Spirit Lives Up To Its Name

NASA Mars Exploration Rover Update March 3, 2008

“Spirit has achieved a northerly tilt of 29.9 degrees! As a result, based on power projections, Spirit has a fighting chance of surviving another winter on Mars, if the weather and environment cooperate. Plans for sol 1471 (Feb. 22, 2008) called for a test of the stability of Spirit’s new perch prior to using the rock abrasion tool by having the rover touch the Martian surface with the Moessbauer spectrometer and apply 10 newtons of pressure (called a pre-load).”