Emily Lakdawalla • Dec 17, 2009
Watch that front wheel spin!
Holy cow, look at that right front wheel spin. I am alternately amazed and horrified by this animation. Spirit's been dragging that wheel as an anchor for years. Ridiculously, it has come back to life, and is spinning fine. But of course wheels shouldn't spin in place; they should roll forward. Spirit has seemingly traded one deeply buried functioning wheel for its unburied nonfunctioning wheel. The right rear wheel, which is totally buried, still shows no motion as far as I know. That pretty much defines the word "anchor." Spirit's still in deep trouble. But if a dead wheel can come back to life, who can say what's going to happen next? Stay tuned!

Cosmic Shores Gala
The Planetary Society's Board of Directors cordially invites you to its 45th anniversary celebration at our Cosmic Shores Gala aboard the iconic Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Please RSVP and purchase tickets to attend.
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