rover's broken leg

well, they lasted a lot longer than anyone expected, but the mars rovers have finally started to bugger up

it probably the longest lasting thing sent to another planet, it's been there since landing on the 3rd january 2004 and it was inevitable they were eventually going to go kaput, and so it has

the mars rover spirit's front-right wheel has stopped moving and the rest of the rover's wheels are just dragging it along

that wheel has previously stopped working but that was because of some lubrication issue, but this time it's a bit more serious - the entire motor has stopped moving, although it is most likely to be some sort of severance in the motors wiring

it is quite possible that the rover will have to be shut down as it usefulness capabilities have been slowly degrading as the vehicles "rock abrasion" tools are too worn to be used

the rover is currently travelling around the planet's sothern hemisphere and is going to remain unoperational throughout the planet's winter months

image from getty images