I thought phoenix just went to bed, the sun is too low for the solar panels to pick up any energy.
Well, that assumes that your government wants NASA to fly extra shuttle missions (decision Apr '09, IIRC). Cutting MER would net about $15M/year out of the required $2,000M/year.These rovers are just too old. And with money needed for more shuttle flights it is only a matter of time before they just command a shut down.
But i bet some of those great technicians would do it for free.
They really should have had the foresight to include this attachment to the arm:
These rovers are just too old. And with money needed for more shuttle flights it is only a matter of time before they just command a shut down.
Why? It costs next to nothing to run them until they die, all the cost was up front.
The cost of running the ongoing mission is peanuts compared to the costs of building and launching. And the science they are doing is priceless.
Reportedly, the entity was tasked to slash $4 million from the project's budget just yesterday, which would have forced Spirit into hibernation and limited Opportunity's opportunities by mandating that commands be sent up every other day (versus everyday now).