Mars rover's broken wheel is beyond repair

Sadly, the broken wheel of the Mars rover Spirit has gotten so bad that it can no longer be fixed and rover operators will be force to drag it along in the future. This is a big factor in determining route choice because it means NASA rover operators must avoid any loose sediment when traveling on the Martian surface, meaning that they will have to plan longer and more elaborate traveling routes. The problems began when the wheel stopped turning, likely due to a broken circuit in the motor of the wheel. Several weeks later, the wheel came back to life and began to function again. But after a few more weeks, the wheel stopped working again and based upon diagnostic test completed on the voltage output of the motor, researchers believe that there is no hope at maintaining the wheel. This broken wheel will then just be dragged as the five other wheels of the rover continue to propel it. Researchers described it as driving in snow and having to now avoid snowbanks, a issue that they did not have when the wheel was functional.


http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn8944-mars-rovers-broken-wheel-is-beyond-repair.html