Could it be the end... 

The little Robots that could may be about done:

A raging dust storm on Mars has cut power to NASA's twin rovers to dangerously low levels, threatening an end to the mission.

The rovers were slated to operate for only 3 months but have been on Mars more than 3 years, so mission officials have had ample time to ponder their eventual silencing.

The storm presents perhaps the rover team's biggest challenge, NASA said in a statement today. Scientists said the storm, which has been brewing for nearly a month, is blocking around 85 to 90 percent of all sunlight to the surface.

The rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, rely on sunlight to charge their solar panels, and one or both rovers could be damaged permanently or even disabled by the limited solar power, officials said.

SPACE.com reported the storm's fresh severity earlier today.

Scientists fear the storms might continue for several days or weeks. If the sunlight is further slashed for an extended period, the rovers will not be able to generate enough power to keep warm and operate at all, even in a near-dormant state, the statement said.

The rovers use electric heaters to keep vital core electronics from becoming too cold.

"We're rooting for our rovers to survive these storms, but they were never designed for conditions this intense," said Alan Stern, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

Steve Squyres of Cornell University, who is the lead scientist of the Mars Exploration Rover Project, said the direct sunlight to the rovers is at an all-time low.