no1tovote4
Gold Member
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/spce/41371.html
These rovers are lasting longer than expected because of the impromptu cleaning of the solar panels. They "assume" it was a dust devil, maybe we are getting some help...
Spirit rover apparently has received a spring cleaning courtesy of a Martian dust devil, mission controllers said today.
Space.com reported that the whirlwind probably swept past the robot's position high in a rock outcropping called the Columbia Hills, in honor of the space shuttle astronauts.
The event cleaned off the dust that had accumulated on Spirit's solar panels, allowing them to absorb more solar energy and produce more electric power -- more than 90 percent of peak levels when the rover landed on Mars more than 14 months ago.
These rovers are lasting longer than expected because of the impromptu cleaning of the solar panels. They "assume" it was a dust devil, maybe we are getting some help...