[X] My Assistant

[Pando]

A bit of a problem. Let's hope this gets resolved...

Sol 338 - Drove 8 meters with 25 meters of commanded motion. Saw up to 95% slip
on some of the drive segments due to the 15-20 degree tilt and the
sandy terrain.

Sol 339 - Another 25 meter attempt. This one was cut short at the start
when the right rear wheel ingested a potato-sized rock. The rock apparently
jammed between the inner part of the wheel and the drive mechanism, causing
the drive current to exceed the preset current limit, resulting in a safe
motor stall. We will run this motor in the other direction on sol 340 in an
attempt to dislodge the rock.

[ilbasso]

And from the MER JPL public website:
"Potato-size Rock in Spirit's Wheel Well

In recent days, controllers directed NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit to back up and turn to try to dislodge a potato-size rock from Spirit's right rear wheel. The rock did not present a threat -- it was sort of like having a pebble stuck in your shoe -- but the rover team was taking no chances that the rock might work its way deeper inside the rover's wheel well. The rock can be seen in the lower left side of this image, which Spirit took with its right rear hazard avoidance camera on martian day, or sol, 345 (Dec. 21, 2004). By the following day, the rock had rolled out onto the martian sand."