Mars Rover Gets Mystery Power Boost

[zavvy]

<b>Mars Rover Gets Mystery Power Boost</b><br /><br />LINK<br /><br />Scientists have been baffled by a mysterious boost in power to one of its two robotic rovers which are exploring the surface of the Red Planet. <br /><br />Overnight, Opportunity's solar panels produced between 2% and 5% additional power, perhaps due to Martian dust that had settled on them being removed. <br /><br />This may be increasing the efficiency by which the panels convert sunlight to electricity in order to power the rover <br /><br />One theory is that a storm, or dust-devil, blew dust off the panels. <br /><br />But for now, mission scientists are saying only that Opportunity underwent two or three significant "cleaning events." <br /><br />Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, landed on opposite sides of Mars back in January, but they remain in good shape after enduring the worst of the Martian winter, which cut down on the amount of energy reaching their solar panels. <br /><br />Both robotic explorers have discovered geological evidence of past water activity on the Red Planet and are continuing to send back valuable data. <br /><br />"We are pushing these vehicles to their very limits," said Steve Squyres, rover principal investigator from Cornell University in Ithaca, US. <br /><br />"In many ways they are performing better in some sense just because we've gotten better at operating them and we are in this much more challenging and geologically rich terrain." <br /><br /><br /><br />

 

[CalliArcale]

And it's cool news too. I bet dust got blown off the panels somehow, or the air cleared a bit, or some of both. Regardless of how the power boost arrived, i bet the mission team aren't complaining! <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> Awesome news! Thanks, zavvy! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[arobie]

I actually had a dream a couple of nights ago that I was somehow on Mars, so I cleaned off the solar panels of one of the rovers. The other was on the other side of Mars, and somehow even though I could magically appear on Mars, I couldn't appear next to the other rover. Then my dream ended. It was strange but enjoyable.<br /><br />Maby it wasn't a dream....LoL.

 

[flynn]

Cool, <br /><br />Next time can you look for my lost doggy, answers (or perhaps not) to the name Beagle. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>

 

[arobie]

Will do. I'll see if I can lucid dream tonight and pop myself on Mars. Will look for Beagle, then I might clean off Spirit too...and fix that stuck wheel for them. LoL <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[bobvanx]

Those little hills inside Endurance have the same morphology as volcanic vents in the Cascades in Oregon and Northern California. You can't see a volcano for miles, yet there's these piles of rocks that have been forced up through the soil. Most are dormant or inactive.<br /><br />They aren't magmatic. They don't spew water or anything interesting, but some of them do hiss ocassionally. So I wonder if Oppy got close enough, and if one of those went off, did it blow the solar cells clear.

 

[zavvy]

Hi David... glad you enjoyed the story. Sounds like you've been having a fascinating time in Houston! <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[the_ten]

It's possible, atleast until proven false, that a lifeform on Mars wiped the panels down for us as a sign of good will.

 

[mousebot]

"a lifeform on Mars wiped the panels down for us"<br /><br />I bet it wants to get paid too huh, well we don't have any money on us! All we got is blueberries! Go back in your hole!