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Originally Posted by dlavery
At this point, we don't even try to guess any more. The device has lasted way beyond the original warranty period.  Realistically, given the mechanical wear rates that we have seen it could continue on for a very, very long time. Conversely, a critical part could fail tomorrow that would mean the end of the mission. The rover is so far beyond the original expected design that we just don't have any real data upon which to base any lifetime estimates. So we are just taking it one day at a time.
-dave |
So did NASA initially design the rover to take an enormous beating from Mars's natural atmosphere (for lack of not knowing a better word) but that hasn't happened? And are you collecting different kinds of data now that you didn't initially intend on collecting when the mission was originally launched?