IT LOOKS like some weird winged insect camouflaged by mother nature to shield it from hungry predators. But it is really NASA's six-wheeled Martian
robot, Spirit, filthy with dust after four years of exploring the red planet.
When motoring through dusty deserts more than 88 million kilometres from the nearest car wash, it is hard to stay clean.
Spirit's new self-portrait reveals that the rover, never expected to survive for more than 90 days when it landed in January 2004, is now so dirty it
is in danger of vanishing from sight - blending in with the planet's natural colour.
The dust may be the death of the mechanical pioneer which has driven more than 7.4 kilometres in 47 months, 12 times further than it was designed to
travel.
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