NASA: Spirit still stuck in martian sand

PASADENA, Calif., July 9 (UPI) -- U.S. space agency engineers said they used backward motion during the second evaluation of maneuvers that might free a stuck Mars rover.

NASA's Mars rover Spirit became trapped in April in loose martian sand. Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers in California have been using a test rover placed in a specially constructed sandbox to simulate how to best extract Spirit.

During the first evaluation, conducted Monday, the engineers experimented with simply moving the rover forward. That proved unsuccessful when the test unit moved only slightly forward before sliding sideways down a slope.

The second evaluation was conducted Wednesday, but results were not announced.

"Weeks of further testing and analysis are expected before engineers identify the best moves to command Spirit to perform," NASA said in a statement. "Meanwhile, Spirit is using its science instruments to examine the environment surrounding (it) on Mars."