BabbleFest

The little Rovers that Could, Still Can

by geo on Sep.04, 2007, under Science and Technology

After “hibernating” through an enormous dust storm that blocked access to the sunlight they need for their solar-powered engines and tools, Spirit and Opportunity, NASA’s over-achieving Martian rovers, have powered back up for another round of exploration.

Since landing on Mars in 2004, the two rovers have worked opposite sides of the planet, sending back a wealth of scientific information and geologic data. Among their more notable accomplishments is the discovery of evidence of Martian rocks that had been weathered by running water in the planet’s ancient past.

The rovers’ mission was originally planned for three months, and they are both well beyond their life expectancy and still transmitting data.  As they’ve rolled slowly along the Martian surface their solar arrays have been accumulating a coating of dust, which will likely eventually become heavy enough to reduce the sunlight collected to the point where the rovers will simply run out of power.

But for now, Spirit will be heading for a spot dubbed “Home Plate” in the Gusev Crater region, while Opportunity is poised to drive into the half-mile wide Victoria Crater, created by a meteor impact.

Like the Voyager space probe, which has left the solar system and continues, intermittently, to transmit data from interstellar space, NASA has really gotten its money’s worth out of the surprisingly durable little Martian rovers.

Did You Know . . .

Before moving to the phase of construction of kitchens, one should have answers to certain kitchen safety questions. The kitchen introduction should ideally proceed with the area being taken up, to the style of kitchen itself. Then there are kitchen fire safety arrangements. This is important, because appliances like toaster ovens make it necessary to have such arrangements. On the other hand, all the care a food processor requires is proper cleaning and placement, Same holds true for the wine refrigerator, which is often placed outside the kitchen.


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