No, this has nothing to do with my new status as an independent consultant (which my wife says sounds better than being unemployed), this is the forecast on Mars. I mentioned before that Mars Explorer Opportunity was looking to descend into Victoria Crater a few weeks ago. Well, the powers that be at NASA decided to wait for a Martian dust storm to stop before going forward and now neither Mars rover is moving anywhere. The storm has gotten so bad that 99% of the sunlight is being blocked from reaching the solar cells on the rovers. They barely have enough power to run the heaters that keep their electronic components from freezing into oblivion.There is no end in site for this massive storm engulfing much of the red planet and if it does not abate soon, it could spell the end of the remarkable ever-extended missions of these little powerhouse machines that have, so far, refused to die. Good luck guys!
No comments:
Post a Comment