Spirit and Opportunity Are Back Online

PinkyGigglebrain sends us news that the Mars rovers have survived the dust storms that have swept the surface of Mars for the last 6 weeks. How well they survived remains to be seen. Due to a combination of dust still suspended in the atmosphere and dust on the rovers' solar panels, they are only producing about half the power they normally would. The article is a little sparse on the exact health of the rovers but it's good to know they are still with us.

Ideas for next time?

[Wilson_6500]

I suppose if we send another rover to Mars, they might--out of optimism--include a way for the solar panels to free themselves of dust? I know they supposedly didn't expect the rovers to last for quite this long, but it seems like being proactive about this sort of thing really wouldn't hurt for the next time around. I imagine it'd have to be a pretty low-energy method for doing so, and if it's really fine dust it might be a tough job. Maybe piezoeletrically vibrating the panels, if they're set at an angle, would work.

Re:Ideas for next time?

[QuantumG]

The next Mars lander Phoenix [arizona.edu] launched last month. It will arrive in May next year.

Although it's not a "rover" it does have solar panels for power. I believe there is no way to clean the solar panels of dust.

So, in short, no, lesson not learned.

Re:Ideas for next time?

[isotope123]

The Phoenix lander is going to the pole, so it isn't expected to survive long enough for dust on the panels to be a problem. The mision is 90 days. Once winter comes, the probe will be frozen in carbon dioxide ice, which will pretty much kill it. I believe they plan to try to talk to it again when summer comes the next martian year, just in case it survives though. The next Mars Rover, the MSL is planned for launch in September 09 and will be powered by a RTG (radioisotope thermoelectric generator). Same as what the Voyager probes used and they are still going 30 years later.

Re:March On Little Soldiers

[dradler]

I say, point them at each other and let them try to meet up.

I've done that calculation. It would take about 300 years, for two rovers with all six wheels working. (Spirit is currently operating with only five working wheels.) We landed them about as far apart as you can on Mars, almost on exactly opposite sides of the planet.