Jamie's Blog

Monday, July 23, 2007

Mars Rovers stuck in a sand storm


It seems that the two Nasa explorer robots are stuck in sand storms that are hampering their ability to collect power from the sun. According to the Nasa report, 99 percent of the sun is being blocked out. If you saw my previous post about a sand storm in Iraq, you will have some idea of how hard it could be to get a clear patch of sunlight. The rovers were initially sent to Mars back in 2004. Their first mission being to find evidence of water on the planet. Both have gone through numerous software updates to increase their autonomy and fault tolerance. Currently both Spirit and Opportunity are stuck in the sand storms, though Opportunity is feeling the worst of it.

Check out the Nasa report here: Mars Rovers Caught in Severe Dust Storm
For a historical background on the rovers, check the Wikepedia article: Mars Exploration Rover

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