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  #991 (permalink)  
Old 18-November-2009, 06:30 PM
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At this rate, we'll be able to free Spirit by asking future colonists to saunter over and give it a nudge.
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  #992 (permalink)  
Old 18-November-2009, 06:34 PM
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Methinks that is where Spirit will "breathe" its last.
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Old 18-November-2009, 06:55 PM
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Originally Posted by jamesabrown View Post
At this rate, we'll be able to free Spirit by asking future colonists to saunter over and give it a nudge.
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Originally Posted by Buttercup View Post
Methinks that is where Spirit will "breathe" its last.

jamesabrown, Buttercup, The extraction process has just begon...
It'll take time to get her out, could be weeks or months...

But she will get out. It's Spirit!
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  #994 (permalink)  
Old 18-November-2009, 10:42 PM
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Methinks that is where Spirit will "breathe" its last.
Heresy!
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Old 18-November-2009, 11:16 PM
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Heresy!
No kidding! That is as bad as saying the 'quiet' word in ER where any Nurse can overhear you or similar. Buttercup - take back that thought! (please...positive thoughts, positive thoughts....) With the first movement being only about 6 degrees of wheel rotation, definitely going to methodically slower than anything we would wish for. VERY hard to not get impatient, for me anyways. Next movement is tomorrow, I think.

Actually, I kind of have some faith that the Spirit team will be able to wiggle it up and out, and that a 'spirited' wind will keep those panels clear for the voltage needed, etc. Murphy has done enough with other Mars projects/missions already, IMHO

Alex
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Old 20-November-2009, 12:06 AM
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Planetary Society Blog: Encouraging motion on Spirit

Give her a centimeter, she'll take a kilometer.

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It really looks like the second attempt at driving Spirit out of the trap has had the hoped-for result: some forward progress (maybe about a centimeter), and no evidence for further downward sinking. The best views seem to be from the right-eye Hazard Avoidance Cameras, the belly-mounted fish-eye cameras that the rover uses to get a look at her own wheels.
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Old 20-November-2009, 01:19 AM
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Any *.meter works for me What a bragging-right it'll be to say "was stuck axle-deep and kept on going...". Might need to get an emblem with a bass drum-beating bunny for it, huh?
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  #998 (permalink)  
Old 20-November-2009, 01:34 PM
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Next time, send up a Suzuki Samurai. Keep it above 50, and you'd never get stuck.

Go Spirit! A 1 centimeter drive means that at least she switched to metric.
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Old 06-December-2009, 10:29 AM
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Been following this and am surprised that there has been no official mention of using the robotic arm to help Free Spirit.

What it needs is a push, some lateral force to aid it's extraction from the sand pit. If a solid surface is within reach, even a stone on the surface, then the little force that the arm can exert should be used. Damage to the instruments on the arm? What are they worth on a stalled Rover?

John
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Old 06-December-2009, 11:45 AM
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Been following this and am surprised that there has been no official mention of using the robotic arm to help Free Spirit.
It's been asked and the reply was in the form of "we have many options to consider, some quite unorthodox". No literal quote!

Quote:
What it needs is a push, some lateral force to aid it's extraction from the sand pit. If a solid surface is within reach, even a stone on the surface, then the little force that the arm can exert should be used. Damage to the instruments on the arm? What are they worth on a stalled Rover?
IMHO it should be one of the last options to try. The instruments on the arm are priceless. But.. in some of the current images you can see imprints of the arm in the soil, presumably resulting from using the micro imager to view the underside of Spirit.
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Old 06-December-2009, 12:23 PM
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Go Spirit! A 1 centimeter drive means that at least she switched to metric.


Although, a digitus wouldn´t be bad, either
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Old 06-December-2009, 04:35 PM
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Been following this and am surprised that there has been no official mention of using the robotic arm to help Free Spirit.
Look again - there has, in many places, several times.
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Old 07-December-2009, 01:32 AM
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Science@NASA: Sandtrapped Rover Makes a Big Discovery

Quote:
"The rover's spinning wheels have broken through a crust, and we've found something supremely interesting in the disturbed soil," says Ray Arvidson of the Washington University in St. Louis.
[...]
As the rover tried to break free, its wheels began to churn up the soil, uncovering sulfates underneath.

"Sulfates are minerals just beneath the surface that shout to us that they were formed in steam vents, since steam has sulfur in it. Steam is associated with hydrothermal activity – evidence of water-charged explosive volcanism. Such areas could have once supported life."
[...]
"By being stuck at Troy, Spirit has been able to teach us about the modern water cycle on Mars." Indeed, Spirit's saga at Troy has given scientists material evidence of past water on Mars on two time scales: ancient volcanic times, and cycles ongoing to the present day.
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Old 07-December-2009, 02:35 AM
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That's a discovery! Getting stuck may just turn out to be very serendispu ... serindupit ... serendipsot ... lucky after all
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  #1005 (permalink)  
Old 07-December-2009, 09:44 AM
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Look again - there has, in many places, several times.
I'd be grateful for a link.
John
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Old 07-December-2009, 12:29 PM
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If a "carbon-containing" nitrogen-sulfur compound were found---it would just abut seal the deal Martian bacteria --- IMO

That would hopefully pave the way for intensive investigations in future missions.
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  #1008 (permalink)  
Old 07-December-2009, 03:18 PM
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The sulfates may be gypsum, and could be an evaporation product.
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Old 07-December-2009, 03:22 PM
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The sulfates may be gypsum, and could be an evaporation product.
Well said--- thanks.
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  #1010 (permalink)  
Old 07-December-2009, 10:54 PM
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The sulfates may be gypsum, and could be an evaporation product.
thanks. I didn't want to get into it.
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Old 08-December-2009, 07:12 PM
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Excellent discussion of the 'Arm Issue' via Scott's blog ( if you don't read it....why not!! ) at http://marsandme.blogspot.com

Quote:
That's probably the #1 question we get, and it makes me wish JPL had a FAQ to help answer it. I'm sure a lot of other people are wondering the same thing.

You're right about one of the problems -- there's not a hard surface to push against. Unfortunately, there are other problems as well. Spirit's arm can exert only about 70N of force -- the absolute max is maybe 100N -- only about 10% of the 650N she'd need to lift herself. Also, because the motor control board is shared between the arm and the wheels, we can't actually push while driving. (We could load the arm up, drive a little, load the arm up, and so on -- that is, the system wouldn't prevent us from doing that -- but we can't actually push while driving.)

In addition, this would be an incredibly risky maneuver, because it risks damaging the arm and/or its instruments, which represent 2/3 of Spirit's scientific payload.

Manipulating the surface, for example by pushing rocks in front of the wheels, is also risky but probably wouldn't help much. There aren't many helpful rocks in reach, and we could make a difference for only one wheel (the left front wheel -- the right front wheel is dead). Trying would probably consume quite a few sols, and it might not make much of a difference anyway, as the rock we put in front of the wheel might just slip right under it, through the soft soil, leaving us right back where we started.

Despite all that, strategies for using the arm are indeed on our "back pocket" list, to be reconsidered if and when the situation becomes sufficiently dire.

Right now, Spirit's big problem is that one more wheel has started giving her trouble. The right front wheel died years ago, on sol 779, and we've been dragging that anchor ever since. Just as we started the Troy extrication, the right rear wheel started stalling. While we're not yet sure whether this is because of a terrain problem or something in that wheel's drive motor, it's potentially an extremely serious problem -- and one the arm probably couldn't help us overcome even if it were five times as strong as it is.
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Old 09-December-2009, 02:03 AM
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There, this happy news:

Quote:
But there's even better news: Spirit's right front wheel seems to have healed itself. Its current draw has been nominal for some time. So there's no longer a need to drag it, as far as we know, and driving Spirit can become simple again. There are a few, easy-to-honor restrictions, which basically amount to "don't drive it so hard."
It's a Christmas miracle!

Edit: Correction below says I was reading years-old news. Spirit is still hobbled. Sorry.
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Old 09-December-2009, 05:40 AM
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that is great news. but the drama is overwhelming!
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Old 09-December-2009, 07:48 AM
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reading new scientist today, a second wheel seems to have broken, no chance of escape now.
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Old 09-December-2009, 07:57 AM
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There, this happy news:
FROM FIVE YEARS AGO.

Scott's blog is a 5-year retrospective. He started at the beginning of 2009, posting about the beginning of 2004. His blog is at sol 3hundredandsomething

Today is Sol 21hundred and something for Spirit.

The front right wheel is broken, and the rear right might well be as well.
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Old 09-December-2009, 01:04 PM
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FROM FIVE YEARS AGO.
Darn. So much for miracles. I was wondering why the very latest episode had reference to people wishing to get out of Endurance crater.

If you're still curious about:

Quote:
if you don't read it....why not!!
I guess my answer is: if the matter is to be delivered a week per week in a blog, I prefer news over history.
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Old 11-December-2009, 08:02 AM
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I fell into the same trap a couple of months ago! I was very confused until I compared more recent posts with this blog then I realised what was happening!
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Old 14-December-2009, 07:38 AM
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Yestersol - Spirits front right wheel turned.

Yes - you read that right.
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Old 16-December-2009, 03:12 AM
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Yestersol - Spirits front right wheel turned.
I was prescient. It is a Christmas miracle.

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It's a Christmas miracle!
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Old 16-December-2009, 04:33 AM
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I didn't think that would happen. Wow! Roll out of the pit of despair brave explorer!
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