With Robots on Mars, Nasa Hits a Home Run

Many people think that the planet Mars is cursed. Scientists don’t believe in curses, but it is true that two-thirds of all missions to Mars have failed. Doing laboratory work on Mars is very hard.

We cannot send humans there (yet). We send robots instead, to look for water and signs of life.

Today there are two six-wheeled robots cruising on the surface of Mars. To be there, after a six-month trip through space, is a miracle of modern technology.

There are more miracles the robots “Spirit” and “Opportunity” are interplanetary Energizer Bunnies – they keep going and going and going.

When the robots were launched last year, NASA believed they would operate for three months. Their instruments and motors run on electricity, which comes from rechargeable batteries. The power to recharge the batteries comes from solar panels on the robots.

NASA planned for the robots to have short lives because red dust builds up on their solar panels. When there is too much dust, it blocks the sunlight. Without sunlight, the batteries do not recharge. Without battery power, sensitive robot parts freeze in the chilly Martian night, and fail forever.

Surprisingly, the robots not only worked for 90 days, they already have worked an extra four months. They survived a lonely period of isolation in September, when Earth, the sun, and Mars lined up in conjunction.

During conjunction, the sun blocked radio signals between the rovers and Earth. But as Earth and Mars moved away from sun alignment, Spirit and Opportunity talked to their parents (NASA engineers) once more.

NASA plans to man the radios and receive information from the two hardy rovers for another six months.

As long as Martian winds keep blowing the dust from their solar panels, Spirit and Opportunity will beat the curse of the Red Planet.

Related science Standards of Learning list: 6.8, ES-4

On the Internet

* NASA: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/