Spirit Rover Reaches Safety

dylanduck writes "Good news for rover fans - Spirit is safe for the winter. It had been heading for a north-tilting spot to make sure its solar panels got enough sunlight during the imminent winter to survive, when a sand trap appeared. But, despite its busted wheel, it scooted round and is now sitting pretty. From the article: 'We've got a safe rover,' says principal investigator Steve Squyres. 'That's huge news for us.'"

thank goodness

[dotpavan]

..Spirit is safe for the winter..

I was really getting worried about my winter supply! :P

I've seen this one before

[Anonymous Coward]

It seems like it's safe, but then the Sarlacc opens its big ugly mouth and the next thing you know, the rover is being digested for 1,000 years.

Re:Tough decisions

[Winlin]

If nothing else, driving it around with a broken wheel will probably attract the attention of the Martian Highway Patrol. And you just know how tough they are on those out-of-planet tourist types.

Just in time!

[GillBates0]

Now I go get my (well-deserved) Monday evening 6 pack of beer without a twinge of guilt. Way to go Rover.

Re:Amazing

[DonkeyHote]

"I really can not believe that the rovers are still running at all." Thats because you're an idiot. ~ Central Park Zoo's gay penguins ignite debate Dinitia Smith, New York Times Saturday, February 7, 2004 New York -- Roy and Silo, two chinstrap penguins at the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan, are completely devoted to each other. For nearly six years now, they have been inseparable. They exhibit what in penguin parlance is called "ecstatic behavior": That is, they entwine their necks, they vocalize to each other, they have sex. Silo and Roy are, to anthropomorphize a bit, gay penguins. When offered female companionship, they have adamantly refused it. And the females aren't interested in them, either. At one time, the two seemed so desperate to incubate an egg together that they put a rock in their nest and sat on it, keeping it warm in the folds of their abdomens, said their chief keeper, Rob Gramzay. Finally, he gave them a fertile egg that needed care to hatch. Things went perfectly, and a chick, Tango, was born. For the next 2 1/2 months they raised Tango, keeping her warm and feeding her food from their beaks until she could go out into the world on her own. Gramzay is full of praise. "They did a great job," he said. Roy and Silo are hardly unusual. Indeed, scientists have found homosexual behavior throughout the animal world. This growing body of science has been increasingly drawn into charged debates about homosexuality in American society, on subjects from gay marriage to sodomy laws, despite reluctance from experts in the field to extrapolate from animals to humans. Gay groups argue that if homosexual behavior occurs in animals, it is natural, and therefore the rights of homosexuals should be protected. On the other hand, some conservative religious groups have condemned the same practices in the past, calling them "animalistic." But if homosexuality occurs among animals, does that necessarily mean it is natural for humans? And that raises a familiar question: If homosexuality is not a choice, but a result of natural forces that cannot be controlled, can it be immoral? The open discussion of homosexual behavior in animals is relatively new. "There has been a certain cultural shyness about admitting it," said Frans de Waal, whose 1997 book, "Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape" (University of California Press), unleashed a torrent of discussion about animal sexuality. Bonobos, apes closely related to humans, are wildly energetic sexually. Studies show that whether observed in the wild or in captivity, nearly all are bisexual and nearly half their sexual interactions are with the same sex. Females have been observed to engage in homosexual activity almost hourly. Before his own book, "American scientists who investigated bonobos never discussed sex at all," said de Waal, director of the Living Links Center of the Yerkes Primate Center at Emory University in Atlanta. "Or they sometimes would show two females having sex together, and would say, 'The females are very affectionate.' " Then in 1999, Bruce Bagemihl published "Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity" (St. Martin's Press), one of the first books of its kind to provide an overview of scholarly studies of same-sex behavior in animals. Bagemihl said homosexual behavior had been documented in some 450 species. Last summer, the book was cited by the American Psychiatric Association and other groups in a "friend of the court" brief submitted to the Supreme Court in Lawrence vs. Texas, a case challenging a Texas anti-sodomy law. The court struck down the law. In his book, Bagemihl describes homosexual activity in a broad spectrum of animals. He asserts that while same-sex behavior is sometimes found in captivity, it is actually seen more frequently in studies of animals in the wild. Among birds, for instance, studies show that 10 to 15 percent of female western gulls in some populations in the wild are homosexual. Among mammals, male and female bottlenose dolphins frequently engage in homosexual activity, both in captivity and

I hope it works better than...

[sdo1]

... the windows "hibernate" feature.

"Ok... wake up"

"I'm sorry Dave. Everything you were working on is know kaput and I've forgotten about everything that you were doing. By the way, where did that network connection go?"

Never play the odds!

[MudButt]

AHH! Damn rover cost me 20G's! My bookie's gunna break my legs...

Las Vegas Releases Odds For Mars Probe Trifecta-of-Failure [newshax.com]

Re:Never play the odds!

[ptomblin]

He's already broken one of Spirit's.

Re:Amazing

[PeelBoy]

They sure as hell lasted a lot longer than any radio controlled toy I ever owned

Martian Golfers?

[ToxikFetus]

So NASA drove Spirit into a sand trap? The last time I drove a golf cart into a sand trap, I got my ass banned from the local links.

This just in

[Timesprout]

The busted wheel has been confirmed as a design flaw, and the manufacturers sub contracted by NASA, Martian Rovers R' Us have issued an immediate recall of all rovers. DHL are expected to pick Spirit up tomorrow for refurbishment.

Re:Tough decisions

[tktk]

We're right here, you ugly bag of mostly-water.

Slows what yu know.

I'm nostly ful of alochol.

Re: Amazing

[shigelojoe]

My guess is that NASA mixed up metric days and imperial days when they were making their lifetime estimates.

Re:Tough decisions

[Anonymous Coward]

the Council has temporarily deigned to occupy waterbag 54550 to answer your pathetic cries.

Oh great. Cue posts from aliens occupying four- and three-digit waterbags.

Re:Amazing

[njchick]

I guess the dust accumulation rate in your apartment is higher than on Mars.

Re:I've seen this one before

[MikTheUser]

There was a young man from the East
Who unwillingly served as a feast,
For his ship, it did fall
To the planet of Trall
Near a ravenous bug-blatter beast.

(Oh yes, I wrote this all on my own!)

Re:I've seen this one before

[Bob the Hamster]

It seems like it's safe, but then the Sarlacc opens its big ugly mouth and the next thing you know, the rover is being digested for 1,000 years.

Which will provide us with lots of fantastic scientific data about the biology of the Martian Sarlacc, and perhaps will help xenobiologists determine where it fits on the evolutionary tree in relation to the better-studied Tatooine Sarlacc.

Wouldn't it be nice....

[p51d007]

if ALL of NASA worked as well as the Mars rovers?

Re:Wouldn't it be nice....

[Ohreally_factor]

When you take humans out of the equation, you minimize the chance for failures.

That's why, in 2008, I'm voting for Skynet.

Energizer Bunny, where for art thou?

[Tablizer]

The Energizer battery company should be all over these rovers as sponsors. A better association comes but once in a lifetime. The rovers to batteries are Michael Jordon to shoes.

Re:Rovers are doing great.

[Max von H.]

Anyone volunteer for a Manned Rover trip?

Not until they've safely sent at least 50 people ready to serve and worship me.

Thanks anyways