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BBC Learning English
Words in the News
27
th
January 2010
Nasa robot stuck on Mars
The US space agency (Nasa) has decided to stop trying to free one of its robots from soft sand
on the planet Mars. The Spirit Mars rover has been stuck since May 2009. This report is from
BBC Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos.
Dug deep into the soil and with its wheels
spinning
, Spirit has had
to accept the inevitable
-
it's never going to move again. In its six years on the planet, this
robotic geologist
has taken
thousands of images and found evidence in the rocks of a wetter, warmer past in Mars' history.
Its mission will now have to change. As a
static
station, it can still study the planet's
atmosphere and deep interior. The priority currently is to position its solar panels to get as
much energy from the Sun to keep it alive through the coming winter.
Even so, Nasa expects Spirit to get so low on power that it will
go into hibernation
, cutting
communications with Earth for perhaps six months.
Whatever the future holds for Spirit, its mission has been an outstanding success. When it
landed on the Red Planet in January 2004, no-one was really sure how long it would continue
working in what is a cold and dusty environment. Three months was one
initial goal
.
In the event, it just kept on rolling. And its twin robot, Opportunity, which landed a few
weeks after Spirit in a different part of Mars, continues
to rove freely
to this day.
Nasa has spent more than $900 million on the project but shows no sign of giving up on these
tenacious
robots. The rovers are, though, experiencing gradual
wear and tear
. Even before
Spirit got trapped, one of its wheels had failed. And Nasa says it's just a matter of time before
both robots break down completely.
Jonathan Amos, BBC Science Correspondent
Words in the News
© British Broadcasting Corporation 2010
Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
Vocabulary and definitions
spinning
turning around and around but not able to move forwards
or backwards
to accept the inevitable
to agree that there is nothing that can be done to change
something
robotic geologist
machine used to study the structure of a planet and its
rocks
static
not moving
go into hibernation
switch to a power-saving mode and use as little energy as
possible until it is able to 'wake-up' again when there is
more energy available
initial goal
first thing to achieve
to rove freely
to travel easily
tenacious
determined and hard-working
wear and tear
the expected damage to something caused by using it
repeatedly over a period of time
More on this story:
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Words in the News
© British Broadcasting Corporation 2010
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bbclearningenglish.com
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