High-Watt drama on low-Amp Mars
One of the great feats of modern moviemaking is how director Ron Howard makes an ammeter exciting as Earthbound astronaut Ken Mattingly tries to devise a way to fire up the cold-soaked command module in Apollo 13.
Another Amp-induced nailbiter is under way on Mars, it seems, as the plucky robot rovers Opportunity and Spirit are starved of solar power by huge dust storms. NASA is concerned Opportunity will not have enough energy to stay warm and survive the storms.
Martian skies darken for rover Opportunity (NASA photos)