well, maybe just to blow open the clutch or something so it could freely turn - then dragging it wouldn't be dead weight.

Still limping along:

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/spirit/fo...23P1210R0M1.JPG

Good, they aren't going to sit still and spend a week analyzing the problem w/o moving. I suspect they just make best time possible to the slopes and then take a breather to see if they can do anything about it.

No updates from SS since Feb 5th, really could use another one by now.

Looks like she's returning to Home Plate

Ohmy...this doesn't look good at all. Let us not forget, that dragging a blocked wheel is no problem in this loose material, but roving around rocks is a must in this situation. If it's really stuck (which is most certainly the case because of the high gear ratio indeed), rocks that could be driven over before are an obstacle now: draging along rocks isn't easy on 5 working wheels.

It might get us some interesting views under rocks though....something we did not see before ! I remember thread that was about turning rocks with the arm ! And: we'll get a loooong trench ! ALWAYS look at the bright side of life (I am trying to keep the corners of my mouth up !)

I hope this motor starts working again. I remember something about a gear ratio well within hundreds: this means it is going to be hard to force the motor back and forth by excerting force on the wheel itself. It might be done in combination with a high current boost through the actuator, while pushing the wheel to a stationairy surface (large, coarse rock, with the "cleats" of the wheel pushed on it): the other 5 might slip then....

Fingers crossed that they'll fix it....like they did before. That wasn't a complete stall however...it was a higher current, but still turning.

Squyres did not mention the wheel trouble in his talk today about Spirit. In fact he said at the end "Spirit has just completed a drive in the direction of Oberth and Korolev, we hope in a week or so to be on one of those nice toasty slopes that will allow us to survive another winter at Mars."

For what that's worth.

--Emily

Pyros could malfunction, and go off early - or, worse, simultaneously...

Cue bad Micahel Caine impression -- "You're only s'posed to blow the bloody doors off!"

Maybe they were just testing it with a short drive.... and will try longer ones in the days ahead.

"Looks like she's returning to Home Plate" -- General
Not if that's Husband Hill in the background.

"(I am trying to keep the corners of my mouth up !)" -- Marcel
If all else fails, try standing on your head.

It's not exactly the kind of note a scientific 'knight in armor' wants to conclude his latest progress report with, Emily. He would say it's too soon to evaluate the problem, so 'not worth mentioning' today. Fair enough, I suppose, but I'll bet he's wishing he'd made an update last week at his Mission to Mars site. Then it could have been entirely upbeat, now...
Obviously, those static detents, Mars_Armer described are doing their job too well, the bad wheel has not budged despite that long drag. Marcel may well be right, a protruding bedrock meeting the bad wheel might 'anchor' us fast, forcing a back-up. Might mean trickier drive programming and keeping to the sand where possible. Dam'n'Blast! Time's'a'wastin'! We've got to get North, FAST before we freeze!
Don't know about those pyrotechnic charges, boys. One short-circuit or static discharge might instantly convert us into a stationary 'rover'. Better to equip MSL with a powerful rock-biting sampler that could be programmed to gnaw the leg off.

P.S. Emily, do you mind if I ask a personal question? What is your avatar a picture of? I've guessed 'dented daisy', 'tattered tutu', 'mutant ephyra', but I'm still unsure.
Hope the weather's fine in Houston.

It's a radar image of the venusian surface from Magellan.

Awesome, AB. I see the obvious link with Venus,(Men are from Mars...), but what is the actual structure? A volcano or something? Anywhere I can see a blowup of the pic?

Lavinia ?
]

The less obvious (but more accurate) link is that Emily did research on Venus with Magellan data before working at TPS.

Doug

See a previous post from Emily.

Is she busy or something this week?