The Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have now lasted some ten times longer than was originally inspected. From the tone of the article, it seems the biggest question is whether the rovers will fail first, or the control teams.
Instead of an intense but temporary experience, the daily operations of managing the rovers – and receiving and processing their images and data – have taken on the routine of a cottage industry. The mission team has had to adjust to the rigors of working according to the Martian sol, which is 24.66 hours long. Scientists and engineers also have had to put other projects on indefinite hold, as the rovers carry on.
Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., who is principal investigator for the Mars rover mission, updated SpaceDaily on activities and morale at JPL:
SD: Could you comment on the fact that the rovers are at 900 sols and still seeming indefatigable?
SS: We’re stunned, of course. Having them last 10 times longer than we planned is something none of us could have imagined at the start of the mission. We’re so far into the mission now that every day feels like a gift. So we just push them as hard as we can every day, and hope that they’ll still be there when we come in the next morning.
SD: How are you guys holding out?
SS: We’re tired! The rovers are priceless, and we can’t just decide that we’re tired and let them sit for a week doing nothing while we all go to the beach. So we have to keep pushing. But we’re holding up OK, and I think we’ve got a way of operating them now that will be sustainable for the long term – however long that turns out to be.
Of somewhat more concern is funding — the mission’s money runs out in September, if the rovers don’t run out before then.
(via Fred)