Heading into their third year on Mars, Spirit and Opportunity are still motoring along taking cool pictures, finding neat stuff and checking out more terrain.
Not bad for a couple of robots that were only supposed to last 3 months. Sounds like they’re beginning to suffer from aging though.
While showing signs of wear, Spirit and Opportunity are still being used to their maximum remaining capabilities. On Spirit, the teeth of the rover’s rock abrasion tool are too worn to grind the surface off any more rocks, but its wire-bristle brush can still remove loose coatings. The tool was designed to uncover three rocks, but it exposed interiors of 15 rocks.
On Opportunity, the steering motor for the front right wheel stopped working eight months ago. A motor at the shoulder joint of the rover’s robotic arm shows symptoms of a broken wire in the motor winding. Opportunity can still maneuver with its three other steerable wheels. Its shoulder motor still works when given extra current, and the arm is still useable without that motor.
Cool.
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