I have a very good question. If the rover died of low battery could it possibly charge back up when the dust clears and be functional?
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answers:
AlCapone say: The dust has already cleared but they are afraid a layer of the dust settled on the solar panels, which prevents them from generating power. It's remotely possible that a a large wind storm could blow off the dust in the future, but that's a long shot and likely won't happen.
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William say: For a mission expected to last a few months it has been an extraordinary run. But the batteries are dead, it's just a goner. Time to look forward to future missions.
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Alexander say: It would be cool if an alien found it and cleaned the panels off with a feather duster.
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say: No need to, NASA has a sub-routine for the rover to call MRA (Mars Rover Association)
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Jeffrey K say: It could, but the dust has cleared and NASA has been calling it for months, but it doesn't answer. There is no way to sweep the dust off its solar panels.
Maybe you could go up to Mars with a broom?
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Nyx say: Nope. The batteries are totally discharged from the long dust storm, and with the Mars winter, they froze (no power for heating them even minimally).
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say: The rover is covered in mud. It is dead.
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Henry say: It's never a problem when the stagehands in the fake Mars bay or in the arctic Canada/Greenland can just use windex and paper towel to dust it off.
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Candid Chris say: Maybe, depends on how old the battery is and brand and model. Have the battery 'load-tested' to see its strength.
Cold weather effects older batteries have it tested before replacement, sometimes an overnight charge can work great.
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ANDRE L say: The same way your car battery often cannot be recharged due to it having run all the way down to zero power. That kind of drain often ruins a battery.
Then, there's the fact that if the dust stays on top of the solar panels, then they still won't work. Plus, add in the very low temperatures on Mars in those conditions (Like -100F) and neither charging gear, panels or batteries will do at all well under those conditions.
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AlCapone say: The dust has already cleared but they are afraid a layer of the dust settled on the solar panels, which prevents them from generating power. It's remotely possible that a a large wind storm could blow off the dust in the future, but that's a long shot and likely won't happen.
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poldi2 say: Probably not, once the computer shuts down it won't start up again.
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say: not unless we can convince the martians to clean off the solar panels.
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CarolOklaNola say: No. Even if there is no dust in th air or on the etched solar panels, the battery will NOT recharge. Sunlight has a lot less power at Mars because Mars is further from the Sun. It's theSQUARE of the distance is WHY the Sun has less lower at Mars. The battery did not freeze. It us DED. It ca not be recharged.
Opportunity was designed to work 90 days, 3 MONTHS, it eirkrd for 15 YESRS. It is NOT covered in dust as some ha e claimed.
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Scott say: The rover lasted many years longer than it was designed to last. NASA got their money's worth out of it.
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Dan say: It probably got buried.
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