Spirit Experiences Dust Storm on Mars

The Martian rover Spirit remains blocked in its sandy patch of soil on the surface of the Red Planet, as an incoming dust storm continues to significantly reduce the amount of electricity the exploration robot is receiving. The average amount of sunlight Spirit was getting has now been blocked and, as a response, mission controllers from the NASA-operated Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, have trimmed down the machine's number of daily activities. The team now operates based on photos sent back by the rover itself, and also on information beamed back from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) probe, high above the surface.

Over the past sols (Martian days), the situation has become increasingly tense for the robot, which experienced a drop in electricity output from 744 watt-hours on sol 2001 to 392 watt-hour on sol 2006 (August 24th). Engineers are currently trying to figure out ways to reduce the exploration robot's power demands, and all non-critical activities are being targeted for termination, at least until the weather clears. Still, mission controllers say, the current levels of electricity that Spirit generates far exceed the ones recorded some four months ago, when its panels were only making some 240 watt-hours.

A series of fortunate events, as NASA calls them, have led to the removal of large amounts of dust from the rover's solar panels, which has afterwards gained the ability to perform much more tasks per day. However, on May 6th, the beloved robot entered Troy, the patch of loose soil and sand it rests in even now. Since it can no longer drive, at least for a while, Spirit has taken up new hobbies, such as looking at the stars at night and taking artistic pictures of its surroundings.

“We expect that power will improve again as this storm passes, but we will continue to watch this vigilantly. Spirit remains power positive with healthy energy margins and charged batteries. The weather prediction from the Mars Color Imager team is that the storm is abating, but skies will remain dusty over Spirit for the next few sols,” MER Project Manager John Callas explains. His team manages both Spirit and Opportunity, currently on trek on the other side of Mars.

The first attempts to clear Spirit from Troy will reportedly take place in September. JPL teams have already added a second rover to their sandbox trials, and hopes are high that, by the end of this year, the famous rover will be out of the sand and back in active duty.