Wheel Trouble, ...down to 5 good wheels? |
Wheel Trouble, ...down to 5 good wheels? |
Mar 14 2006, 12:29 AM
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 90 Joined: 13-January 05 Member No.: 143 |
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I just heard that there is a serious problem with Spirit's right front drive actuator after yestersol's drive. (This is the actuator that had high currents in the past and led to the backward-driving strategy.) It will take awhile to evaluate the situation, but early speculation is grim.
In a worst-case scenario, they can still drag the bum wheel along, but don't expect another summit view. Best-case scenario would be a rock or debris jammed in the wheel. This is a heads-up, sorry I can't really give more info at this time. I still thought you all would like to know. |
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Mar 14 2006, 07:08 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 |
Oh, no. So that is one reason why Spirit has moved so little recently. It would seem to be an appropriate time to pray to the engineers. It's not likely to be caused by a rock lodged in the wheel, since Spirit has been travelling over a fairly hard surface recently, and the few available hazcams show no suggestion that debris is in the wheel. It is curious though, that there are so few recent hazcams available if there is an issue with that wheel...3 pairs from sol 774, 1 pair from 776, and nothing else so far. Is that due to the MRO/MOI communication? I thought that would be finished by now.
But yes, that seems to be the $64,000 question. Can it still free-wheel as it once did, or is it locked? All I can tell from the images available so far is that Spirit was driving backwards on sol 774 and it left differently appearing left/right tracks. At some point it had turned around 180 degrees, and then it turned back and was in a somewhat different orientatation/location by sol 776. Even if the wheel is shot, they should be able to drag it to safer ground, but it may take some learning along the way. -------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
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