NASA鈥檚 Mars rover Spirit has freed itself from the loose soil it had been stuck in for about two weeks, but over the next month it will have to navigate similarly treacherous terrain to reach a safe spot to ride out the coming Martian winter.
Spirit got stuck in the sandy soil, nicknamed 鈥淭artarus鈥� after an , in mid-November.
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But on 28 November, it clambered out, after a series of short drives in which rover managers drove it first in one direction and then in another, 鈥渟witchbacking鈥� out of the troublesome spot.
Now, the rover will try to drive about 25 metres to the northern edge of Home Plate, a 90-metre-wide raised plateau that it has been exploring for months. That region boasts relatively steep, northern-tilting slopes that would maximise the sunlight falling on the rover鈥檚 solar panels during winter in the planet鈥檚 southern hemisphere (see Mars rover Spirit to head north for the winter).
But Spirit is likely to hit more rough patches on its way. 鈥淒uring the next few weeks, Spirit鈥檚 journey to 鈥榃inter Haven 3鈥� is expected to be no less difficult, requiring the rover to manoeuvre across a sandy, rocky valley along the western edge of Home Plate,鈥� states an update on the rover website.
Mission scientists hope it will arrive on a safe slope by 1 January 鈥� a deadline made all the more critical because the rover鈥檚 power levels are already depleted due to dust on its solar panels from a global dust storm a few months ago. Currently, Spirit is operating on about 310 watt-hours of energy per day, compared to the 900 watt-hours it boasted after landing in January 2004.
Mars Rovers 鈥� Mars is full of surprises; learn more in our continually updated .
