NASA is ending attempts to regain contact with the
long-lived Mars exploration rover Spirit, NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) announced Tuesday.
According to the JPL, engineers' assessments in recent months have
shown a very low probability of recovering communications with Spirit.
"We no longer believe there is a realistic probability of hearing
from Spirit," the JPL said, adding that it would make one last attempt
on Wednesday.
NASA said that with inadequate energy to run its survival heaters,
critical components on the rover probably failed from extremely cold
temperature during the past Mars winter, because the internal
temperature was colder last year than in any of its prior six years on
Mars.
The rover's motors worked far beyond their design life. It lost use
of drive motors on two of its six wheels eventually, leaving it unable
to obtain a favorable tilt for solar energy during the fourth Martian
winter, which began last May.
NASA is currently preparing for the launch of another Mars rover.
"We're now transitioning assets to support the November launch of our
next generation Mars rover, Curiosity," said Dave Lavery, NASA's
program executive for solar system exploration.
Spirit landed on Mars on Jan. 3, 2004, for a mission designed to
last three months. It has made important discoveries about wet
environments on ancient Mars that may have been favorable for
supporting microbial life. Xinhua
