综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

US Mars explorer starts to escape sand trap

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-20 16:19

LOS ANGELES: NASA's stuck Mars rover on Thursday successfully completed the first step of a two-part attempt to extract the explorer from a sand trap on the red planet.

Related readings:  You can now explore Mars from Earth  'Airplane view' of Mars by NASA  NASA's Mars images released  Six volunteers return from 'mission to Mars'

NASA announced that after spinning its wheels forward, the rover Spirit advanced slightly.

However, NASA said the movement was too slight to establish any immediate trends for hopes of freeing the stalled rover, which landed on Mars in 2004 with its twin Opportunity and has far surpassed its expected three months of  usefulness.

Spirit was moving backward in April when its wheels broke through Mars' soft surface and became stuck in a patch of talcum-like dirt. The rover tried to maneuver its way out of the sand trap but its wheels sunk deeper.

The plan calls for Spirit to drive forward and retrace its steps in an effort to free itself.

Spirit landed on Mars with six working wheels but soon lost movement in its right front wheel. The rover since has been exploring the planet dragging its broken wheel along.

Attempts to free the rover will continue until at least February. If Spirit is not free by then, NASA may decide whether it's worth it to keep trying, said Doug McCuistion, who heads the Mars exploration program at NASA headquarters.