Mars rovers resume driving
Posted: Tue, Aug 28, 2007, 7:53 AM ET (1153 GMT)
After weathering a potentially mission-ending dust storm, NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers have resumed driving on the Martian surface, JPL recently announced. The rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, had been largely immobile for weeks because of a massive dust storm that blocked the Sun and thus reduced the amount of power the rovers could generate to dangerously low levels. The dust storm has been subsiding recently, however, allowing the rovers to generate more power; both rovers were able to drive short distances last week. Project officials, though, remain concerned that buildup on solar panels as dust particles settle on the rovers when the storm subsides could still limit power output from the rovers' solar panels.
After weathering a potentially mission-ending dust storm, NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers have resumed driving on the Martian surface, JPL recently announced. The rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, had been largely immobile for weeks because of a massive dust storm that blocked the Sun and thus reduced the amount of power the rovers could generate to dangerously low levels. The dust storm has been subsiding recently, however, allowing the rovers to generate more power; both rovers were able to drive short distances last week. Project officials, though, remain concerned that buildup on solar panels as dust particles settle on the rovers when the storm subsides could still limit power output from the rovers' solar panels.
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