Stuck Mars rover to begin moving

By Associated Press

Summary

The Mars rover Spirit will soon try to drive itself out of a sand trap where it has been stuck for the past six months.

Story Published: Nov 12, 2009 at 10:10 AM PDT

Story Updated: Nov 12, 2009 at 10:10 AM PDT

Stuck Mars rover to begin moving

NASA's Mars Rover Spirit casts a shadow over the trench it is examining in this Feb. 21, 2004, file photo.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Mars rover Spirit will soon try to drive itself out of a sand trap where it has been stuck for the past six months.

NASA is set to outline plans to try to free Spirit, a risky process that could take months.

For the past several months, engineers have been busy testing different escape routes on Earth using prototype rovers.

Spirit and its twin Opportunity landed on Mars in 2004 and have outlasted their primary three-month mission.

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