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EARTHDATE: May 29, 2011

Official News page 5


REAL LIFE NEWS: FAREWELL TO SPIRIT

by Hazed

Fourteen months after we last heard from the Spirit rover on Mars, NASA's engineers have finally conceded that it is unlikely to phone home again. They've stopped making attempts to contact it and declared it dead.

Spirit got stuck in soft sand in May 2009. Its position in the sand that trapped it meant its solar panels were not angled in the ideal position to make sure it had adequate energy to run its survival heaters during the harsh Martian winter.

But the rover's mission has been an astonishing success, because it and its sister Opportunity have lasted far longer than anyone predicted. The two rovers landed on Mars in January 2004, and the designers thought they'd work for about three months. But after more than seven years in action, Opportunity is still out there, trucking across the Martian surface.

Spirit was sent to the Gusev Crater near the equator of the planet. Orbital images suggested that the 170km-wide crater might have once held a giant lake. The rover examined rocks and eventually found some that had experienced extensive contact with water.

And so we say farewell to an incredibly successful, long-lasting rover. Spirit, we salute you!

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13539406


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