@Dreadfish: And then the sequel where....THE OTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!!!!!!!!!!!!

reapdaslaughter

@pinball21: AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!

tek_nic

what about some small tanks of compress air to blow across the panels, once the storm passes.

or some sort of vibration mechanism.

or fuck it. have the panels able to turn vertically to keep dust from collection on them.

TonyRockyHorror

@Dreadfish:

LMAO :) That is a GREAT movie plot! Wall-E meets Armageddon meets Being There (for it's stoic, thinking, quiet moments of robot chilling on Mars).

hefavitzen

srsly, some compressed air to spray the dust off.

Killtodie

I say we send Robert Jensen and Patty Brard to fix it.

You most likely don't know them, keep it that way is my advice.

Herman

What would we have discovered if the thing still worked?

Nasa Scientist 1: So, is mars still red today?
Nasa Scientist 2: Let me check the rover. Dammit - it's shut down! HOW ARE WE GOING TO TELL IF MARS IS STILL RED?!

navvywavvy

Remember.. me ..gelphling... remember.. me ..in another life ...but not again in this one

OtisCabeal

what's a "parti-time Hulk impersonator"? :P

Fuzzie

They should have some back up emergency windshield wipers on it. I mean they spent almost a billion dollars on these rovers you think they could the little Tyco R/C some 20 dollar windshield wipers. I don't understand how they spend all of this money on these rovers and they only move like .1 miles a day. We should have something that is going like 50 mph on Mars popping wheelies with a flag on on it that says "F*ck You Martians." Then it would be worth it.

pinball21

Comming next summer: The action epic of the century: Saving Spirit: The Movie.

Staring Ben Aflek, Bruce Willis, and some other people you've never heard of; The heart wrenching tale of a small robot on Mars, that has gotten into some trouble. Flash back to NASA HQ, where they are despretly preparing the worlds most expensive rescue mission for our brave little friend. Up goes the daring explorers off to whisk our robo-companion off to safer grounds, and give it a nice scrub with a 4 billion dollar bottle of windex (gov't price).

Dreadfish

@Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine: I was thinking the same thing. Why didn't those eggheads plan for something like that when they were designing these robotic explorers?

Jrsy is the dude, playin' the dude, disguised as another dude

most the excellent report in the gizmodo publish ever. A+

Pixlmonkey

lol @ the mini-Roomba part

xsecretfiles2

I wonder if a simple windshield wiper-like device would help. When in doubt, just rig it with dozens of those little cans used to clean crud out of keyboards.

Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine

iRoomba bailout coming soon.

Razta

what has science done?!

jdbaile3

When asked for further comments, Bruce Banerdt had this to say:

"SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!"

Bruce Banerdt then has a light snack of several nuns, before laying down for a nap.

Chromeo

@OtisCabeal:

GREAT Dark Crystal reference...

"I am friend...please...PLEASE...PLEASE!!!"

timbrews

@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->:
No don't kill calc-o-matic, No, No, No!!! OH, the horror!

darthuv

Have you learnt nothing of forum etiquette?

Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine

@Fuzzie: We can only make him angry part of the time.

jabber

@ripfire: So pretty much what WALL-E has.

Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine

@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: Well of course you don't dry wipe. You'd have to squirt some cleaner on them first just like the squeegee guys do...

Jrsy is the dude, playin' the dude, disguised as another dude

@ripfire: WINNER!

Jrsy is the dude, playin' the dude, disguised as another dude

@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: My suggestion was to close/cover the solar panels and open/uncover it only when it needs to recharge.

ripfire

@Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine: Or maybe some type of fan/blower to clear away the dust without scratching the solar panels.

jabber

"learnt"? WTF? Try writing in American English for a change.

JDisnidiet

i can see the next commercial from the as seen on tv ads:

Australian accent:

"Look at what this new version of the Swivel Sweeper could have done if it were attached to the mars lander solar panels"

raygamma

I think we should all recognize what is happening on Mars. These sudden un-expected dust storms never happened before. But the more we send solar powered probes there, the more the climate is affected. The only possible reason for this is solar panels. Solar panels cause climate change. I must now go break my pocket calculator to save the planet for my (possible) children.

Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->

Maybe some Carbon Nano-tubes could be incorporated into future solar panels. These would have little funnel shapes on one end and the wind velocity would be increased to act as a can of air over the panels. Of course, I guess the tubes could become blocked up with dust.

Oh well, it was worth a thought.

Maybe a martian or some other alien and wipe them off for us. Maybe we should have taped a few bucks to the little buggers for a tip. We don't want to come off all condesending or anything.

hefavitzen

@Jrsy is the dude, playin' the dude, disguised as another du...: Winshield wipers would be bad b/c they could drag the dust and scratch the glass. For Phoenix, there is going to be a few meters of dry ice snow on top of it, which I think no wiper could combat.

My suggestion would be a way to droop the panels and add some vibe motors to it. It would shake away the dust.

Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->

when is the other one going to bite the dust....

ReapdaSlaughter is the dude playin' the dude disguised as another dude who stole jrsys name

@Dreadfish: Ugh, speaking of that movie, check this out.

[www.intuitor.com]

Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine

They need to send a few bums up there...ya know...the ones that clean your windows nice and spiffy. Just don't tell Rudy Giuliani.

dinologic

The clear answer to the dust problem is what they do in Motorcycle racing:

Place clear removable plastic sheets over the panels and when they are dirty just peel one off. Just having 3 or 4 would have extended the mission by a bunch of years!

lithivm

@ripfire: Have you considered a career at the JPL? You came up with that idea in minutes, and they probably spent years working on the rover without coming up with it! You are brilliant!

rjp

@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: Risk of getting panels stuck vs Risk of dust collection. Hmm. I guess we now know who lost the coin toss.

ripfire

Why are they not building brushes or fans on these guys to clear the dust?

N@tedog

@Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine: Yes!!

ripfire

The engineers thought of everything except, windshield wipers on the solar panels.

Blaxpear

Wow, it is so fantastic to see so many JPL and NASA engineers commenting at Giz...

Kudos to them though for making a delicate robot last for 5 years when it's expected lifetime was 90 days. especially considering that the command signals take at least 10 min to get there from here. Science and engineering FTW!

MrWashy

@ripfire: That's bad as it could get stuck closed. You want to minimize risk, so tilting the panels down would still leave them exposed to collect sunlight should the motors fail.

Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->

I met one of the engineers who worked on the solar panels (he graduated from my high school), and he said the reason they can't simply blow or wipe the dust off is because the particles are extremely small and have a static charge that makes them very hard to remove.

imjustabill

Hmm... unexpected dust storms... that's odd. I thought of the facts that we already knew about Mars was that dust storms are common, frequent, and often violent.

darthuv

Perhaps the simplest solution might be to cover the panel with layers of transparent material that would degrade and slough-off in the wind over time, exposing pristine clear material as it "molts" like a lizard shedding the dead skin clouding it's vision.

russdanger

I have a question. I looked around but am not sure of the costs or viability as of late, but how good are solar sheets? Instead of having solid panels with hinges that can get blocked with debris, what about a sheet that rolls out on an extending rail from the body of the rover? Would that be possible?

Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine

I was expecting "Dust in the Wind".

NASA should plan one of the earlier manned Mars missions (when they happen) to the site of one of the many Rovers, and bring it back home. How frickin' cool would it be to see that at the Smithsonian?

TVGenius

How long has thing gone past it's rated mission time?

A long, long time.

I love all the rovers, they ALL did extraordinarily well!

strider_mt2k

@Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine: They should send 2 panel-cleaning robots to tag along with the rovers, they can also twist the stuck wheel to unstick it. Power them with solars and make the cleaning arm able to turn around to clean their own panels.

Con Seannery

@rjp: Yes, let's pretend they didn't consider that. : /

Moonshadow101

@tek_nic: NASA should send a Monster Truck to Mars, something like a remote controlled "Gravedigger". People could pay to watch it OR drive it!

friendslikeJimRome

Why don't they just make the panels retractable? Scenario:

Lander: DUST STORM!!!
[retracts panels]
Mission Control: Sweet.

Done. NASA, hire me!

KStrike155

And another one bites the dust

taoprophet420

Okay, whose bright idea was to skimp on the wind shield wipers?

MadCrazy

@russdanger: It seems to me that as the disposable panels degrade, the wear inflicted on it before its replaced by a clean sheet would seriously lower the output of the solar cells, as the scoring and debris gathered on it would block more light. Simply having a cover might work a lot better, or just a simple dust-off system that keeps away the excess.

Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine

@imjustabill: So periodically give the panels the same charge to repel the particles.

Comrade GadgetPlay, Fellow Traveler

@Fuzzie: He wanted to go fulli-time, but there was no room in the budget.

Comrade GadgetPlay, Fellow Traveler

@JDisnidiet: Wow, thats not blatant nationalism at all, now is it?

Con Seannery

@Razta:

I personally think they just need a roomba to vacuum all the dust up....duh!

link12245

It's easy to come up with solutions in retrospect. In NASA/JPL's defense these rovers were designed for a 3 month mission, and have been roving around Mars for over 5 years now. This is actually one of NASA most successful undertakings.

gg101

lol the roomba part cracked me up.

Dudemeister on the Run

@Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine: That was my first thought, perhaps a loop with the cleaning mechanism on the inside. It could just move a few cms every day and be fine.

Comrade GadgetPlay, Fellow Traveler

@KStrike155: Moving parts are inherently less reliable than non-moving parts. The fewer of them on any given mission, the better.

Darklighter

@hefavitzen: If they had crack heads on Mars your idea would be perfect

Nahnsense

@lithivm: And you peel them off, how? At what cost in weight and expense?

Comrade GadgetPlay, Fellow Traveler

@MrWashy: That's the real reason none of these things were done. they weren't needed for a 90 day/sol mission. (And weight, and cost, etc.)

Comrade GadgetPlay, Fellow Traveler

I have seen things you people wouldn't believe. I have seen tank ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion, I have watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost, like tears in rain. Time to die

William_III_of_Dastardshire

i'm somewhat supprised they can't include a shutdown, fold up pannels for x period of time on the rovers/landers. or some sort of winshield wiper...

MacMasterShane

@Jrsy is the dude, playin' the dude, disguised as another du...: "You'd have to squirt some cleaner on them first just like the squeegee guys do..."

Recently Deceased Announcer Guy: "In a world where no rover is safe from windborn dust, we bring to the big screen... (fanfare)

Edgar Rice Burroughs'...(fanfare)

Squeegee Man of Mars!

This tale of lust, warfare, and windex will leave you spellbound. With a cast of several, and a typical NASA budget, starring Christopher Lloyd as the intrepid Squeegee Man, and Stephen Hawking as the voice of both rovers..."

Opportunity: "Wash me."

Squeegee Man: "Uhhhh, OK Boss!"

Recently Deceased Announcer Guy: "Coming soon to a bargain bin near you!"

Comrade GadgetPlay, Fellow Traveler

See, we haven't even been on Mars nearly as long as we have on Earth and already our SUVs are causing massive global warming.

novacthall

@GenericKen: Good point and thanks for clarifying.

Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine

@Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine: The rover was only designed for 5 months.

Every ounce of complexity added is increased risk, increased cost, and lost congressional budget votes when it explodes on the launchpad, or burns up in the atmosphere, or smashes into the Martian surface. Disposability is the virtue they're playing to, and it's given us three rovers instead of one.

GenericKen

@imjustabill: Kill it with fire

Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine

@GenericKen: What was the third, Sojourner? I mean, other than Spirit, Opportunity, and Sojourner, there have only been landers.

Con Seannery

Their very longevity goes to show that NASA should just cancel everything else for the time being and build a hundred Spirits, Opportunities and Pheonixs and plaster the solar system with them. These have to be some of the most successful space missions since Apollo. But really, if Saab can put wipers on headlights, can't NASA add them to the panels?

ShrikirtiNumshun

why everyone keeps adding complicated stuff like windshield wipers and compressed air? If dust was the basic problem plants could teach us something: when enough dust covers a leaf, it bends on it's own weight and the dirt slips off. But hey smartasses, I bet it's a little more complicated than that, or they would have thought of it already

RosaNeoptolemus

@Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine:
Steve Squyers (the principal investigator) was asked about the "windshield wiper" idea, and he said that they had considered it, but that it was more effective to simply include the same weight in additional solar panels. In other words, by adding more panels, they're able, even when dusty, to provide the amount of power needed, and unlike a wiper, they don't involve motors and moving parts that can break, that have to be heated to keep from freezing, etc, etc, etc.

MikeK

they should include a spare nuclear reactor, which would also provide for a nice glowing effect

lupin_iii

Ok, am I the only one that thinks that if Nasa can make multi mullion Rover, they would think of a way to clean the solar panels? Seriously. They could just bend 90 degrees or something or have a thin brush that can roll over them.

vgart

Quick! Someone send MO!

F3ngles

@Con Seannery: No. Not in the least!

Xterm11

I have a better idea. Shape the solar cells like an accordion fold. Then, gravity would just allow the dust to fall off the cells.

FrankenPC

Aaaah next storm will blow the dust off....
Fixed.

ashamaniq

@pinball21: Here's the thing with adding a cleaning device to the rovers. It is immensely expensive to send something into space (anywhere from $1000-over $50,000 per pound [www.futron.com]). Even the slight addition to weight that the cleaning device would add would add great cost. And because these rovers were only supposed to last a few months (not enough time to get dusty), the exclusion of a cleaning system was a good choice to cut costs.

ab3

@Darklighter: Shhhhh...

KStrike155

Where's wall-e when you need him?

Zuhälter

@RosaNeoptolemus: Remember the lower gravity, and the inability to grow new "leaves," mandating stiffer, more durable panels. Actually, I think plants depend more on rain anyway, so never mind.

Comrade GadgetPlay, Fellow Traveler

@ripfire: Transformers!

okeribok

@Chromeo: lmfao

Etaripamai (XBL)

@ReapdaSlaughter is the dude playin' the dude disguised as a...: dude, give jrsys name back... hes gonna call kaiser machead and drop kick you with a bad mac compie

Etaripamai (XBL)

so on this Mars robot lander, does it have an extendable hydrolic suspention system for all wheel drive, and where each tire is an extendable hydrolic suspention system joint of the frame, so it extends out and can move to retract the joint to meet the exact height of each portion where ever it travels, but can it also hover and levetate, similar to a Scram jet uav etc...

StealthNinja

@Etaripamai (XBL): SHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't "steal" it i "borrowed" it

ReapdaSlaughter is the dude playin' the dude disguised as another dude who stole jrsys name