Mars Rover Stuck in a Dune

Bamfarooni writes "The NASA Mars rover Opportunity has gotten stuck in a dune, buried up to the hubs of the wheels. While they haven't given up yet, it doesn't look good for the little guy who's now 359 days into the extended mission." From the article: "The Mars machinery had been cruising southward across the open parking lot-like landscape of Meridiani Planum, full of larger and larger ripples of soil. Opportunity has been en route to its next stopover, Erebus crater, nestled inside an even larger crater known as Terra Nova."

Figures.

[Anonymous Coward]

It was probably attacked by a giant sandworm.

Damn potholes

[Anonymous Coward]

Clearly the Martian Highways Dept. need to get a crew up there right away and fix these potholes before someone gets hurt.

muu

[ondjultomte]

They need bigger wheels! Knew they shoulda opt for those shiny 18" !

If only they had a caddie

[chadamir]

If they had a caddie they would know that they could use a sand wedge to get it out. But nasa is far too cheap and doesn't like to tip.

Hold on!

[rlthomps-1]

This is going to take a whole lot of floorin'! /obligatory simpsons quote

Solution

[AKAImBatman]

Poor little rover. We should send someone up to push it out. I volunteer!

Dear NASA

[Letter]

Dear NASA,

If you had let Xzibit and West Coast Customs pimp out the Rover with 20 inch rims you would have avoided this problem.

Letter

Demolition derby

[mrseigen]

They have two rovers. The solution is obvious.

Call Triple A

[east coast]

They'll get there in less than 30 minutes or the next tow is free!

Let me say this out loud!

[zr-rifle]

BEAGLE to the RESCUE!!!

...or maybe not...

Don't give up, NASA!

[bigtallmofo]

"We are very optimistic that we'll be able to get out of here, but we're really going to take our time doing it."

It sounds like NASA is going to use a technique I discovered playing video games as a child. If you're stuck somewhere, just wiggle the joystick back and forth for a few hours to see if you can work your way out of it. Too bad they can't reload a saved game. I found that technique helpful too.

Dune, my ass

[gowen]

My bet is that its grounded on the wreckage of Beagle II. :)

BattleBots

[RealityMogul]

If only NASA engineers watched more BattleBots they'd have realized that they needed a flipper arm underneath.

Re:Dear NASA & JPL

[roror]

The One thing I hope NASA people not doing now is reading slashdot.

Re:More info

[hoggoth]

> careful Rover Watchers noticed that it hadn't moved in a few days, and started to wonder why. Apparently NASA had to say something, because people were asking questions.

My wife hasn't moved in a few days either. Being a careful watcher, I am starting to wonder why.

Re:Summary is a little too sensational

[pintpusher]

Translation:

Rover operators are optimistic they can extricate the robot from its jam

sure thing boss, no problem, get it right out of there (oh crap, we're screwed)

having gotten dug in before

Yes boss, we've done it before, no problem(I can't believe we got stuck dune hopping again, this never happens with my r/c cars at home...)

but we're really going to take our time doing it

It'll only take a little while... (OH @#$& I just dug it in deeper, whats on Monster.com?)

In other news...

[Anonymous Coward]

In other news, AAA membership fees are being raised to $70,000,000 per year.

Re:Hold on!

[PaxTech]

They should have sent a Canyonero..

Can you name the truck with four wheel drive, smells like a steak and seats thirty-five.. CANYONERO!!!

This is what *REALLY* happened

[netglen]

They're too embarrased to admit it, but they actually found the rover on red cement blocks and some Mars fiend has stolen the wheels.

Re:Solution

[Striikerr]

No need to worry! The DID install OnStar didn't they?? Just have the robotic arm press the button... What do you mean they didn't design the arm so it could press the OnStar button?!? Well, there goes THAT idea!

Re:I warned them!

[PhraudulentOne]

Was it a winch that magically worked in sand? A Sand winch? Sandwinch... sandwich... mmm lunchtime.

Time for help from the dustdevils again

[johnjay]

Now if only one of those dustdevils that's been cleaning the solar panels would be kind enough to wedge a 2"x12" behind the drive wheel...

Should have sent a H2 instead of a "Rover"

[FerretFrottage]

Sure it would have only gotten a few km down away from the lander before needing to gas up, but no little dune would stop it unless the engineers were afraid of getting it dirty since they only want to use the H2 to drive to the local Mars mini-mart and back.

Re:Demolition derby

[milimetric]

You're right... the rovers could have sex and in time hope to breed a mighty race of rovers which could then pull out the one that's stuck.

I'm imagining that the other rover is pretty far away and wouldn't get there for a year or so.

But hey, what's everyone all pesimistic about... as you point out, you do have two rovers, why not use the other one? The MISSION CONTINUES!

that aint no crater...

[bobsalt]

looks like worm sign to me...

Re:Call Triple A

[jd]

Actually, they need AAAA (American Astronautical Automobile Association). However, the AAAA is currently on-route to Pioneer 11 to replace the battery.

Naw. They should've used Dubs

[Anonymous Coward]

The Mars Rover would look completely dope with some chrome-plated, 20-inch spinnaz, yo.

Wrong guys are driving the thing...

[kenneytechnologies]

We need to get those volvo driving NASA geeks out of the drivers seat and call in Cousin Clyde. Sure, he's used to driving a F350 with 10" lift and 32" mudboggers, but hell, just tell him it's eight wheel drive and there's a case of PBR in it for him. He'll have it unstuck in no time.

muu?

[game kid]

I told NASA to call MTV so they could Pimp Their Rover. These bureaus just don't listen. It's gonna be tough to drive the beater to West Coast Customs now.

Though I do wonder how fine it would have went with spinning rims...

Re:Demolition derby

[CdBee]

I bet it was a trap laid by Beagle 2... only now can it come out of hiding....

PS NASA - nobody expected them to last this long and you still have one on-the-go. Good work whatever happens

Wow...

[Seoulstriker]

That really is a small planet!

Re:Demolition derby

[shawn(at)fsu]

"the rovers could have sex and in time hope to breed a mighty race of rovers"

And in time they will come back to earth with all the knowledge they have gained..

I for one welcome our Mars Rover Overlords.

I couldn't resist.

Why can't they

[RealProgrammer]

Why can't they just

• Back up? ("What do you mean, 'there's no reverse'? Budget cuts my ass!")
• Activate the built-in turbo jacks? [speedracer.com]
• Ask Google? When I get in a jam, that's what I do.
• Reverse the polarity?

I guess that's why I'm not in charge of NASA.

Re:Solution

[Jorkapp]

Onstar: Onstar, how may I help you?
Rover: Yea, I seem to be stuck in a sand dune on another planet.
Onstar: Alright, I'll send a rescue crew to meet you. They should be there in about 4 months.
Rover: About that, could you hurry it up? I think this sand dune is collaps...

+++NO_CARRIER

IRTA

[Orlando]

The Mars machinery had been cruising southward across the open parking lot-like landscape of Meridiani Planum full of lager

Just let him sleep it off, apart from a headache he'll be alright in the morning.

If only NASA had sprung $50 for a AAA membership

[hqm]

If they would just have coughed up the $50 for their AAA membership, this wouldn't be a problem.
As it stands, the towing charges are going to be astronomical.

Re:It's okay, it was powered by Windows XP...

[DeathFlame]

He had a life, but he got it from Microsoft so it crashed! hahah. I'm so clever.

Re:Dear NASA

[Moby Cock]

NASA Engineer: Sir, we need bigger tires to get out of the dune.
Project Learder: Holla at'cha boyyee
NASA Engineer: Uh, sir, what do you want us to do?
Project Leader: Awww, Snap! Dat rover be da bomb!
NASA Engineer: I'm going home.
Project Leader: H to the O to the M to the E.

Re:Naw. They should've used Dubs

[Rei]

And they could have launched it on a Rice Rocket. I'm picturing an old Delta-2 with an oversized "Type R" decal, a dozen gigantic fog lights, oversized chrome-plated bell nozzles on the engines, racing stripes, and extraneous fins. ;)

careful on Dune

[brer_rabbit]

if the rover stays in one place too long, it may be eaten by a sandworm. I hate it when sandworms eat my harvesters.

Re:Demolition derby

[saskboy]

Now Disney can get in on the NASA act, and make a children's movie about the Two Rovers that Left Home.

One got stuck, and the other one thousands of kilometers away, goes on a desperate mission to cross the planet to rescue Opportunity before his battery runs out. All this with help from his sidekick Marvin the Martian, NASA JPL Jake, and Duney the Dune.

Re:Hold on!

[WidescreenFreak]

I'm surprised that I haven't seen any spice worm comments, or whatever those desert creatures were. Hey, the rover is stuck on a Dune!

Yes, yes. Bad joke. Blame end-of-the-week fatigue. :)

No problem

[Craig_P92669]

Just call MacGyver! Get him some straws, a soda can and some duct tape and he'll be there next week!

Better sensationalized version...

[theendlessnow]

The rover is dead. Somebody has already stripped the hub caps and key'd the side of the vehicle. Left rear axle is up on blocks. Birds have covered the front and rear windows with poop. It doesn't look good for the little guy who's now 359 days into the extended mission. It is unlikely that a tow truck will reach it anytime soon.

Re:That sucks, but they got their money's worth

[mehtajr]

All NASA probes are typically given a very short lifetime and very modest expectations, engineering them for much larger goals.

I think it's called the "Scotty method."

Re:Dear NASA

[Talking Goat]

Whitest. Post. Ever.

Re:Dear NASA & JPL

[Anonymous Coward]

The human race knows infinitely more of our red neighbor thanks to your hard work.

I think we can thank Walmart and Mike Chinoy(CNN) for that.

Re:Wow...

[quisph]

Nah, it's a really big rover!

It's easy!

[flyingsquid]

Just take the floormats out and put them under the wheels for traction. Or you can let some air out of the tires which will give them a bigger footprint and better traction.

Re:Dear NASA & JPL

[er_head66]

What the hell is this shit? Did /. just become livejournal?

Arrakis??

[whitehatlurker]

Sorry - I misread the storyline.

I thought that the Rover was stuck on Dune [duneinfo.com].

Re:More info

[Anonymous Coward]

In other news, NASA can't figure out why after 48 hours of going backwards and forwards, that the rover is still in the same place.

Re:Hold on!

[Anonymous Coward]

You for the "dagnabbit!".

You for the "got".

Hello

[rodney dill]

Onstar?

Re:Damn potholes

[Anonymous Coward]

Clearly the Martian Highways Dept. need to get a crew up there right away and fix these potholes before someone gets hurt.

I'd like them to fix the old road, too, but no doubt they've decided not to worry about it since it's only about 12 hours until the Earth is destroyed to make way for the new bypass...

Re:It's easy!

[WormholeFiend]

maybe we can ask the same Martian who's been cleaning the solar panels if he would please put some floormats under the rover's wheels so it can move along?

More self-righteous moral preening

[ccmay]

I guess the primary target market for SUV's is people that don't give a shit about anyone but themselves. Which seems to be the emerging attitude among privileged americans. The rest of us drive cars.

How comical. Your smug distinction would be completely lost on the 90% of the world's population who have no car at all.

But don't let that stop you from patting yourself on the back. Knock yourself out.

-ccm