Mars Rover Opportunity Has Broken Wheel Motor

MARSDAILY

Opportunities right wheel actuator stalled on Sol 433.

Los Angeles, CA (SPX) Apr 16, 2005
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has experienced a significant breakdown with the suspected failure of the front right wheel motor.

According to a report posted on Doug Ellison's renowned Mars forum Unmannedspaceflight.com, "Opportunity's right front steering actuator stalled near the end of the drive on sol 433 (after 150 meters of driving).

"On sol 434, they backed up a meter or so and tried to straighten the wheel, but the steering motor stalled again without moving at all. Imaging doesn't show any reason for the stall. The wheel is about 7 degrees off from straight, which would still be driveable if they can't resolve the problem."

In the immediate period to the breakdown, Opportunity has reached Viking Crater, before continuing to Voyager Crater, taking panoramas of each crater and conducting detailed surface inspections.

During this period the Mars Odyssey orbiter also went into safe mode causing a suspension of data relay to Earth.

Driving resumed on sol 428 with data downlinked via the direct-to-Earth link. With the exception of the miniature thermal emission spectrometer (analysis is still in progress), Opportunity is in excellent health.

MARSDAILY

Opportunity Resumes Limited Driving But Problems Persist

Los Angeles, CA (SPX) Apr 16, 2005
The terrain that Opportunity is crossing has been steadily getting more wavy. After a long drive southward from "Voyager" crater, Opportunity's right-front steering motor stalled out on sol 433 during an end-of-drive turn.

SUPERPOWERS US Warned Not To Ignore Chinese Military Advances	NUKEWARS Pakistani Nuclear Scandal Threatens US Alliance US Rejects Iranian Proposal For Limited Uranium Enrichment India Accuses Nuclear Superpowers Of Turning Blind Eye To Nuke Bazaar US Has No Intention Of Attacking North Korea, Says Rice
MISSILE NEWS Taiwan To Mass Produce Supersonic Anti-Ship Missiles: Report Raytheon Wins Contract For Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles Pakistan Test-Fires Short-Range, Nuclear-Capable Missile Orbital Completes Fourth Test For Navy's Sea-Skimming Target Missile	MISSILE DEFENSE US Air-Launches Ballistic Missile As Target In Missile Defense Test Defense Scientists Call For Halt To Missile Defense Deployment Funding Missile Defense Program Beset By Rising Costs, Budget Shortfalls: Audit NATO To Protect Its Troops With Anti-Missile Defense System By 2010
AEROSPACE Boeing Procurement Scandal Spawns 48 Air Force Reviews: General Who Will Win: Boeing Or Airbus? Airbus, Space Activities Lift EADS 2004 Profit By 60 Percent Fossett Commits To Final Dash To Kansas	UAV NEWS GTEL Unveils Sanswire One Geneva Aerospace Joins Forces With Vought To Study Sea-Going UAV BAE Systems Achieves First Untethered Flight Of Vertical-Takeoff UAV Northrop Grumman Conducts First Flight Of Endurance Hunter UAV
IRAQ WARS An American In Sparta Iraq Faces Prospect Of Civil War Preliminary Vote Counts In Iraq CIA Correcting Prewar Iraq WMD Assessments With Retrospective Reports	MILTECH US Navy Commissions Northrop Grumman-Built Aegis Destroyer Northrop Grumman Awarded $197 Million Contract For Work On USS Enterprise Airbag Inflators Provide Push For New Surface Vessel Launcher Russian Navy May Sink By 2008: Admiral

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement