Log In | Register
One of Mars Rover's Wheels Stops Working
NASA's Mars Spirit rover is shown in an undated image. NASA said one of Spirit's wheels has stopped working and the solar-powered robot must use its five other wheels to drag itself up a slope to catch enough sunshine to keep operating. (AP Photo/NASA-JPL)
- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (5)
How well these rovers have worked is an amazing engineering feat!
- 1 vote
#1 - Sat Mar 18, 2006 1:36 AM ESTthe reason they were only scheduled to last 90 days was because at that point they enough dust should have collected on the solar panels to render them useless, but little gusts of wind have knocked the dust off.
- 1 vote
#2 - Sat Mar 18, 2006 3:02 AM ESTSo, amusingly, how well these rovers have worked is an amazing engineering oversight!
Rings of penicillin doesn't it?
#3 - Sat Mar 18, 2006 5:24 PM ESTOver-engineering and oversight are two very different things. It's not because the engineers didn't think of the wind on Mars (they knew it was there), they just didn't want to count on it.
#4 - Sat Mar 18, 2006 5:34 PM ESTwhy wouldn't they just design the solar panels a little bit crooked so that the dust/sand would fall off?
#5 - Sat Mar 18, 2006 9:23 PM ESTYou're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead. |
