Stuck Spirit

NASA's Mars rover Spirit is stuck in soft ground, and engineers say it might be weeks before they attempt to move the rover again. The team is analyzing the situation, both by using Spirit's scientific instruments to study the dirt it's in and by running simulations at JPL in Pasadena, California.

In 2005, the other rover, Opportunity, was similarly bogged down--though not in a bog-- and the rover team was able to extricate the vehicle. Opportunity is still roving Mars, on the opposite side of the planet from Spirit.

The real news here is probably that such situations haven't occurred more often. Driving a rover on one planet from another planet is no easy thing. Throw in the fact that Mars has a varied topography and geology, and that the rovers are constantly on new ground, and the quality of the work done by the engineers and scientists to keep the rovers alive and producing for five years becomes apparent.