USATODAY.com – One of Mars rover’s wheels stops working
Engineers were considering whether the electrical motor’s brushes — contacts that deliver power to the rotating part of the motor — have lost contact.
Spirit is trying to reach a position where it can get as much sunlight as possible during winter. But while the point of minimum sunshine is more than 100 days away, there already is only enough to power about one hour of driving on flat ground per day, JPL said.
Spirit’s new wheel problem occurred this week during the rover’s 779th Martian day.
Not bad though considering the original mission length for the Mars rovers were only 90 days. There’s still Opportunity.