Lost in space

It was in and out of the ground. Efforts to communicate with Mars Rover stops bogger this spirit today. NASA has decided after more than a year of silence from the robot and in winter a Martian stressful Is that cooling
the heart so many critical components are damaged.

it's a sad day, Richard ' said Len, Director of operations at the Canberra deep space communication complex, operated by NASA tracking station in CSIRO.
contact Spirit changed in March last year. Although the solar panels they are not in the best position to extract energy from the sun, is expected to emerge after the winter in August.

Mr. Ricardo said, at first, trying to restore communications
made about once a week, but the effort was enhanced this year.In March, when the Sun was in the best position in the sky of Mars, is called''several times a day,he said. Spirit and its twin, is used, which landed on Mars in January 2004, well
above expectations.

Their mission designed to last three months, but more than seven years later is still an opportunity to explore the planet.He is now 29 km.

It was quite an achievement,said Mr. Ricardo. Six wheels became stuck in the dust of the Spirit in April 2009 but still managed to make the discovery while stationary.

Dirt traps do not have some soluble iron compounds,which states that water, perhaps from melting snow, has been seeping into the ground in the past. NASA said the possibility of reconnecting with the spirit now considered very low,and you have to use his communication stations above ground and two Mars orbiters to prepare the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which will be launched later this year.

A larger rover, curiosity, testing of samples drilled in rock or dig the soil to see if conditions are favorable for microbial life. Dave Lavery, program executive for NASA's solar system exploration, said the spirit will not
be forgotten.

The Deep Space Network can sometimes hear a weak signal when the time allowed Ricardo. Saying that the rover was probably covered with dust.
"I hope one day we'll come back and see how it looks.