Air bags snarl Spirit's progress on Mars

[Kellanved]

The mineralogy-minded scientists on the Spirit Mars explorer team are ready to rock, so to speak. But there's a glitch that's causing a delay in the rover's trek across the planet.

"We're ready to go," said Dr. Ray Arvidson at Wednesday's NASA briefing for journalists. "We're ready to go down in the dirt and rocks and make measurements."

Two sections of the air bags used to cushion Spirit during the landing phase are obstructing the vehicle's path. This glitch is preventing Spirit from leaving its pad to roam the surface of Mars.

Engineers will work over the next few days to further retract parts of the bags. The earliest the six-wheeled Spirit rover will get rolling is Jan. 14, about three days later than originally planned, NASA said.

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http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1073498624270_84/?hub=World

Seems to be a bad season for Mars landers - I hope that they'll get it going; even if the landing site isn't as interesting as predicted .

[revcarol]

1. Los Alamos or Sandia Labs, I forget which, were having a joy fest here

locally on the development of the wonderful air bags and their deployment that they designed ...a little prematurely,LOL

[Goldmund]

2. This isn't a big deal

It's been a real successful mission so far. They'll retract the airbags and the thing will be able to get out -- it's just an obstacle problem, kind of like having your car blocked by another and you can't get out of your driveway -- not structural or technical.

[GregW]

3. Sojourner faced a similar problem ...

... and it was no big deal.