NASA's stuck Mars rover Spirit took a tiny step Thursday,
its first progress in months, during the latest attempt to extricate the robot
from deep Martian sand.
On Thursday, Spirit inched forward slightly after its second
attempt to drive out of the patch of sandy soil called Troy, in which it has
been mired since April.
The rover successfully completed the first of two commands
to spin its wheels for a period equivalent to driving 8.2 feet (2.5 meters). The
attempt moved Spirit's center forward by about half an inch (1.2 cm), left by
about 0.3 inches (7 mm), and about 0.2 inches (4 mm) down.
Some small forward motion was observed with the non-operable
right front wheel, and the left front wheel showed signs of climbing, despite
the center of the rover moving downward. These motions are too small to establish
any trends at this time, the NASA report said.
The plans for the drive limited Spirit's movement to 0.4
inches (1 cm) in any direction, so the rover didn't attempt the second wheel
spin because it calculated that it had exceeded that limit.
The first attempt to free Spirit, which took place on
Tuesday, hit
a snag when the rover sensed it was tilting too much and stopped after less
than one second of wheel spin.
The rover team is continuing to analyze the data and images
from the second drive, NASA said.
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