl-winds the rovers would probably be paper-weights by now.

Well, future rovers could carry around little Roombas to run around and vacuum off the top of their solar cells.

Overtime?

[DeadboltX]

"NASA is reporting that two years into its 90-day mission"

Talk about overtime, you think the rover gets time and a half now?

Re:Conversation I never Overheard

[Marce1]

Martian4: Proper Noun Police; Put the gun down and step away from the sentence!

/Edges toward Martian3 with a capital M held out, still aiming