Mars Rover Update–IT’S ALIVE!: NASA ground controllers were extremely relieved to receive two data transmissions from the wayward Rover this morning, but still don’t know for sure what is wrong with the little buggy on the Martian craterscape. In other words, Spirit spoke but didn’t explain. Everything seems okay with the batteries, so scientists are hoping it’s a software problem (the Anna Kournikova virus, maybe?) instead of a hardware problem. Spirit’s sister-ship Opportunity is scheduled to land on the other side of Mars this weekend, so NASA has a back-up Rover on the way. But if these Rovers don’t do the job, it’ll be another $820 million down the drain, and a second major failure for NASA following the Columbia disaster and shutdown of the shuttle program. Bush’s fantasy of sending humans to Mars–or even to the Moon–isn’t looking like such a good bet right now. Maybe we should hire the Russians…



“For Chrissakes, relax. Can’t a robot take a nap on Mars anymore?