MarsExplorationRover
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ESA team builds self-piloting rover in six months, tests it in Chilean desert
Chile's Atacama Desert might not be true Martian territory, but it's close enough for the European Space Agency's new rover. Built by a crack engineering team in just six months, the Seeker rover was created to autonomously roam 6 km of Mars-like terrain and trace its way back. The Seeker just wrapped up a two week gauntlet in the Chilean wasteland using ol' fashioned dead reckoning and stereoscopic vision to find its way, compiling a 3D map of its surroundings as it puttered along. The full-scale rover wandered the arid terrain on its lonesome until temperatures forced it to stop after trekking 5.1 km. The red planet won't welcome an ESA rover until 2018, but those jonesin' for news from Martian soil should keep their eyes peeled for Curiosity's August touchdown.
Spirit Rover may not live through bitter Martian winter
NASA's Opportunity and Spirit rovers touched down on Mars in 2004 for a planned 90-day tour; six years and a few serious snags later, the latter of the two is facing its death of cold. Since March 22, 2010, Spirit's been slumbering on the surface -- stuck and unable to generate enough power to communicate -- and while internal heaters and a favorable position on a sun-facing slope allowed the rover to survive previous Martian winters, this time the chances aren't so good. "The rover is experiencing the coldest temperatures it's ever been in – equivalent to about minus 55 degrees Celsius," NASA told Space.com. Should Spirit wake up next year, it will resume a stationary mission to help scientists determine whether Mars has a liquid core, but if not there's always the chance it might spontaneously regain power still find utility in another decade or four. Still not on the docket: ever returning home.
