Spirit Rover has Camoflage!?

In this recent "deck pan" of the Spirit rover, the solar panels are so covered in dust that they blend in almost perfectly with the surrounding dusty martian surface.





All that dust means that the rover has less power to work with every day. With martian winter approaching in a few weeks, the Rover team has been working nonstop trying to drive Spirit to a location where the solar panels will be tilted toward the sun. The rover will camp there, trying to conserve energy until spring comes and there is enough power to drive once again.

Here's hoping for a gust of wind to clean off the panels and make life a little easier for Spirit...