Spirit, Spirit, do you read?

NASA mission controllers apparently haven't given up on the stuck Martian rover Spirit quite yet.  Deep into Martian winter, they've started using a "sweep and beep" paging system in an attempt to communicate with her.

Yes, her.  Throughout this recent article from science_at_nasa , the feminine pronoun is used.  Although the chances of Spirit ever waking up again are becoming increasingly small, it's good to know that NASA is still trying -- and providing comprehensive articles like this one, which includes a movie of Spirit's achievements thus far.

Here's hoping that she manages to phone home one more time . . . .