Attempts to free the Mars rover Spirit are getting more realistic. After five months sitting stuck in sticky ground, engineers back on Earth have moved on with their tests, this time going to a different room to practice moving the replica Spirit in its sand box at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California.

This means that the team can only move the replica rover based on data and images received back from it – just like as happens with the Mars-bound rover. They’ve been sending Spirit two days of instructions at a time, to do in double-quick time.

Meanwhile, according to the press release, an independent panel has been called for to review the plans to try and drive Spirit out of its sticky situation. This panel will form and deliberate from the end of this month. Within two weeks after the results of the review, Spirit will “probably begin extraction moves”.

We’ll update you as soon as we know more. Let’s hope that this will lead to a decision to try and free the rover. Better to die trying than not try at all I say. It would be unbearable to see Spirit destined to be a Martian weather station for the rest of its days.

Image: Taken by the genuine Spirit, of its arm, credit NASA/JPL-Caltech