Mars rover "Spirit" once again stuck in the result of attempts to save him.

Engineers are developing tactics to salvage the Spirits "for several months. First they worked the land with the model of the rover in a life-size, placed in a container of sand. Nov. 20, scientists began to send commands to the «real» «Spiritu». Diagnostic tests conducted after the rover follow the instructions given specialists, showed that one wheel is stuck in the sand. However, later testing revealed no violations in the wheel.

Current message about blocking the right rear wheel came after a new series of attempts to rescue «Spirit», taken on November 28. According to engineers, the characteristics of problems indicate that the wheel, most likely, not stuck in the Martian soil. A possible reason for the stop of his work to identify problems with the drive.

In total, through the efforts of scientists rover could move forward by 16 millimeters, 10 millimeters and 5 millimeters to the left down. Earlier in the media received information that a malfunction in the orbiter "Mars Odyssey» (Mars Odyssey) may complicate the task of saving the rover. Mars Odyssey has worked as a repeater, transmitting signals from the spacecraft into the Earth and back. It is worth noting that the «Spirit» can communicate with Earth directly.

The twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity »(Opportunity) were launched to Mars in 2004. It was planned that their mission will last 90 days, but the machines are functioning so far.