Operation Free Spirit is set to
begin.
Yesterday, the test
rover that is an exact twin of NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers was set
up in a plywood test rig in a dirt pit at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
The rig was built to allow mission engineers to mimic the situation Spirit
finds itself in on Mars, with its wheels mired in the Martian sand.
"The test facility is now
configured, and the rover is in place," said Steve Squyres, lead scientist
for the Mars Exploration Rover Project, in an email yesterday. "The first
time we turn the wheels should be today."
The test rover is
now perched inside a wooden rig filled with a soil mixture concocted by
mission scientists to mimic the sand Spirit's wheels are caked in. The mixture
is mostly a combination of a substance called diatomaceous earth and clay. The
test rover's wheels have plowed into the material, leaving ruts in their wake.
The team planned a few adjustments
to more closely match Spirit's situation, such as placing a rock beneath the
test rover, and then intended to begin assessing possible maneuvers for Spirit
to use getting free from Troy.
Spirit has been stuck in
Martian soil up to its hubcaps since May 6 when it became mired in a dirt
patch (now called "Troy") while driving backward. Though it can't
roam around right now, Spirit is still doing plenty
of science.
If the test rover's wheels spin in
the same way as Spirit's, engineers will know they have the right mixture and
can start testing out maneuvers to free the rover. If they don't behave in
quite the same way, the team will have to adjust the soil mixture.
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