K-9 and Geek

Stepping out of the shadows comes Rod Serling, surrounded by a string of cigarette smoke and saying "There's a signpost up ahead - your next stop...." From New Scientist magazine:

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity seems to have stumbled into something akin to a car wash that has left its solar panels much cleaner than those of its twin rover, Spirit. A Martian car wash would account for a series of unexpected boosts in the electrical power produced by Opportunity's solar panels.

The rovers landed on Mars in January with solar cells capable of providing more than 900 watt-hours of electricity per day. Spirit's output has dropped to about 400 watt-hours, partly because Martian dust has caked its solar panels. Opportunity's output also declined at first - to around 500 watt-hours - but over the past six months it has regained power. Lately, its solar cells have been delivering just over 900 watt-hours.

This "cleaning" has apparently happened four times - and NASA has no clue as to how.

Marvin? You there?