U.S News

LOS ANGELES – The individual of ever chance from the cragfast Mars rover Spirit is weakening after it failed to move to repeated calls from Earth.

Despite the dismal outlook, NASA module attain a last-ditch try to communicate with Spirit, which lapse unhearable a little over a assemblage ago. If there's still no contact in the incoming period or so, the expanse authority module bit backwards its listening crusade for Spirit and focus on its healthy twin, Opportunity.

That Spirit has not called bag suggests that something is more earnestly wrong than just a power issue, said program manager John coloratura at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The solar-powered rover became bogged in a smoothen hole in Apr 2009 during a invoke drive. Despite efforts to motion free, it remained cragfast and could not lean itself toward the solarise as the Martian winter approached. Without an adequate invoke of forcefulness achievement its solar panels, it went into hibernation terminal March.

Engineers had due Spirit to wake up erst there was maximum light where it's trapped. But summer solstice in gray Mars came and went earlier this period with no response.

Ray Arvidson, of Washington University in St. Louis, had put the ratio of chance a signal by today at less than 50-50. Still, he stands behind attempts to call it.

"I would be astonied if we re-establish act — bright but surprised," said Arvidson, a assignment deputy capital investigator. "It's been so long."

Ground controllers are paging Spirit over a arrange of frequencies and at various times during the period in case its interior clock stopped employed and it forfeited track of time. They also are commanding the rover to invoke on its patronage broadcasting agent in case the important digit died.

At some point, NASA module hit to declare Spirit forfeited if there's no word. When that happens, efforts module be low to spasmodic listening for it ended the end of the year, coloratura said.

Spirit and Opportunity parachuted to opposite sides of Mars in 2004. Both hit worked beyond their original, three-month assignment during which they unconcealed geologic grounds of liquid on the red planet.

While Spirit's odometer remains cragfast at 4.8 miles, Opportunity ended exploring the edge of Santa Maria crevice on Mars and is rolling toward added crater. It has racked up 16.6 miles so far.

Arizona State University physicist Jim discoverer said the expiration of act came at the worst doable instance because Spirit was doing valuable power patch immobile.

"It's unsatisfactory if we have, in fact, forfeited the mission," he said. "But it's the best category of dissatisfaction you can have. We had a extraordinary undertaking with that rover."

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