The plucky Mars
rover Spirit has a whole team of NASA engineers on Earth trying to find an
escape route out of the Martian sand dune that has snared the robot for weeks,
and now it has a Web site.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., launched the Web
site "Free Spirit" (http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/freespirit/) this week to chronicle the space
agency's efforts to rescue
Spirit from its sandy Martian prison. It comes complete with a dramatic
logo.
"People
really like the whole 'free Spirit,' idea and we thought we should make it
really easy for people to find updates," said Veronica McGregor, a NASA
spokesperson at JPL. "In a way, we're trying to make it a campaign that
everyone can get involved in."
The seed
for NASA's Free Spirit site was planted in comments and inquiries McGregor
received on the agency's Mars rover Twitter page, she told SPACE.com. The new site joins several older NASA Web pages dedicated to the long-lived Mars rover mission, but is the first solely reserved for Spirit's sand trap problem.
Stuck
fast on Mars
Spirit has
been stuck since May 6, when it slipped up to its wheel hubs into deep Martian
sand. Snapshots of Spirit's undercarriage revealed a rock that may be touching
the rover, but NASA engineers believe it loose and not bearing any of the robot's
weight.
"This is a
very tough situation and we're not sure we can get Spirit out," McGregor said.
But the
outpouring of support for Spirit has been immense, with the public sending in suggestions
and encouragement via NASA's social networking channels and regular written
mail, she added.
At JPL, engineers
have concocted a flour-like mix of soft, fluffy material made of diatomaceous
earth and Lincoln 60 fire clay, which were available at their local Home Depot
store.
The mock
Martian dirt mix is designed to mimic the wheel-caking properties of the actual
Mars sand plaguing Spirit. It is being poured into a sandbox, where an
Earth-based test rover will be forced to get stuck so engineers can find a way
to get it - and by extension Spirit - out of their respective traps.
"They're
mixing it up and starting to shovel it in," McGregor said. "'Marscaping' is
what I like to call it."
A similar
technique was used to rescue Spirit's twin Opportunity when it bogged down in a
dune on the other side of Mars in 2005.
But back
then, social networking Web sites like Twitter weren't around, McGregor said. "Opportunity
was in the same situation in 2005 and very few people knew about it," she
added.
Opportunity
was only stuck for five weeks. Spirit is just over a week shy of the two-month
mark mired in sand. On Free Spirit, NASA is posting new images and video
updates on Spirit's progress, or lack of it, as it unfolds. New photographs
posted Friday showed engineers stirring up their mock Mars dirt and other
Marscaping ingredients.
Stationary
science
While
Spirit remains immobilized, it has kicked up some
interesting terrain and is studying its surroundings using cameras and
other high-tech sensors. Rover scientists have dubbed Spirit's sand trap "Troy,"
and discovered distinct layers of tan, yellow, white and dark-red sandy dirt which
researchers are working to explain.
A recent
dust storm has even cleaned the Martian dust coating Spirit's deck-mounted
solar panels, boosting the amount of power available to keep the rover alive.
Spirit
and Opportunity have been roving across their respective landing sites on Mars
since 2004. They had launched a year earlier on an initial 90-day mission, but NASA
has since extended the expedition several times over due to their unexpectedly
long life. The mission, McGregor said, has won a strong following among the
public.
"I think
part of it is just the fact that they're on the planet and rolling around," she
said. "And the other part is that they've lasted so much longer than anyone has
expected."
NASA's "Free
Spirit" Web site: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/freespirit/
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