NASA's Spirit Mars rover is limping along at Gusev crater, in reverse, as it heads toward “McCool Hill”.

The robot is not only solar-energy deprived due to dust on its solar wings, but is also dealing with a cranky right front wheel.

The robot is dragging the lame wheel, carving into the Martian landscape in the process.

Earth controllers plan to have the rover spend the Mars winter on the hill’s north-facing slopes. Doing so, the robot will be tilted toward the Sun, helping to maximize daily output by the solar panels.

Engineers at a testbed facility at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California are trying to determine what caused Spirit’s right front actuator to stop working. Meanwhile, rover controllers have successfully commanded the robot to drive using only 5 wheels of its engineer-given six wheels

JPL Engineers plan to have Spirit continue driving backward with five healthy wheels while dragging the right front wheel.

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-- Leonard David

Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell